Thoughts on one ‘Best Comics of 2022’ list

I’m not doing a “Best Comics of 2022” list this year, because I didn’t get to read all the comics I wanted to, which isn’t always a problem, but I’m just not feeling it this year. If you’re interested in what I think are the best comics of the year, here are my monthly reviews (with the five best comics of the continuing variety I read in that month), here are the comics that I liked a whole lot, and here are the books I liked, just not quite as much as the first list. So that’s that!

However … people like doing lists. Comic Book Resources, my old homestead, still does them, and I thought it would be fun to comment on its list. Let’s take a look! First, the links:

#100-76
#75-51
#50-26
#25-11
#10-1

Now, the commentary, which I am doing without having looked ahead, so I don’t know what’s coming until I get there!

100. Suitor Armor by Purpah. Never heard of it.

99. That Texas Blood by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips. Pretty good. Perfectly acceptable here.

98. Marvel Meow by Nao Fuji. The Marvel Universe seen through the eyes of Captain Marvel’s cat. Sounds pretty awesome, actually.

97. Ninjettes by Fred van Lente, Joseph Cooper, and Dearbhla Kell. Van Lente is a good writer, but Dynamite books tend to suck the life out of some pretty good writers. This might be good, for all I know.

96. Peacemaker – Disturbing the Peace by Garth Ennis, Garry Brown, and Lee Loughridge. I completely missed this when it came out last January. I wonder why, as I like Ennis.

95. Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson et al. I’m getting the big omnibus that Marvel is putting out, because I fell behind on this early on and I want to catch up, because Thompson is good.

94. Maw by Jude Ellison Doyle, A.L. Kaplan, Fabiana Mascalo, and Federica Mascalo. Meh. It’s fine, but nothing special. It’s not as good as That Texas Blood, for instance.

93. Savage Avengers by David Pepose, Carlo Magno, and Espen Grundetjern. Brian always makes these books sound good, as this title lost Conan soon after its launch, so Pepose had to fix it on the fly. I don’t know if it worked, but Cronin makes it sound like it did!

92. Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell. I love GC, but I’m a bit behind, not only because I wait for the nice big collections (which take a while), but I’m even a bit behind on them! I’m sure it’s perfectly valid here, and it might be a bit low!

91. Avengers Forever by Jason Aaron, Aaron Kuder, et al. I don’t know – Aaron and superheroes doesn’t mix too well, but this is a bunch of “What If?” stories, so maybe it works.

90. Star Wars – Obi-Wan by Christopher Cantwell et al. I don’t read Star Wars comic (with one exception, and this ain’t it). ‘Nuff said.

89. Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Carmen Carnero, and Nolan Woodard. It’s a Captain America comic. Whoo.

88. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King, Bilquis Evely, and Mattheus Lopes. I guess this placed high on 2021’s list, but it’s still far too low. This might be in my Top Ten if I did one. It’s definitely Top Twenty. It’s a terrific story with amazing art.

87. My Aunt Is a Monster by Reimena Yee. Never heard of it. Seems charming, though.

86. DC vs. Vampires by James Tynion IV, Matthew Rosenberg, and Otto Schmidt. I seriously doubt this is the 86th best comic of the year.

85. Golden Kamuy by Satoru Noda. I don’t read a lot of manga, and I didn’t read this.

84. Bloodshot Unleashed by Deniz Camp, Jon Davis-Hunt, Eric Zawadski, and Jordie Bellaire. Maybe this is good, but I have my doubts.

83. Sleepless Domain by Mary Cagle. Never heard of it. Sounds fine, though.

82. Katie the Catsitter: Best Friend 4 Never by Colleen AF Venable, Stephanie Yue, and Branden Lamb. I don’t know this comic, but I’ve always liked the last name “Venable.” I wonder why.

81. Amazing Fantasy #1000 by a bunch of people. This is fine. It’s not great, but it’s fun.

80. Putin’s Russia by Darryl Cunningham. I skipped this because it just didn’t sound that interesting, but maybe it’s pretty good?

