Once again, we find hope in the comics to come in 2022.
We took a little extra time tabulating the Most Anticipated Comics of 2022. And we're so glad we did because this past week introduced several new titles worth drooling over. Whatever else is going on in the world outside our window, at least we've got these books to focus our enthusiasm.
Last year was a glorious one for the medium. If the statement raises an eyebrow, clearly, you haven't checked out our epic two-part episode on the Best Comics of 2021. And if you want to take that conversation a little further, compare those two episodes with our Most Anticipated Comics of 2021, which we put together last January. Some of our picks reigned supreme while others didn't quite make it, and only one flat-out disappointed. We won't say which one, but you can probably do the math independently.
Obviously, with these lists, you must consider that the Best Comics of the Year are frequently the ones we have no idea about yet. We know that several of our favorite creators are working on books that they can't talk about right now, but when those drop, waves will be rocked. That being said, the eleven titles found below have our fingers (and other body parts) twitching. Some selections will seem obvious - see our Honorable Mention - but hopefully, this list will put some cool comics on your radar. That's the goal here.
Honorable Mention: Saga
We hoped that Saga would return last year, but better late than never! And with three-plus years since the previous issue, we obviously mean it! Saga #55 hit stands just the other week, and quality-wise, it's like Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples never left. The comic is as good as ever and probably on its way to better than ever.
We're currently re-reading the series for the podcast, as February will be our Marko and Alana month. Our next four episodes will cover Saga trade paperbacks five through nine, which will take us right up to issue 55. We hold these two lovebirds close to our hearts as they were the first indie comics couple we ever covered on the show (way back in 2019).
Catch up on our Comic Book Couples Counseling sessions with the first four volumes. But be warned, these were some of our earliest conversations, and we were still working out the kinks. Lol. We gave them a listen earlier this week in prep for the new episodes, and they had us cringing a little bit. Although, we did recently have a listener tell us that they brought her to tears. There's no better compliment. Of course, we are talking Saga, which will reduce anyone to a puddle.
Saga Volume 1
Saga Volume 2
Saga Volume 3
Saga Volume 4
10. Cankor: Collected Edition
As we type, cartoonist Matthew Allison is knee-deep in his FundRazr campaign for the Cankor Collected Edition. With 27 days left, they've already collected enough support (including several dollars from us) to make the book a reality. Let's celebrate.
There are no other comics out there like Cankor. And as such, they're somewhat hard to classify. It's a superhero comic that looks back and comments on the genre while also branching out to explore Allisoin's intense internal struggle as a human being. It's autobiographical without sensationalizing the personal details. You feel these books, and a connection occurs between artist and consumer through that feeling.
The series began as a webcomic back in 2011, and AdHouse Books collected eight single issues during this past decade. That collection glimmers on our shelf, and we frequently take it down so that we can marvel at the illustrations. The new Cankor Collected Edition brings everything together in one beautifully bound hardcover, a lovingly rendered format to match the meticulously cosmic contents within.
9. Blood Stained Teeth
From the Image Comics solicits: "Atticus Sloane - misanthrope, criminal, asshole, and vampire..." Asshole Criminal Vampires? Those are our favorite kind!
We will always show up for a Christian Ward comic. He's a creator who cuts straight into our jugular on most days, so to see him tackling a Nosferatu tale has us particularly giddy, especially when he mentions how this story has been percolating within him for quite some time.
Ward partnering with artist Patric Reynolds is also tantalizing. Thanks to the Mignolaverse, we've attached ourselves to his vibe. His illustration has a scratchy supernatural quality but screams hardboiled noir. These two exploring a vampiric thirst for capitalism should get everyone's blood rushing.
In stores: 4/27
8. Flung Out of Space
Slanting literary history is our jam. And Patricia Highsmith is an idol. Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley triggered something within us when we were young. They sent us tumbling through the novelist's catalog, devouring whatever we could. Eventually, we made our way to The Price of Salt, originally written under her pseudonym, Claire Morgan. The book was an atom bomb that took years to appreciate, a book that only gets better as your relationship with Highsmith strengthens.
And here come Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer with Flung Out of Space. The comic puts you behind Highsmith's perspective and considers the path that brought her to The Price of Salt's creation. The story begins with Pat writing lowly comic books, dreck she can't find herself within. She can sense a great novel bubbling inside, but she's struggling to pull it out while battling a devastating sense of self.
Flung Out of Space attempts to understand Highsmith's complicated legacy. In examining the lesbian affair that would eventually produce The Price of Salt, Ellis and Templer also tackle Highsmith's tumultuous mindset, a mindset that would not fly with 2022 sensibilities. The author was a hurricane personality, and she threw herself into her work while the work often threw her back out. Contextualizing the creator should prove as compelling a read as Highsmith's thrillers.
In stores: 3/15
7. The Bone Orchard: Mythos
Jeff Lemire + Andrea Sorrentino = must buy. From Green Arrow to Primordial, the two have never crafted a lousy book. It's only a matter of choosing favorites.
2022 will launch possibly their most ambitious project yet, The Bone Orchard: Mythos. The shared horror universe will spread over multiple series and several original graphic novels. Plot details are practically non-existent, but these creators have built up such trust that we'll follow them wherever they want to travel. What's most important is the scope and the ambition. Lemire and Sorrentino are going for it with these comics, and there is no way we wouldn't join them.
In Stores: The Bone Orchard: Mythos - Prelude hits on Free Comic Book Day. The Passageway arrives in June, Ten Thousand Black Feathers in September, and Testament lands sometime in 2023.
