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Creators’ Year in Review, Part 1: What Were Some of Your Favorite Comics of 2022?

By | December 27th, 2022
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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 2022. 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.

Our first question: in 2022, what comic or comics stood out as your favorite books of the year?

Chip Zdarsky (“Public Domain,” “Batman”): “Ducks” by Kate Beaton, “It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth” by Zoe Thorogood, “Look Back” by Tatsuki Fujimoto.

Liana Kangas (“Trve Kvlt,” “Star Wars Adventures”): I really enjoyed “Nice House on the Lake,” “Blood-Stained Teeth,” “Deadliest Bouquet,” “Sweet Paprika,” “End After End,” “Blink,” “Gardener,” and the new “Catwoman!”

Hayden Sherman (“Blink,” “Above Snakes”): “Batman/Superman: World’s Finest” has been a ray of pure sunshine for me each month this year. “Dai Dark,” by Q Hayashida, has similarly been a light in the dark. Two very different books for sure, but so very good.

Tyler Crook (“The Lonesome Hunters,” “Harrow County”): I don’t know if it came out this year, but I really, really liked “Double Walker” by Michael Conrad and Noah Bailey.

Zack Kaplan (“Metal Society,” “Break Out”): Wow, where to start! It’s been a crazy good year for comics. Pornsak Pichetshote’s and Alexandre Tefenkgi’s “The Good Asian” was an incredible experience, worthy of all the award recognition, I continue to love James Tynion’s “The Department of Truth”, my favorite of the incredible [Scott] Snyder barrage were “Clear” and “Night of the Ghoul” I love everything Tom King touches, but “Human Target” was especially great. Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips have been putting on a master class on “That Texas Blood,” Deniz Camp and S Morian are doing some really impressive stuff with the comics medium in “20th Century Men,” and I thought Chris Cantwell’s and Adam Gorham’s “The Blue Flame” was a real powerful spin on a crowded superhero space. I loved Stephanie Phillips’ and Flaviano Armentaro’s “Grim,” what a freaking hook and world-building setup! I missing a lot. There’s too many to name.

Kyle Starks (“Rick and Morty,” “I Hate This Place”): I will say that I simply don’t get to read as many comics as I would like – I definitely look to end of year lists to direct me to what I need to make sure I don’t miss. But, of what I read, I think my favorite comics this year were possibly trade collections from last year but I adored “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” (King/Evely) and “Public Domain” (Chip Zdarsky). I was really blown away by those two books. I’ve only read volume 1 of “Nice House On The Lake,” but I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s an all-time horror comic. I liked Lemire’s “Little Monsters” too. I wish I had read more!

Viviana Medeiros (“The Ocean Soul”): I’ve been reading shorter strips by indie creators on social media mostly, I sadly haven’t had the time or the attention span to read long-form projects!

Ron Robbins (“Archie Digests,” “Weirder Mysteries”): “Archie: Love and Heartbreak” was amazing. It really, really motivated me to muscle my way into an Archie anthology however possible. Thomas Pitilli’s Bughead story and his top-notch art made me weak. Sina Grace’s story painted such a beautiful portrait of introspection. I think we’ve all disappeared too far inside our own heads and ruined an opportunity to thoroughly enjoy the moment.

The entire Month of Mayhem event from Archie Horror was so fun.

“Monkey Meat.”

“The Vampire Slayer.”

Phillip Sevy (“Kepler,” “X-Men Unlimited”): “The Nice House on the Lake” from James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno absolutely leveled me this past year. It’s the kind of book that both makes you want to make more comics and also give up because creating a work on this level of perfection is damn near impossible. “Something is Killing the Children” continues to be an absolute blast of a series to read. And “Immortal X-Men” has been just a delicious dive into the council in Krakoa with Kieron Gillen (with Lukas Werneck and Michele Bandini) delivering moment after moment of wit, drama, and tension among the X-Elite.

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Michael Moreci (“Barbaric,” “Wasted Space”): I think “The Rush” by Spurrier and Gooden was my favorite read of 2022. I also loved the “Reckless” series.

Butch Mapa (“Happy Horrordays,” “Star Wars Adventures”): “Survival Street” – psychotic terrorist muppets, what’s not to love?

