Every year, we send out a survey to a wide variety of creators and ask them questions about the year in comics. We had an incredible response this year, and got creators from all corners of the comics world to weigh in one what they loved about comics in 2021. Every day this week, we will be sharing a different question from our questionnaire.
Hopefully these inspire you to check out some new books, and to give some other books a second look.
Thank you to all the folks who took the time during this busy holiday season to reply.
Question #5: what would you like to read more of – titles, genres, etc – in 2022??
Liana Kangas (“Black AF: She Said Destroy,” “Star Wars Adventures”): I’d love to see horror and suspense sort of bleed over and be successful in all different age ranges/genre mixes! It would also be rad to see more educational & historical graphic novels about comics history be made for readers looking to pursue or make comics themselves.
Matt Smith (“Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.,” “Folkslords”): I would like more “Imogen of the Wyrding Way,” drawn by Peter Bergting. I could list a bunch of other things, but I am going to focus my energy on that wish so that it happens. It works that way, right?
Vera Greentea (“Grimoire Noir,” “Nenetl of the Forgotten Spirits”): I generally look for a certain thing all the time – creepy horror and dark thrillers are usually my type of thing, but 2021 definitely brought very different types of stories that captivated me and brought me warmth and pleasure. Being open to various kinds of storytelling has suited me well this year, and I think I’d continue on that road. Bring it on, creators, I’m happy to explore it all!
Sebastian Girner (Editor, TKO Studios): I always want to read more horror, especially cosmic horror that is not Lovecraft infused or merely disguised. I think the past few years have brought to the forefront of our shared human experience a fear of the future and very real and true imminence of our own extinction and I’m a big believer in horror fiction creating a space where even those unthinkable primal fears can be approached, investigated, and explored in way that can be both cleansing and corrosive. Our very own Juni Ito is a prime example. In almost all his work is the (quite Lovecraftian) throughline that human life and understanding of our place in the world is finite and laughable. That there is nothing Out There to save us from ourselves. That we are alone in a universe of darkness, cold, and neglect. But quite UNLIKE Lovecraft, the embittered old git, is what I read as Ito’s notion that from all this we should take the lesson that it would behoove us to care for one another and show kindness, because there literally is nothing else.
Wes Craig: (“Deadly Class,” “The Gravediggers Union”): I’d like more trippy horror in my life. And I’d love to read a weird crime/sci-fi mash-up. Or maybe write one…
Shobo (“Buckhead,” “Under a Jovian Sun”): More space operas and speculative science fiction from diverse voices and cultural backgrounds. What does the future look like where you come from? Show me! I want to learn new things and understand them from your point of view.
Tim Sheridan (“Teen Titans Academy,” “Shazam”): Generally, I want to read more comics FOR FUN! Writing the books this year, in addition to TV and movie stuff, has severely limited my comics-for-enjoyment time. And I want to look at more indy and creator-owned stuff, which is almost indisputably where all the best stories are being told now. It’s tough for a lifelong Marvel and DC kid tho.
Laurence Campbell (“Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.,” “Punisher MAX”): I feel the comics industry is in a pretty good place at the moment I’m enjoying the diversity of art, stories etc. I think murder mysteries fit really well in comics and would like to see more of those.
Blue Delliquanti (“O Human Star,” “Across a Field of Starlight”): With Peow closing up shop, I hope we get to see more small presses filling the void and producing beautiful and well-curated anthologies with a solid aesthetic vision. It’s a hard time for indie comics for a variety of reasons, but I hope people will persevere.
Continued belowNicole Goux (“Everyone is Tulip,” “Bhadow of the Batgirl”): Comics in general! I actually took a bit of a break from reading too many comic titles and focused more on prose this year, something I’d been missing. I’d like to get back to the shop and start diving back into all the amazing books that are coming out right now.
Tom Scioli (“Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics,” “Transformers Vs G.I. Joe”): Fun superhero stuff. It’s what got me into the medium and it’s what keeps me coming back.
Tina Horn (“SFSX,” “Theater of Terror”): I need to get back into the kind of fat science fiction prose books I used to crush as a youth.
Kay Davault (“Oddity Woods,” “Star Knights”): I’m always looking for horror and mystery books! I also want to see more multi-book graphic novel series, especially in middle grade. So many great worlds and characters, I want to know more about them!
Jeremy Holt (“Made in Korea,” “Virtually Yours”): Everything? I’d love to read more novels this year.
Dean Haspiel (“The Red Hook,” “Keyhole”): Independent antiheroes, black comedy, dark romance.
Joe Henderson (“Stagecraft,” “Skyward”): Fun creator owned adventure comics! I love books like Seven Secrets, which is unafraid to be fun, while also having death, loss, and pain.
Coni Yovaniniz (“Walking to Do,” “The Do Over”): I’d like to read more comics in general! 2021 was a very busy year for us and we didn’t have any conventions, so it’s weird to get to the end of the year and realize I didn’t read that many comics. I love comics!! I wanna read more of them!!
Hayden Sherman (“Chicken Devil,” “Wasted Space”): I’d love to see more kids focused comics. Specifically in the realm of superhero titles, everywhere else there’s a real wealth of kids comics being made but most core superhero books just aren’t as approachable as they could be. Which is a shame.
Steve Orlando (“Commanders in Crisis,” “Maruaders”): I’d like to see more romance comics – and for one thing, I know I’ll be getting them! “Chef’s Kiss” is coming from Oni next year, by Jarrett Melendez and Danica Brine, and I can’t wait. I’d LOVE some planetary romance. I’d love someone to work an epistolary comic. I want more experiments! I want a symbiopsychotaxiplasm, I want experimental storytelling in historical epics. I want twisted adaptations of historic lit that we should know more about — I just want us to take more chances.
But that’s not all – as far as titles and characters go, I am very excited to watch the world of Wonder Woman develop further in 2022, at the hands of an amazing team of creators. I’m excited to see where Ram V, Bryan Hitch, and Al Ewing take Venom, and for “Monkey Prince” at DC by Gene Yang, Jess Chen, and Bernard Chang.
And I want to work on Star Trek :-).
Daniel Warren Johnson (“Beta Ray Bill,” “Murder Falcon”): I want to have more time for books! It’s something I’m trying to get better at.
Alex Segura (Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, ONI Press, Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall): More crime comics! I l really dug “Newbrun” by Chip and Jacob Phillips, but I’d love to see more. More romance! More sci-fi! I think we’re primed for the other genres to get louder and weirder.
Rodrigo Vargas (“Walking to Do,” “The Do Over”): I think I’m looking forward to cracking up. I hope I can, you know, totally crack up. I haven’t cracked up in a long time.
