The best comics of 2021

The Comics Panel team picks its top 10 comics of 2021

By Justin Carter, M.L. Kejera, Caitlin Rosberg, Oliver Sava | January 14, 2022 | 5:00pm

Books Lists Comics

Clockwise from top left: Alexander, The Servant, And The Water Of Life (Image: Reimena Yee), Djeliya (Image: TKO Studios), The Good Asian (Image: Image Comics), Graveneye (Image: TKO), Look Back (Image: Viz Media), No One Else (Image: Fantagraphics), Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (Image: DC Comics), Radiant Black (Image: Image Comics), Tiger, Tiger (Image: Petra Erika Nordland), Wayne Family Adventures (Image: DC Comics/Webtoon) Graphic: Natalie Peeples

The comic book industry has shifted after the massive disruption of 2020. Publishers started exploring new distribution partners in 2021, and big-name creators joined forces with Substack to make the newsletter platform a surprising power-player. Seeing the massive success of the Webtoon digital platform, DC and Marvel both launched their own vertical-scroll digital comics, with the former partnering with Webtoon directly (and seeing much better results). Change often inspires creativity, and this year saw some exceptional releases from all corners of the industry. Here are the 10 best comics of 2021, according to our Comics Panel writers.

Wayne Family Adventures (DC/Webtoon)

Wayne Family Adventures (DC/Webtoon)Over the last several years, it’s been very easy to be sick of Batman, or at least one specific version of him. While most of the Dark Knight’s media has focused on him saving a city under constant turmoil with his constantly expanding entourage, Webtoon’s is a considerably lighter and breezier affair. CRC Payne, Maria Li, and Starbite’s weekly webcomic is superhero slice of life at its most fun, and the format works extremely well for Batman and his entourage of young adult vigilantes. While these characters are no strangers to crime fighting, the series is more about delivering fans what they’ve been making up on the fly for years as the various Batfamily members get into easily digestible misadventures. There’s a lot of fun in just seeing them all bounce off each other, whether it’s Bruce getting upset that his kids have non-Batman merchandise or the Robins trying to outclass each other in exercising. Wayne Family Adventures is one of the best Bat-books out right now, and an exciting start for DC’s first deal with the online platform. [Justin Carter]

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