79. Robin by Joshua Williamson, Roger Cruz, Gleb Melkinov, Norm Rapmund, and Luis Guerrero. I like Williamson, but this sounds like just another dreary superhero book. Even Cronin can’t make it sound good!

78. Hulk vs. Thor – Banner of War by Donny Cates, Daniel Warren Johnson, Martin Coccolo, Matthew Wilson, and Frank Martin. Wow, two Marvel titans are fighting each other? How cool!

77. Star Wars: Crimson Reign by Charles Soule, Steven Cummings, and Victor Olazaba. This ain’t it either.

76. Reckless: Follow Me Down by Brubillips. I mean, two Reckless books came out in 2022, so is this the only one spotlighted? And no, I haven’t read this yet, but the others have been fantastic, so I’m sure this one is, too.

75. Jennifer Blood by Fred van Lente, Vincenzo Federeci, and Dearbhla Kell. The original Jennifer Blood might be Garth Ennis’s worst comic, so there’s no place to go but up, I suppose, but I’m still not buying that this is that good.

74. The Joy of Quitting by Keiler Roberts. Never heard of it. Onward!

73. Amazing Spider-Man by Zeb Wells et al. I’ve never been super-impressed by Wells, so it’s a reach for me to believe this is so good, but whatevs.

72. Enter the Blue by Dave Chisholm. I mean, it’s a comic about appreciating jazz, and forcing anyone to appreciate jazz is probably a war crime, isn’t it?

71. Barbaric: Axe to Grind by Michael Moreci, Nathan Gooden, and Addison Duke. I liked the first mini-series, so, sure, why can’t it be #71?

70. Sabretooth by Victor LaValle, Leonard Kirk, and Rain Beredo. Any comic with the word “Krakoa” even remotely near it shouldn’t be on this list, but I’m sure this isn’t the last one we’ll see!

69. Ant-Man by Al Ewing, Tom Reilly, and Jordie Bellaire. I don’t know why I didn’t get the trade of this – I think it came out, but maybe it didn’t? It seems like fun. Although Brian wondering why Ant-Man’s 60th anniversary wasn’t a bigger deal is silly – he’s freakin’ Ant-Man, that’s why Marvel didn’t make a bigger deal about it. Listen, Looker’s 40th anniversary is in 2025, and DC won’t even mention it, and I won’t care even though Looker is awesome. Some characters just don’t deserve a big celebration, people!

68. The Third Person by Emma Grove. Never heard of it, but it sounds neat.

67. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures by Erik Burnham, Tim Lattie, and Sarah Myer. I have read zero (0) TMNT comics in my life, so this could be as good as Watchmen and I wouldn’t know it.

66. Aquaman: Andromeda by Ram V and Christian Ward. DC’s slow-roll policy on trades means this hasn’t come out yet, so I’ll have to wait and see!

65. Spy X Family by Tatsuya Endo. Another manga I didn’t read.

64. Little Monsters by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen. On the one hand, I very much like Lemire and Nguyen. On the other hand, post-apocalyptic vampires? Ugh. So I skipped this.

63. Dark Knights of Steel by Tom Taylor, Yasmin Putri, Bengal, Nathan Gooden, and Arif Prianto. I will get this in trade, but I’d point out that if I were buying the single issues, I wouldn’t consider this eligible, as it is not done yet.

62. Deadly Class by Rick Remender, Wes Craig, and Lee Loughridge. The Rick Remender Rule was in pretty strong effect in the first trade of this series, so I didn’t continue with it.

61. Do a Powerbomb! by Daniel Warren Johnson. I’m looking forward to this trade, because Johnson knows how to make good comics.

60. One Punch Man by ONE and Yusuke Murata. Yet more manga I didn’t read.

59. It’s Jeff! by Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru. Well, this sounds fun. Apparently there’s going to be a collection, so I’ll have to check it out.