Alex Segura (“Blood Oath,” “Marvel Voices”): So many things – but a few off the top of my head: “Catwoman: Lonely City” by Cliff Chiang knocked my socks off by a mile. Also loved “Reckless” by Brubaker and Phillips, “Phenomenocity” by Tini Howard and Philip Sevy, “Black Hammer: Reborn” by Jeff Lemire and co, “Human Target” by Tom King and Greg Smallwood, “Public Domain” by Chip Zdarsky, “Defenders” and “Ant-Man” by Al Ewing, Tom Reilly, and Javier Rodriguez (respectively), “Star Trek: Lower Decks” by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio, “WildC.A.T.s” by Matthew Rosenberg and Stephen Segovia, “Barbaric” by Michael Moreci and team, “Nightwing” by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo, “X-Men” by Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz, “The Batman and Scooby Doo Mysteries” by Ivan Cohen and Diego Brizuela, “Detective Comics” by Ram V and Rafael Albuquerque, “Immortal X-Men” by Kieron Gillen, “Batman/Superman World’s Finest” by Mark Waid and Dan Mora, any and all things “Love and Rockets” by Los Bros Hernandez, “The New Champion of “Shazam!” by Josie Campbell and Evan “Doc” Shaner, “Canary” by Scott Snyder and Dan Panosian, “Shifting Earth” by Cecil Castellucci and Flavia Biondi, and probably a ton I’m forgetting.

Michael Northrop (“Fear the Funhouse,” “Teen Titans Go!: Undead?!”): “Something Is Killing the Children” (always), “Barbaric,” “Night of the Ghoul,” “Human Target,” “Bite Sized Archie,” and “Shirtless Bear Fighter 2.” Pantsless Shirtless Bear Fighter Fighter has got to be one of the great villains of our time.

Joe Glass (“The Pride,” “Young Men in Love”): “The Many Deaths of Laila Starr” immediately springs to mind. Ram V’s lyrical, poetic narration made for an emotionally compelling pull, and the art by Felipe Amdrade really made the whole thing sing. A later entry from Tate Brombal and Nick Robles would be “Behold, Behemoth” which is as visually stunning as it is intellectually intriguing. Finally, I’d have to say “Sins of the Black Flamingo” by Andrew Wheeler, Travis Moore, Tamra Bonvillain and Aditya Bidikar was just stunning in how unapologetically queer, unabashedly thirsty and unashamedly brilliant it was. And of course, “Superman: Son of Kal-El” was one of the best books coming out of the Big Two.

Jarred Luján (“Cray and Troy,” “The Twin Blades”): So many! I’m big into the crowdfunding scene, so many of my favorite books actually came from there. Stuff like “Fog Line,” “The Bardic Verses,” “Eat My Flesh Drink My Blood,” and “And We Love You” are all in my favorites of the year. “Killchella” also had a stellar debut issue. I’m also a giant “East of West” fan, so I felt personally blessed when “Ghost Cage” dropped this year.

Leeanne Krecic (“Let’s Play”): “Through the Woods” by Emily Carroll, “Kowloon Generic Romance” by Jun Mayuzuki, “The Tainted Half” by Chyomchyom.

Kyler Clodfelter (“Crash and Troy,” “Dungeons and Dragons Annua 2022”): “Batman/Superman World’s Finest,” “Vanish,” “X-Terminators,” “All The Devils Are Here,” “Aquaman: The Becoming.”

Tyler Chin-Tanner (Publisher, A Wave Blue World): So much good stuff this year. A short list would have to include “The Good Asian” by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi, “It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth” by Zoe Thorogood, “Rain” by David Booher and Zoe Thorogood (adapted from a Joe Hill short story), “End After End” by D.B. Andry, Tim Daniel and Sunando C, “Barbaric” by Michael Moreci and Nathan Gooden, “Trve Kvlt” by Scott Bryan Wilson and Liana Kangas, and “Do A Powerbomb!” by Daniel Warren Johnson.

Dan McDaid (“Judge Dredd,” “Dega”): I really enjoyed “I Hate This Place” by Kyle Starks and Artyom Topilin. Funny, menacing, slightly cartoony work, reminiscent of early Sam Raimi. I also liked Gene Luen Yang’s Superman Smashes the Klan – which I don’t think is completely new, but it was new to me. Great, spry cartooning, and a lovely fresh look at the Golden Age Superman.

Hunter Gorinson (President and Publisher, ONI Press):Month in and month out, one of my favorite series continues to be W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Marazzo’s “Ice Cream Man,” which seemingly makes easy work of one of the most difficult formats the comic medium has to offer: the self-contained 22-page story. More still, each issue seems to be more perversely entertaining, morosely hilarious, and intricately constructed than the last. Prince has a gift for heightening and condensing the most terrifying strains of our mundane existence into short-form tales of dread, and Marazzo seems like the natural inheritor of the late Steve Dillon’s talent for clean lines and blunt storytelling, not to mention some of the best facial expressions in the business. This is the rare series that has only continued to increase in quality and complexity over the years — hopefully it will run for 1,000 issues, so I can read them all.