6. Captain America #0
Captain America is one of those titles we'll always try. The Ed Brubaker run made us lifelong fans of Steve Rogers and his supporting cast, and we've been itching for Marvel to launch a story to rival what The Winter Soldier narrative kicked off back in 2005. Not sure they'll ever do it, but this Captain America #0 issue intrigues us.
The one-shot written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing with art by Carmen Carnero serves as the starting point for two new Captain America series: Symbol of Truth and Sentinel of Liberty. The first focuses on Sam Wilson investigating a world-shattering conspiracy, while the second forces Steve Rogers to confront modern American patriotism. It's gonna get uncomfortable, folks. Or, at least, hopefully, it will. That's what we need from a 2022 Captain America.
In stores: April
5. The Jurassic League
You probably had one of two reactions when you first heard about The Jurassic League. You either pumped your fist and went, "Hell yeah!" Or you cackled a laugh that quickly turned into a howl. It's possible you rolled your eyes, but if that's the case, then you've probably never read a Daniel Warren Johnson comic. You should correct that horrible life decision immediately.
Books like Beta Ray Bill, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, and Murder Falcon look beautifully gnarly. They're the type of tales you race through and want to share with all your metalhead friends. But here's the thing, they're also profoundly emotional, and somewhere along your reading experience, your heart is ripped out while you're banging your head. These comics are rad but often painful in the most poignant ways.
So, while The Jurassic League looks utterly badass and silly, we should also expect it to sneak up on us. Johnson is not on art, that tubular task falls on Juan Gedeon, but he'll supply a sidewinder story with serious sting. Are we sad that Johnson is not pulling double duty here? Maybe a little. At the same time, the preview pages from Gedeon are jaw-dropping. We're gonna be well-fed with The Jurassic League.
In stores: May
4. Clementine: Book One
Here's a cartoonist/subject pairing we were not expecting. Tillie Walden does The Walking Dead. You either know why that's genius, or you've never read On a Sunbeam.
Walden crafts intricately interior comics. She pulls her readers into her characters, where deep bonds form. Years after reading Walden's stories, we recall them in our memory the way we do family get-togethers. You can't shake books like On a Sunbeam or Spinning. They're with you forever.
And now, Tillie Walden is wandering The Walking Dead universe with Clementine: Book One, the first in Skybound Entertainment's young adult imprint, Skybound Comet. Apparently, the titular character originally appeared in a Telltale game. We have no idea about that, and whether this story spins from it or ties into it holds little interest for us. We're here for Walden. And the zombies. And the horror and the beauty they'll birth.
In stores: 6/22
3. Hulk: Grand Design
Containing a massive continuity within a few issues is a fascinating endeavor. Ed Piskor set Marvel's Grand Design into motion with his X-Men series. Then his Cartoonist Kayfabe pal (and reoccurring Comic Book Couples Counseling guest) Tom Scioli took up the baton with his twist on Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four. Scioli did not exactly mimic Piskor's approach, and the deviation only enhanced what was possible with the Grand Design concept. Now comes the third member in the Kayfabe squad, Jim Rugg. Where will his take on The Incredible Hulk's timeline veer?
Hulk: Grand Design is scheduled to stretch across two issues, titled thematically, "Monster" and "Madness." Between them, sixty issues of continuity will be unraveled and dissected by the chameleon cartoonist, and based on what little we've seen, we are in for an astonishing - no, scratch that - Incredible feast.
Most significantly, as X-Men and Fantastic Four were deeply personal to their Grand Design architects, Hulk is a childhood passion for Jim Rugg. He was born to make sense of The Incredible Hulk. And we were born to read it. All long-running superhero stories are gobbledygook, and Grand Design's true pleasure resides in a singular cartoonist's attempt to make it all appear purposefully driven from the beginning. It's a mighty task, but Rugg is up for it.
In stores: 3/16
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual 2022
From the moment we first chatted with Juni Ba, we've anticipated his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic. The artist bleeds his cartoon influences all over his books (Djeliya, Monkey Meat). You can see Justice League and Dexter's Laboratory and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in his illustrations. It's kismet that he finally gets to contribute significantly to one of those particular franchises.
We know little about the TMNT Annual's plot. The brothers are on a secret mission that's somehow connected to their origins. They encounter a mysterious foe during the quest, and the turtles must come together in a new way to defeat the villain. Cool, cool, cool, whatever. We're here for Juni Ba operating with characters he's cherished since he was a little kid. He will inject an awesome energy into a tight tale about "remembrance and family."
In stores: 3/30
1. The Ghost in Me
We were already loving the Reckless books before Destroy All Monsters dropped late last year. Then that third comic just obliterated us. The ending?!?! The ending!!! This comic might be more than we initially thought, and that troubled inkling has haunted us ever since. What fresh hell are Sean Phillips and Ed Brubaker pushing our "hero" toward? It isn't good. It's never good. And that's great.
With The Ghost in Me, the eighties are ending. And Ethan is out of town. That means his P.I. sidekick, Anna, has to pick up his slack when a Hollywood scream queen hires her to investigate a supposedly spook-infested mansion. As Anna uncovers the building's murderous history, her life is threatened. We could be entering Reckless' darkest chapter yet, and that's both thrilling and terrifying.
The Ghost in Me will not be the last Reckless graphic novel, but we can sense a climax building. We're not sure we ever want it to come. If Phillips and Brubaker desired to tell Ethan and Anna stories for the rest of their lives, we'd promise to read them for the rest of ours.
In stores: 4/13