58. It’s Lonely at the Center of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood. I haven’t read this yet because I just ran out of time for reading this year’s comics, but I’d like to remind you all that Thorogood’s first book was brilliant, this is apparently brilliant, and she’s not yet 25 years old. STUPID YOUNG PEOPLE!!!!

57. Silver Surfer Rebirth by Ron Marz, Ron Lim, Don Ho, and Israel Silva. There is not someone named Don Ho working on this comic, is there? That’s awesome.

56. The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country by James Tynion IV et al. I’m looking forward to reading this trade. Tynion has been on a bit of a hot streak recently.

55. Superman: Son of Kal-El by Tom Taylor et al. This is that woke book, isn’t it? Yeah, I don’t read those danged woke books. How dare they take away my all-American Superman who never punched slumlords or domestic abusers if they were real ‘Muricans!

54. Ice Cream Man by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran. I don’t know how they keep cranking out good, single-issue horror stories, but they do!

53. A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance by Rick Remender, Andre Lima Araujo, and Chris O’Halloran. This wasn’t quite as good an example of the Rick Remender Rule, but it still wasn’t great. Solid, but nothing spectacular.

52. A Vicious Circle by Mattson Tomlin and Lee Bermejo. I mean, ONE issue of this has come out. It certainly looks cool, but #52 based on ONE issue? I don’t think so.

51. Moon Knight by Jed MacKay, Allesandro Cappuccio, Federico Sabbatini, and Rachelle Rosenberg. I’m always nervous about new Moon Knight, because he’s such a great character and I don’t want anyone to screw him up, but MacKay’s done a nice job. Which is nice.

50. Iron Man by Christopher Cantwell et al. Beats me. I didn’t read it.

49. Department of Truth by James Tynion IV, Martin Simmonds, Jordie Bellaire, et al. I really like this book. I would probably have it higher.

48. Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths by Joshua Williamson et al. I can’t believe such a DC-inspired word salad as this could be any good, but what the hell do I know? I avoided this like the plague.

47. Clementine: Book One by Tillie Walden. Walden is excellent, but man, I don’t want to read her Walking Dead-adjacent comic.

46. Kill 6 Billion Demons by Tom Parkinson-Morgan. I read the first collection of this years ago and keep getting it, but I haven’t kept up reading it. Apparently it’s over, so maybe I’ll be able to catch up. The first volume was pretty cool.

45. Wolverine by Benjamin Percy et al. Krakoa Alert!!!!!

44. Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Hey, it’s manga I didn’t read!

43. Detective Comics by Ram V, Rafael Albuquerque, Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, and Dave Stewart. I’m a fan of Ram V, so I’m actually buying this in single issues, something I haven’t done with DC in years, and it’s pretty danged cool. Weird and atmospheric, cool art, and a new, unusual threat to Bruce Wayne. I don’t love the whole “oh, this goes back to the founding of Gotham,” because that’s been done to death, but otherwise, it’s a good comic.

42. Poison Ivy by G. Willow Wilson, Marcio Takara, et al. I like Wilson, generally, so this is probably good, but I don’t know if the trade has been solicited yet. I’ll have to check that out.

41. Monkey Meat by Juni Ba. Travis seemed very excited about this book when it showed up in Previews, but I don’t know if he read it (hey, stop laughing – I’m sure he reads a comic now and then!). It didn’t seem interesting to me, but who knows.

40. The Thing by Walter Mosley, Tom Reilly, and Jordie Bellaire. I’m kind of curious about this even though I’ve never read any of Mosley’s books. I’m not sure if the trade has been offered yet, but if I missed it, I’ll have to track this down.

39. Punisher by Jason Aaron, Jesus Saiz, Paul Azaceta, and Dave Stewart. Some people I know think this is a really good run, but I dislike the Punisher and I hate that Marvel turned tail and ran from the assholes co-opting his shit, not only because it was cowardly, but because now he has a truly stupid logo. Oh well.