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Also, another series that truly impressed: Jeff Lemire delivered what I think is one of his best and most important series from already distinguished body of work with “Mazebook” from Dark Horse. Deftly threading together human drama with elements of urban fantasy and the psychological thriller, it showcases Lemire truly at the top of his powers as a creator who has mastered the language of comics backwards and forwards. I hesitate to spoil too much since it’s executed so effectively on the page, but watching Lemire use the uncanny synthesis of symbolism and panel-by-panel storytelling that can only exist in comics to advance both character and plot is truly mesmerizing. The collected hardcover edition is a great gift for any avid readers in your life who “don’t like comics” — as always, Lemire has continued to elevate the medium, and this is one of his best yet.

Ryan Lang (“Issunboshi”): I’m a big fan of the Donner Superman and the Burton Batman, so I really liked the premise and art of “Batman ’89” and “Superman ’78.”

Jed McGowan (“My Life Among Humans,” “Uninhabitable”): In 2022, I continued to love the “Reckless” series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. They released two volumes this year — “The Ghost In You” and “Follow Me Down” — and they were both great reads. I was also very thankful to finally read the English-language versions of “Slash Them All” by Antoine Maillard and “Shuna’s Journey” by Hayao Miyazaki. Both books were a treat and visually stunning.

Gregg Hurwitz (“NewThink,” “Knighted”): I loved “Sacrament” by Peter Milligan. And “Hotell” was a blast.

Mark Russell (“Superman: Space Age,” “Not All Robots”): 2022 was a real banner year for comics. An embarrassment of riches to choose from. We got the return of “Saga,” a couple of “Reckless” books, and, of course, more “Ice Cream Man.” But, other than my perennial favorites, there were also some new comics that planted themselves firmly in my consciousness. “NewThink,” “Starhenge,” and “Joseph Smith and the Mormons,” just to name a few.

Dan Panosian (“Alice Ever After,” “Black Tape”): For me, it has to be “Grim” by Phillips from Boom! or “Radiant Black” by Higgins from Image Comics.

Mike Deodato Jr (“The Fourth Man,” “The Resistance”): “The Joneses” (AWA Studios), “Sacrament” (AWA Studios), and “Phenomena, the Golden City of Eyes” (Abrams).

Christa Faust (“Hit Me,” “Redemption”): “Gun Honey: Blood for Blood.” Anything from Hard Case Crime is an automatic buy for me.

Joe Corallo (“The Never Ending Party,” “She Said Destroy”): Surprising no one, there are too many to list! That said, I think “Ice Cream Man” and “The Silver Coin” are certainly up there. Image Comics having these anthology one-shot type comics with a narrative framing device has been interesting to see and I’m glad it’s been doing well so we keep getting them. I can’t mention great Image Comics without also mentioning “Step by Bloody Step” though!

When it comes to the big 2, I enjoyed or have been enjoying “Savage Avengers,” “Batman/Superman World’s Finest,” “Rogues,” and “Action Comics.”

“Elvira Meets Vincent Price” and “Elvira in Horrorland” over at Dynamite have been a lot of fun, “Barbaric” at Vault, “Heavy Metal Drummer” at Sumerian, and I just checked out “Specs” #1 over at BOOM! Studios so I’m looking forward to seeing where that goes too. I know I missed a bunch, but I gotta cut myself off sometime!

Neil Kleid (“The Panic,” “Judas Priest: Screaming for Vengeance”): Man, it has been a year! On the licensed front, I thoroughly enjoyed “The Human Target” by King and Smallwood, as well as the ongoing drama that is the Krakoan-era X-Men titles. From a creator-owned POV, I’m loving new “Saga” by Vaughan and Staples, as well as “Dark Ride” by Willamson and Bressan, “Public Domain” by Chip Zdarsky, “Minor Threats” by Blum, Oswalt and Hepburn, “Made in Korea” by Holt and Schall, and “Fire Power” by Kirkman and Samnee. I’ll be honest and say that I missed a lot this year—I’ve been doing a lot of writing, not as much heading into the store. There are a ton of great books out there I want to catch up on like “Ducks,” “Do a Powerbomb!,” “The Many Deaths of Laila Starr,” “Eight Billion Genies” and a lot more!

