Comicon’s 5 Best Single Issues Of 2022

Welcome to Comicon.com’s Best of the Year Awards, gathering the best comics and comics talent of the strange year that was 2021. This year we will be awarding in the following categories: Best Original Graphic Novels, Best Comic Series, Best Single Comic Issues, Best Writers, Best Artists, Best Cover Artists, Best Colorists, Best Letterers, Best Digital/Webcomics, and Most Progressive Comics.

Contributors to Comicon’s Best of the Year Awards this year include: Oliver MacNamee, Rachel Bellwoar, Richard Bruton, Scott Redmond, Tito James, Tom Smithyman, and Tony Thornley.

The following are Comicon’s 5 Best Single Comic Issues of 2022.

5. That Texas Blood #17, published by Image Comics; written by Chris Condon, drawn, colored and lettered by Jacob Phillips

Forget caped heroes and over-the-top villains. That Texas Blood created a nuanced, compelling human drama chock full of flawed human beings who must contend with the horrors that life can sometimes throw us. There’s plenty of action as well, thanks to a terrific sequence from artist Jacob Phillips where a killer breaks into a house, waiting for his victim to return home. With this middle issue of the series’ third story arc, That Texas Blood transformed itself from a good title to a must read.

— Tom Smithyman

4.The Amazing Spider-Man #900, published by Marvel Comics, written by Zeb Wells and various, drawn by Ed McGuinness, John Romita Jr. and various

There’s nothing quite like a fun, loving celebration of a superhero and his legacy and The Amazing Spider-Man #900 did just that. Sixty years of everyone’s favourite friendly neighbourhood web-spinner, this oversized issue looked to the past for inspiration while also keeping one eye on the future. In the lead story by Zeb Wells and Ed McGuinness, we are reminded of what makes Peter Parker so unique in a heart-warming story that’s given the sheen of classicism to it thanks to McGuinness evocative Silver Age art style. And one that sees a good deal of classic Spidey villains emerge to mark this occasion. A fun and thrilling issue big on action and emotions.

— Olly MacNamee

3. Jinx’s Grim Fairy Tales, published by Archie Comics; written by Magdalene Visaggio, James III, Joe Corallo, drawn by Craig Cermak, Eva Cabrera, Evan Stanley (with inks by Ben Galvan), colored by Matt Herms, and lettered by Jack Morelli

Archie Comics have been knocking it out of the park with their one-shots this year, but there’s something about Jinx Grim Fairy Tales that stands out from the rest. The premise is simple: Jinx needs money to buy a guitar. Babysitting is her means to get it, but when the Hillson kids take it upon themselves to start destroying their kitchen, Jinx knows just what to do. Enter the three fairy tales that make-up this anthology and which Jinx tells to get them to settle down.

Sometimes the wraparound stories in anthologies are just a means to an end. Part of the fun of Jinx’s Grim Fairy Tales are the moments when the Hillsons interject or seeing Jinx insert herself into each fairy tale, so it almost becomes ambiguous whether they’re fiction or events Jinx actually lived through. From the body horror in Visaggio and Cermak’s tale, to the sinister endings, Jinx Grim Fairy Tales also never forgets that it’s part of Archie’s Chilling Adventures Presents… line, and it’s cool to see Archie Comics not have to rely on its big name characters either. Dilton, Cheryl, and Kevin aren’t exactly chop liver, but Jinx is a star (even if she doesn’t have the name recognition of Sabrina).

— Rachel Bellwoar

2. Star Trek #1, published by IDW Publishing; written by Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, drawn by Roman Rosanas, colored by Lee Loughridge, and lettered by Clayton Cowles

Currently Star Trek is enjoying a veritable golden age with its return to television, thanks to the wonders of the streaming age, and now the comics are joining in. No doubt numerous Trekkies dreamt about their favorite Trek characters all adventuring together, and thanks to Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing we know exactly what that looks like. This soft reboot had a lot of expectations and hype surrounding it, and with just the first issue it met and exceeded those expectations easily.

Kelly, Lanzing, Rosanas, Loughridge, and Cowles crafted a complete love letter to Star Trek and all the people and things that have been part of the franchise for almost sixty years. It’s not just a love letter though, it’s a fully realized unique opportunity that leaves all the limitations of television far behind. The future of Star Trek is very bright.

— Scott Redmond

1. All Against All #1, published by Image Comics; written by Alex Paknadel, drawn and colored by Caspar Wigngaard, and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

There’s the cliche of saving the best for last, but Paknadel & Wijngaard proved it to be true in December this year. All Against All #1 was an immediately engaging look into a new scifi world, and we’re hooked. This Predator and Alien-inspired scifi horror story flips the script and asks what if we were the monsters. By setting the alien antagonists up against a cunning and savage human hunter we’re already seeing something different, but the undercurrents of several plot points — like humanity’s fate, and allegorical elements about the aliens — shows this is more than just what it says on the box. We can’t wait to see what happens next.

— Tony Thornley