38. Starhenge by Liam Sharp. Has issue #2 come out yet? I will read this in trade, because it looks keen, but, I mean, it’s nowhere near done.

37. Batman – One Bad Day: Mister Freeze by Gerry Duggan, Matteo Scalera, and Dave Stewart. I hate that DC is getting such good creators on these things, because the idea is so bankrupt. I skipped this, in case you can’t tell.

36. The Ghost in You: A Reckless Book by Brubillips. Hey, it’s the one I read! These are too low, man!

35. The Flash by Jeremy Adams et al. Yeah, I doubt it. I could be wrong!

34. Rogues’ Gallery by Hannah Rose May, Declan Shalvey, Justin Mason, and Triona Farrell. This is good, but I’m not sure it’s the 34th-best comic of the year good.

33. Batman/Catwoman by Tom King, Clay Mann, and Tomeu Morey. Brian writes: “It was a big disappointment when Tom King’s epic run on Batman was cut short …” Was it, Cronin? Was it really?

32. What’s the Furthest Place from Here? by Matthew Rosenbert, Tyler Boss, et al. This is pretty good, but it’s a bit high.

31. Eight Billion Genies by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne. The dude who works at my comics shoppe really digs this, so that’s something. I’m waiting for the trade.

30. Defenders Beyond by Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez. Waiting for the trade!

29. The Human Target by Tom King and Greg Smallwood. I’m waiting for the big 12-issue hardcover that I know is coming. Sigh. We’re going to see King’s Riddler comic on this list eventually, aren’t we?

28. Squire by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas. I haven’t read this, but it sounds kind of interesting.

27. Akane-banashi by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue. Could it be …? A manga I didn’t read!!!!

26. Batman by Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jimenez, and Tomeu Morey. Wait, that’s what’s going on in Zdarsky’s Batman run? I mean … really? Wow. That is, to coin a phrase, batshit insane.

25. Step By Bloody Step by Simon Spurrier, Matias Bergara, and Matheus Lopes. Ugh, wordless comics. I get it as a gimmick, but for an entire mini-series? No thanks. Plus, this just didn’t seem all that interesting, although Spurrier is a very good writer.

24. Nice House on the Lake by James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, and Jordie Bellaire. The dude at my shoppe, who stans so hard for Tynion that I make jokes that he’s actually Tynion using an alias to push his own books, did not love the ending to this, even though he loved everything leading up to it. I imagine DC will give us a nice 12-issue hardcover soon enough, and then I’ll see for myself!

23. The Swamp Thing by Ram V, Mike Perkins, and Mike Spicer. I got the first “season” (blech) of this in trade, and it was good, so I’ll get this trade eventually!

22. She-Hulk by Rainbow Rowell, Roge Antonio, Luca Maresca, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Rico Renzi. The first trade of this was pretty good, but I was a bit annoyed that it felt more like a Jack of Hearts backdoor pilot than a She-Hulk story. I don’t know if I’ll get the next trade, but I very much doubt it should be this high.

21. Superman/Batman: World’s Finest by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Travis Moore, and Tamra Bonvillain. DC is dragging its heels getting a trade out, so I haven’t read this yet, but I hear good things. I’m a bit curious why Mora didn’t last very long on Detective but he apparently didn’t want to sever ties with DC, but it’s nice that he’s getting high-profile work!

20. Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Rafael De Latorre, and Matthew Wilson. This doesn’t sound very good, but who knows, it could be great. I mean, Elektra as Daredevil sounds awful, and I’m always a bit wary of Zdarsky anyway, so I’ve skipped this.

19. Action Comics by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici, Will Conrad, Fico Ossio, Mike Perkins, and Lee Loughridge. I’m just not a Superman guy.

18. Not All Robots by Mark Russell, Mike Deodato, and Lee Loughridge. This was fine. It’s certainly not Russell’s best, and it’s nowhere near one of the Top 20 comics of the year, but it’s certainly not terrible, either.