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Rafael Scavone (“Red Tag,” “Hailstone”): “Ballad for Sophie” by Filipe Melo e Juan Cavia (Top Shelf Productions), “Night of the Ghoul” by Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla (ComiXology), “Open Bar” by Eduardo Medeiros (Oni Press), ‘Gotham Nocturne’ in “Detective Comics” by Ram V, Rafael Albuquerque, Simon Spurrier and Dani (DC Comics)

Abigail J. Harding (“Ask for Mercy”): Definitely “Step By Bloody Step” and “Maw.” They have both stood out for me this year.

Stuart Moore (“Highball,” “The Wrong Eart: Purple”): I’m really loving “Human Target.” Stylish stuff by Tom King and Greg Smallwood that really keeps you guessing. There aren’t enough dangerous romantic thrillers in comics.

Bryce Ingman (“My Bad”): I couldn’t have been more delighted by the return of “Saga.” Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples haven’t missed a beat and I can’t wait to see what happens next. (Especially with Lying Cat. I really love Lying Cat. Did I mention how much I love Lying Cat?) I’m also really digging my buddy Mark Russell’s new book “Traveling to Mars.” It’s unique and compelling stuff featuring glorious art from Roberto Meli. Craig Thompson’s “Ginseng Roots” remains one of my favorite titles and proof that, with the right approach, ANY story can be told through the medium of comics. “Justice Warriors” from Matt Bors and Ben Clarkson is a hoot. Really funny stuff and yet another home run from the good folks at AHOY. And I have to mention Alex Ross’s eye-poppingly beautiful work on “Fantastic Four: Full Circle.” What a fun book! Reading it filled this old-school FF fan with pure joy.

Rachele Aragno (“Leonide the Vampyr,” “Melvina”): “House of Slaughter,” “Hellboy in Love,” “Little Monsters,” “Hitomi.”

Charles Ardai (“Gun Honey”): Is it tacky to name my own? “Gun Honey” is certainly a favorite! But some others I enjoyed included Grace Ellis’ “Flung Out of Space,” about crime novelist Patricia Highsmith and her struggles as a young comic book writer and lesbian at a time when both of those identities unfairly entailed a lot of shame; and also the current run of “The Flash,” which has been my favorite comic since 1979 and this year had a particularly good (no pun intended) run.

Petra Norlund (“Prague Race,” “Tiger, Tiger”): “Chainsaw Man” by Tatsuki Fujimoto
This one has been on the lips of so many fellow creators of mine, it’s insanely popular especially now that it got an anime, and I have to mention it too. It’s very unorthodox and twists the expectations of the genre, by having the most unmotivated main character ever. Or, he is motivated, but with reasons that you would not expect with a seinen protagonist. It almost feels satirical, and then it surprises you with a golden, weird core, that is as uglycute as the series sweet little puppy demon that has a chainsaw protruding from its head.

I’m also delighted to see more manga that don’t have super polished art, Chainsaw Man feels like it was drawn with such a strong feeling, that there was no time to stop to think about how to make it look attractive and pleasing for the masses. It’s just raw emotion that will gut punch you.

Emily Pearson (“Bonding”): “Galaxy: The Prettiest Star,” “Squire,” “Trve Kvlt.”

Tim Seeley (“Money Shot,” “Revival”): “Minor Threats” from Dark Horse, by Blum, Oswalt, Hepburn, Herring and Piekos! I feel like this year was the year I remembered I actually do really like superhero stuff, and I just need some good ideas to get me excited. MT is absolutely packed with good ideas. Huge bonus that it doesn;t take itself too seriously.

Coni Yovaniniz (“Walking to Do”): I saw a lot of great comics this year, including a huge “to read” pile that I want to get into…but from the ones I read, some of my favorites were “Thieves” by Lucie Bryon (I’ve loved Lucie’s short comics for a long time and was super excited to see a graphic novel from her!!) and “It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth” by Zoe Thorogood.

Adam Gorham (“The Blue Flame,” “New Mutants”): I really liked “The Human Target,” “Iron Man,” “Catwoman: Lonely City,” “The Nice House On The Lake,” “Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors,” “The Department of Truth,” “Always Never,” to name a few.

