The 10 best comics of 2022

The comics medium is a beautiful and interconnected ecosystem, and nowhere is that better represented than in Polygon’s list of the best comics of 2022. From Marvel and DC’s blockbuster series to alternative indies and the highlights of a year in manga, comics culture remains rooted in the books that inspire it all.

The comics on this list are already in paperback form for your eager hands — no worries for trade-waiters. Eligible comics are those that have been collected for the first or last time in 2022.

Chris Schweizer and Kyle Starks

Image: Chris Schweizer/Image Comics

Many of this year’s best comics are heavy and measured or beautiful and philosophical, comics that are trying to tell little-heard truths or stories of little-known figures. Trigger Keaton’s Six Sidekicks exhibits all the same mastery of craft and love of story as the rest of the books here — but funnels all that artistic focus into the best screwball comedy of 2022.

If Trigger Keaton’s Six SidekicksIt would have two sequels on Netflix if it was a movie. Trigger Keaton is a star in martial arts movies, and was the clear replacement for Chuck Norris. He has now been found dead. Six people who played opposite him in his biggest wins and flops suspect foul play, and are determined to bring the killer to justice in spite of how they all frrrrrreakin’ despise Trigger Keaton.

This strangers-to-family group of former child actors and working adult thespians sleuth their way through an over-the-top world of Hollywood action-movie making, where crossing a brother stuntman means a STUNTMAN WAR, where the biker gang about to beat you up pauses to give you a pep talk about sticking up for your friends, and where all the catchphrases are the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard. The dialogue is amazing, the pacing is amazing, the layouts are amazing, the fights are amazing, the car chases are amazing, the depressingly plausible fake TV shows are amazing — heck, even the lettering is amazing. —Susana Polo

Filipe Andrade and Ram V

Image: Filipe Andrade/Boom Studios

There are comics that feel more like a poem than plotted panels on a page — comics that leave you not so much with memorable dialogue or dramatic set-pieces, but something more ethereal and less susceptible to description: a mood, a color, a sense of something gained or lost.

Laila Starr’s Many DeathsThis is a comic. Ram V and Filipe Andrade’s story of an avatar of Death (capital D) fated to spend her days in a mortal life may have the basic form of a myth or fable, but it has the airy quality of a watercolor painting. Andrade’s art is all sketchy lines complemented by pastel colors that blend each panel into the next. And Ram V’s prose doesn’t so much propel the action as circle around it, leading us back and forth along with the lead character as she moves, fitfully and imperfectly, toward some kind of enlightenment.

In the end, we’re left with a meditation on life, death, and the possibility of finding peace between the two that lingers long after the final page, and invites us to begin the cycle all over again. —Zach Rabiroff

Robyn and Jamila Smith

Image: Robyn Smith/Chronicle Books

It’s no surprise that Wash Day Diaries Our year-end wish list has included it. One of 2022’s most powerful, delightful, and beautifully illustrated reads, this slice-of-life graphic novel follows four Black women and best friends in the Bronx — Kim, Tanisha, Davene, and Cookie — as they experience life, love, and work through the lens of hair care.

There’s a radical softness in both Rowser’s charming writing and Smith’s pastel-hued illustration. Expanding on Black Josei Press’ gorgeous and award-winning comic Wash Day, the graphic novel is made up of five interconnected short stories — so you’re really getting five of the best comics of the year in one — each of which centers a different character and their hair routine as an entry point into their day and the friendship they share. Rowser and Smith have created a comic that is timeless and will delight readers for many years. —Rosie Knight

Lewis Hancox

Lewis Hancox/Graphix

Cartoonist Lewis Hancox’s memoir guides us through his experience of trying to survive high school while struggling with gender dysphoria. Every teen (cis and trans alike) can appreciate the frustration, awkwardness, and heartache here, even if it’s not identical to their own life. Hancox also pokes fun of his dramatic, skateboarding-loving past as a teenager. His art style permits for some silly moments.

Lewis the Author breaks down the fourth wall in the story by popping in as a narrator, and even talking to his former self. In the midst of some of his most difficult moments, when loved ones are hurt or misunderstand him, Lewis draws his past-life personality into the book. Learn how Lewis and his family and few closest friends over that period worked together to accept Lewis as who he really is. Adult Lewis continues to remind us that even though things may seem grim, they are not hopeless. —Katie Schenkel

Bilquis Evely and Tom King

Image: Bilquis Evely/DC Comics

Tom King is so synonymous with his particular brand of introspective, self-contained superhero comics, it’s become something of a goof. What obscure character did he choose to do a 12-issue miniseries on this topic? It’s funny because it’s accurate, but it does make it easy to forget that King’s writing, in which Mister Miracle brings a grocery store veggie platter to a meeting with Darkseid, is also really funny.

So yes, Supergirl: Woman of TomorrowSupergirl, a precocious, alien girl, ropes Supergirl to her side as her protector as she explores the universe searching for her father’s murderer. The comic technically falls under the sad 12-issue minis of the author. Deep down, it’s a story about separating what feels good from what feels right, and how and why we should pick ourselves up and move forward when doing so feels impossible. But up on top, it’s an episodic odd-couple travelogue, a True Grit but in space, with the Jeff Bridges/John Wayne role played to a T by Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El.