17. The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. Yes, that’s really the title. It reminds me of perhaps the worst lyric in popular music history: “I feel a hunger, it’s a hunger.” You don’t say, Eddie Money! Anyway, this is very gorgeous, but I didn’t get around to reading it. So it could be great, or it could be crap, and I can’t comment on it just yet!

16. Batman – One Bad Day: The Riddler by Tom King and Mitch Gerads. See, it’s comics like this showing up at #16 that make me question the validity of this method of getting the best comics of the year. This is garbage, and I find it difficult to believe that people think it’s good. I mean, it’s … terrible. I don’t get it. I’d rather read Untamed #1 than this, because at least that was hilariously stupid. This is not hilarious, it’s just stupid.

15. AXE: Judgment Day by Kieron Gillen, Valerio Schiti, and Marte Garcia. “When Captain America’s body spray offends Wolverine’s hyper-senses, THERE MUST BE A RECKONING!!!!!!” Does this have to do with Krakoa? It does? Moving on, then.

14. Grim by Stephanie Phillips, Flaviano, and Rico Renzi. I mean, I enjoyed this, but #14? I doubt it.

13. The Good Asian by Pornsak Pichetshote, Alexandre Tefenkgi, and Lee Loughridge. The big collection of this should be out soon, and then I can judge! Sounds neat, though.

12. Newburn by Chip Zdarsky and Jacob Phillips. This is a pretty good comic, although, as with a lot of these up here, I’m surprised by its placement. But it’s still a worthwhile read!

11. Devil’s Reign by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, and Marcio Menyz. I mean, this just sounds awful. Oh well.

10. Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Gene Ha, Nicola Scott, Wesley Wong, and Annette Kwok. I’m looking forward to the trade of this, because it looks awesome.

9. X-Men Red by Al Ewing et al. Does this have a connection to “Krakoa”? Yes? Well, then. And X-Men in space? No, thank you.

8. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Sigh. Saga is back, so it’s automatically back in the Top Ten even though it really doesn’t deserve it. Oh well.

7. Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang. This is another one I’m looking forward to in trade format, so I have no idea whether it’s this good or not. It looks keen, though.

6. Public Domain by Chip Zdarsky. This trade is supposed to be out on the 18th of January, so we’ll see. But I did order it!

5. Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross. Yeah, I don’t think so. The art is amazing, of course, but the story is just kind of there. There’s no way this is #5, although if it were further down on the list, I’d be fine with it.

4. Nightwing by Tom Taylor et al. I mean, maybe, but I don’t think this could be #4. But that’s just me.

3. Once & Future by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, and Tamra Bonvillain. I very much dig Once & Future, but I’m not sure if it’s the #3 book of the year. I am very impressed that it’s #3 on this list, though. I wouldn’t think it would be popular enough to be on enough ballots. Cool.

2. Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen, Lucas Werneck, Michele Bandini, David Curiel, and Diijo Lima. As you know, I read the first issue of this comic and did not think much of it, but maybe it got better? Gillen is a very good writer, so maybe he could make it work, but … Krakoa. Dang you, Krakoa!

1. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. I wouldn’t put this as my #1, but I’m very impressed that enough people had this on their ballots to be #1. It’s a perfectly worthy top choice, but I’m still surprised. Good job, Kate Beaton!

Obviously, I think some books are missing. In the graphic novel arena, I would probably have Tiny Acts of Violence, Ultrasound, and The City of Belgium pretty high on my list. With ongoing series or mini-series, I’d probably have Manifest Destiny, The Rush, Home Sick Pilots, Crimson Cage, Crossover, My Bad (a better Russell satire than Not All Robots), Decorum (which might have made it in an earlier year?), Echolands, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (which I’m pretty sure made it last year, as the trade came out in January), and 6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton (ditto) on the list, although I’m not sure if they’d all make it or in what order. Still, this is an interesting list, and I always like seeing how wrong some people are and also what books I might have missed this year. There are a lot of comics out there, people, and you can’t read all of them, but you can find some neat things on lists like this! State your opinions in the comments!