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Daniel Kraus (The Autumnal, Trollhunters): I am perversely drawn to Ed Piskor’s “Red Room” — I am a big proponent of sleaze when it has something to say, and boy does this ever. I also loved my advance read of Christopher Sebela and Ben Hennessy’s “Godfell” coming in February 2023 from Vault. But my favorite comic of the year was a 48-page black-and-white oddity self-published by Jenna Cha called “Baby Rose Marie The Child Wonder Sings ‘Come Out Come Out.’” It might be the single most terrifying thing I have read in years. It crawled under my fingernails and now lives inside my ribcage.

Christopher Cantwell (“The Blue Flame,” “Iron Man”): “That Texas Blood” is my number one favorite book. I can’t miss an issue of it. This year’s arc was fantastic. I also loved “Riddler: One Bad Day” by Tom King and Mitch Gerads. I read that at one of my son’s little league practices and I was disturbed through the rest of the day. Really rich and gritty stuff.

Tim Daniel (Executive Vice President of Branding & Design, Vault): “Human Target,” “Behold, Behemoth,” “Kaya,” “Killadelphia,” “Night Of The Ghoul”

David Andry (“End After End,” “Resonant”): So many good ones, I know I’m going to miss some, but I really loved “Trve Kvlt,” “Heart Eyes,” “A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance,” “Crash and Troy,” pretty much all the Tom King stuff but especially “Human Target.” “Behold Behemoth” is only two issues in, but will probably be my favorite comic of 2023. “Nice House on the Lake” continues to be outstanding and I loved “Skullkickers” coming back for a one shot.

Sally Cantirino (“Door to Door Night by Night,” “I Walk With Monsters”): “Pink Lemonade” may have been my favorite comic to come out this year, but there were a lot of comics I loved and this year, I actually kept track of everything I read so I can report back: “Barbaric: The Harvest Blades,” “Heart Eyes,” “Above Snakes,” “West of Sundown,” “Killchella,” “Mindset,” “Do A Powerbomb!,” “What’s the Furthest Place From Here?,” “Trve Kvlt,” “It Took Luke,” “Leaf Peepers.”

“Specs,” “It’s Only Teenage Wasteland,” “Know Your Station,” and “Behold Behemoth” all had really strong first/second issues right at the end of the year, I’m looking forward to following these series into 2023.

Chris Shehan (“The Autumnal,” “Nightfall: Double Feature”): I had a very busy year, so all of the comics I read were ones I did covers for! Some great standouts for me were “Door to Door Night by Night,” and “Mindset.”

Sebastian Girner (Editor in Chief, TKO Comics): This year I almost only read comics I picked up at conventions or stuff creators sent me for work, so a very lean year for me. What stood out to me was “Night Hunter” by Dave Baker and Alexis Ziritt, and “Faceless and the Family” by Matt Lesniewski. Juni Ba’s “Monkey Meat” series was also wonderful fun.

Rodrigo Vargas (“Walking to Do,” “Everything Will Be Okay”): I think Jordan Crane’s “Keeping Two” has to be one of my favorite books of the year. It’s such a good read. Also Luke Healy’s “The Con Artists?” Good stuff. Also, for a more periodical kind of thing, been really enjoying “Asadora” by Naoki Urasawa. Did you hear there’s a new “Octopus Pie?” Impressive.

Harry Bogosian (“A Better Place,” “Demon’s Mirror”): Ironically I find that as I create more comics I consume less of them, but some standouts from this last year have been “Chainsaw Man” and “Dungeon Meshi”. Some shorter comics and webcomics would be “My Story” by Chan Chau, the very new animated webcomic “Archipelago Endless” by Neat, “Kill Six Billion Demons” by Abbadon, and “Amunito” by Ham.

Brian Joines (“Krampus: A Yuletide Adventue,” “Backtrack”): A lot of the usual suspects with “Something is Killing the Children,” “Saga,” and “Department of Truth.” Having a ton of old-school superhero fun with “She-Hulk” and “Batman/Superman: World’s Finest.” And really dug the debuts of “Minor Threats” and “Slumber.”

Floor de Goede (“Dancing on the Volcano,” “Flo”): – “IN” by Will McPhail, “Carbon & Silicium” by Mathieu Bablet, “Vel (Skin)” by Sabien Clement & Mieke Versyp, “Laura Dean Keeps Breaking up with Me” by Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, “The Shadows” by Zabus & Hippolyte, “This was Our Pact” by Ryan Andrews, “Kinderland” by Mawil, “Bungalow 5” by Maarten vande Wiele, “The Arab of the Future 5” by Riad Sattouf.


//TAGS | 2022 Year in Review

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