King’s blessing is that he consistently gets the best artists in the industry to work with him, and Woman of TomorrowIt is truly a masterpiece. Bilquis Evely’s work is almost indescribably beautiful here, her pacing emphatic, her compositions breathtaking, her expressions electric; the sheer creativity of the alien environments on display is phenomenal. Add in Matheus Lopes’ color work, and the book delivers multiple pages of wall-worthy art every issue.

All of this combined results in a result. True GritSuperman’s musical instrument, the Superman, plays this tune in the style The Sandman. Supergirl has never been more enjoyable than this version, which King, Evely and Lopes asked her the most important question in the superhero genre, “What does it mean to use power well?” —SP

By Hitoshi Ashinano

Image by Hitoshi Ashinano/Seven Seas

The world is over. A climate disaster has hit; cities and entire towns are currently submerged. The way we live has changed fundamentally. It’s a new world. It’s a dying world.

Imagine a cafe, managed by Alpha an immortal android, who acts as an unending caretaker for the dying world. The classic Japanese sci-fi manga and comics, Yokohama Kaidashi KikouIt’s a refreshing change from the usual postapocalyptic comics. It’s a breezy, atmospheric work all about reveling in the beauty of life and nature. It’s a book of breathtaking snapshots, capturing the little moments that make life so joyous. Hitoshi Ashinano’s cartooning is just a gorgeous celebration of the celestial skies, the serene seas, the wondrous wilds of the world, and all that lurks between them. It’s a book about the human act of looking around the world in wonder. It’s small people living in a gargantuan universe, far beyond their grasp, finding comfort and meaning in their community.

In this year Yokohama Kaidashi KikouFinally, the English edition of the book was made available for the first time. The five deluxe editions will not be forgotten. —Ritesh Babu

By Kate Beaton

Image: Kate Beaton/Drawn & Quarterly

Kate Beaton will be the 2018 recipient Hark! Hark!Fame, published a graphic memoir of her work in Alberta’s oil sands industry in 2005. She was 22 years old. Beaton’s art has always been wonderful, but her use of empty space in Ducks It is difficult to emphasize the isolation of being so far away from your home and how cold it can be at night.

Many moments of optimism and kindness are common among coworkers. Ducks. However, many of her memories have been influenced by workplace sexual harassment. Her work captures the trauma and memory loss that resulted from sexual violence, first by strangers and then by coworkers. It’s eerie and jarring, as it should be.

This graphic memoir contains many things. It is about isolation, racism, sexisms, environmental destruction, and class divisions. But the throughline of it all is negligence and carelessness with people’s lives, the casual indifference of people in power. This is not an easy book to read. I can’t recommend it enough. —KS

By Tatsuki Fujimoto

Image: Tatsuki Fujimoto/Viz Media

Chainsaw ManIt is all over the place, drawing attention to its revered creator. Tatsuki is one the greatest and most interesting mangakas in our time. You can also find it here. Chainsaw Man isn’t all he has to offer.

Although digitally published in 2013, this stunning Fujimoto photo has been finally collected in an English edition. He showcases his amazing artistry by creating a touching portrait of two young artists as they travel through time together in small-town Japan. It’s a coming-of-age story about dreams, connections, loss, and heartache, as ultimately the path of the duo takes a turn neither of them could’ve ever expected. It’s visceral, brutal, and one of the best comics of the past few years.

Fujimoto released a second one shot this year to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor. Goodbye, EriThat was also fantastic (but is still not gathered as yet). This is clearly something he’s going to be doing a lot of from now on, so if you’d like to follow his ambitious vision and career, Take a look backIt is essential. —RB

Alexandre Tefenkgi and Pornsak Pihetshote

Image: Alexandre Tefenkgi/Image Comics

Finding a great noir story is not easy. Stories that are timeless and stand out as the best in the genre must tell a compelling and original story, convey urban uncertainty and tone, and reveal something disturbing and unsolvable about the society they portray.

The Good AsianAll three of its points are met with success. Edison Hark is a Chinese American detective who follows a mysterious killer in San Francisco 1930s. The tale works at the most fundamental level of a captivating whodunit. The plot’s complexity is overshadowed by Alexandre Tefenkgi and Pornsak Pichetshote’s moods of corruption and darkness.

More than anything, the story’s genius is in its subtle, relentless exposure of the brokenness of its world: the racism of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the violence and bigotry of the police, the ultimate impossibility of really knowing what’s true and what’s a lie. This all adds up and makes it impossible to know the truth. The Good AsianIt is as disturbing a commentary piece for the present as it does an excavation into our past. —ZR

By Reimena Yee

Image: Reimena Yee/Random House

It is the story of Safia, a blind young lady who lives with her eccentric aunt following her parents’ death. The comic also has the distinction of being one of most innovatively laid out comics.

Reimena Yae is already well-known as an outstanding comics talent. Her epic, Eisner-nominated graphic book duology has already made her a household name. Konstantiniyya Carpet MerchantAnd her wonderful middle grade story Séance Tea Party. However, My Aunt is a Monster This is her most successful book to date. Saifa’s tale is brought to life through beautiful, vibrant color, experimental page layouts, and enchanting art. Similar to her middle-grade effort before, My Aunt is a MonsterThis is a deep fantasy tale that treats readers with kindness and respect. Follow Safia as she embarks on an adventure of a lifetime. This book is for everyone, no matter what age. —RK