Comicon’s 5 Best Comic Artists Of 2022
by Erik Amaya
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 Comic Artists of 2022.
5. Bruno Redondo
Not only a deft and dramatic draughtsman, but also one of the most innovative artists working in comics today. And on Nightwing, Redondo has continued to push the boundaries and conventions of comic book art; delivering something fresh and exciting issue after issue. No wonder Nightwing is doing so well for DC Comics, with expertise like this raising the bar for the whole industry. Exciting, original, surprising.
— Olly MacNamee
4. Caspar Wijngaard
Wijngaard is a singular talent in the industry right now. I would love simply to post panel after panel of his work on Homesick Pilots and All Against All. He doesn’t just have a great grasp on humanity and how to show the average person coping with the mundane and the fantastic. Even if he did, he would make this list. He also has an exception talent for the macabre, the supernatural, and the fantastic, rendering it all in a level of detail that amplifies the beauty, wonder, or horror (or sometimes all three at once). He’s always a talent that we can’t wait to see what’s next.
— Tony Thornley
3. Cliff Chiang
Chiang has managed to retain and reinvigorate the pop art vitality that makes superheroes resonate across generations. There are several eras at play in Catwoman: Lonely City – from a colorful vintage era, to a darker period, and finally a post-modern dystopia. In designing the new Gotham, Chiang has its citizens dress and use brands that parody aspects of the DCU. Whether it’s a coffee cup with Poison Ivy’s face or a “Supreme” logo that spells out “Superman,” this self-referential humor adds another level of appeal to the world. Chiang’s illustrations are a love letter to classic characters and a creative experiment with graphic design. He reminds us with every page that comics are Art.
— Tito James
2. Daniel Warren Johnson
There are few artists who’ve made as much of a splash as Daniel Warren Johnson. From his bonkers creator-owned work with Murder Falcon to his epic interpretation of Wonder Woman, Johnson got better with every project. Now with his latest series, Do A Powerbomb, Johnson renders his love of wrestling in a hero’s journey of mythological proportions.
He is a master of loud and quiet moments and never skimps on the action or the emotions. Each line works in tandem to strike the right chord. The action scenes are gloriously kinetic and the addition of hand lettering make each impact playfully silly. It’s evident when an artist is having fun with the drawing and Johnson brings out the fun on every page.
— Tito James
1. Dan Mora
It’s been a hell of a year for Mora, cementing his status as one of the best line artists in the industry. He would make it on this list for his work on the seminal Once & Future alone, but he turned in a full year of fantastic DC Universe work — including a great redesign of the goofy Silver Age Composite Superman, amazing cover after cover, and nine issues of World’s Finest. In fact, writer Mark Waid clearly just stepped back and let Mora go nuts, resulting in the best looking book DC put out this year. With TMNT/MMPR II coming at the beginning of the year, and SHAZAM! not long after, we’ve got a lot more of Mora to look forward to.
— Tony Thornley
