By Zack Quaintance — There’s a tough thing that happens when you start putting together a best of the year list for periodical comics, in that some series have showed great (great!) promise, but just haven’t been around long enough to compete with stories that are a dozen chapters-plus into their runs. That’s why today I’m doing a way-too-early Best New Comics of 2021 list. One important caveat to note here is that I didn’t include any as-of-yet-unlaunched series; only books that have debuted and are in position to remain strong in the coming year.

Basically, these are all series I am excited to see much more of 2021. Enjoy!

Best New Comics of 2021

A Dark Interlude
Writer: Ryan O’Sullivan
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: Vladimir Popov
Letterer: Andworld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
After the stunning success of Fearscape, comes A Dark Interlude, the story of—No! The only offence to literature greater than the loathsome synopsis is the sequel. I will not stand idle while some poor excuse for an editor mangles and confuses my story, which is intact, perfect, and concluded, with this derivative drivel. Mark my words, this nonsense has nothing to do with my tale. I am not in it. I do not condone it. And you, dear reader, should not buy it. -HH
Why It’s Cool: I absolutely loved Fearscape, and this book is the not-a-sequel sequel (it makes sense if you’re familiar with this series) to Fearscape. Read our A Dark Interlude #1 review here!
Buy It Here: A Dark Interlude

Barbalien: Red Planet
Script By: Tate Brombal
Story By: Jeff Lemire and Tate Brombal
Artist: Gabriel Hernandez Walta
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
From Jeff Lemires Black Hammer! A groundbreaking new sci-fi action series in the world of the Eisner Award-winning Black Hammer universe, about prejudice, honor, and identity. Mark Markz has found his place on Earth as both a decorated police officer and as the beloved superhero, Barbalien. But in the midst of the AIDS crisis, hatred from all sides makes balancing these identities seem impossible--especially when a Martian enemy from the past hunts him down to take him back, dead or alive. Origin Story for Barbalien. Art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta (New Mutants, X-Men)!
Why It’s Cool: This is just the latest great expansion of one of the best things in comics, The Black Hammer Universe.
Buy It Here: Barbalien - Red Planet

Bliss
Writer: Sean Lewis
Artist: Caitlin Yarsky
Publisher: Image Comics
The team behind hit comic COYOTES returns for an all-new, two-arc maxi-series. There's a drug called Bliss wiping away memories in Feral City. A good-hearted young man, overwhelmed by a deathly sick child and distraught wife, makes a deal to become the personal hitman to three gods, killing those in their way and sending memories down the river of Oblivion in exchange for his family’s well-being. Breaking Bad meets Neil Gaiman's Sandman in an urban fantasy unlike any you've ever seen.
Why It’s Cool: One of the best new urban fantasies in comics, Bliss has been such a rewarding and heartfelt series, one that is equally rooted in family and in the bigger ideas that make the artwork in this comic so enjoyable. This is also the second collaboration between writer Sean Lewis and Caitlin Yarsky, and the experienced creative alchemy between the duo shows in the work that they continue to turn out with what will undoubtedly by one of the best comics of 2021.
Buy It Here: Bliss

Commanders in Crisis
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Davide Tinto
Colorist: Francesca Carotenuto
Letterer: Fabio Amelia
Publisher: Image Comics
The last survivors of the Multiverse live among us under new, superheroic identities, five survivors of doomed worlds...taking a second chance to ensure our world lives on. A new twist on strange superhero comics, with a bleeding-edge eye on the modern moment, COMMANDERS IN CRISIS follows in the footsteps of Doom Patrol and Thunderbolts as five unexpected heroes come together to solve a murder unlike any other. The victim? Compassion itself…This is ideacide! A new series by acclaimed writer STEVE ORLANDO (Wonder Woman, Doom Patrol: Milk Wars, Martian Manhunter) and artist DAVIDE TINTO (Marvel Action: Spider-Man), an intense, weird action thriller reminding us about the importance of compassion and hope in the present moment, and putting fists to faces along the way!
Why It’s Cool: You can read our Commanders in Crisis #1 review here, but as I wrote there, this is a fantastic superhero event comic that is free from the limiting shackles of corporate-held IPs. Anything can happen here, be it surprising, bombastic, or subversive, and it’s a hell of a thing.
Read It Digitally: Commanders in Crisis

Friday
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Marcos Martin
Colorist: Munsta Vicente
Publisher: Panel Syndicate
Friday Fitzhugh spent her childhood solving crimes and digging up occult secrets with her best friend Lancelot Jones, the smartest boy in the world. But that was the past, now she's in college, starting a new life on her own. Except when Friday comes home for the holidays, she's immediately pulled back into Lance's orbit and finds that something very strange and dangerous is happening in their little New England town...This is literally the Christmas vacation from Hell and neither of them may survive to see the New Year.
Why It’s Cool: You can read my glowing Friday #1 review here, but, put simply, Friday brings together a pair of comics titans in writer Ed Brubaker and artist Marcos Martin, putting them in new and unfamiliar genre territory with this post-YA mystery story. The results are fantastic, giving us what is all but certain to remain. one of the best comics of 2021.
Read It Digitally: Friday via Panel Syndicate

Home Sick Pilots
Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Caspar Wijngaard
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Image Comics
The team behind LIMBO, DAN WATTERS (Lucifer, COFFIN BOUND) and CASPAR WIJNGAARD (Star Wars, Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt), launch a brand-new ONGOING SERIES.
In the summer of 1994, a haunted house walks across California. Inside is Ami, lead singer of a high school punk band—who’s been missing for weeks. How did she get there, and what do these ghosts want? Expect three-chord songs and big bloody action that’s Power Rangers meets The Shining (yes, really).
Why It’s Cool: Home Sick Pilots is an ingenious blend of punk rock music/culture/ethos with a teen horror story, all brought to life by visionary artist Caspar Wijngaard and rising star writer Dan Watters. It’s a relentlessly stylish and entertaining comic that is certain to keep making noise as one of the best comics of 2021. You can read our Home Sick Pilots #1 review here.
Read It Digitally: Home Sick Pilots

I Walk With Monsters
Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Sally Cantirino
Colorist: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Andworld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
In Jacey’s past is the Important Man who took away her brother. Now Jacey has David, who sometimes transforms into a terrifying beast. Together, they’ve found a way to live--and to hunt, sniffing out men who prey on the vulnerable. But Jacey and David are about to run into the Important Man again. From Paul Cornell (Wolverine, Doctor Who, Elementary) and Sally Cantirino (Last Song, We Have To Go Back) comes a haunting story about the monsters that walk beside us all, and sometimes lurk within.
Why It’s Cool: I Walk With Monsters debuted late last year with what my review described as a perfect first issue. The book sort of hit at the perfect personal horror comic ideal, blending character-driven trauma with genre touches in a way that felt well-paced and engaging. This is no easy feat, but I Walk With Monsters makes it seem that way. This is without question one to watch for 2021.
Read It Digitally: I Walk With Monsters

Iron Man
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Cafu
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Tony Stark is looking to restart his engine. He's going back to basics, putting away his high-tech toys and high-profile image so he can get his hands dirty again. It's time to put on some old-fashioned metal — and fly! But can Tony really lay down that Stark-sized ego? Life just isn't that simple, something old friends and frustrating foes are quick to point out. So Iron Man takes the fight back to the streets, facing down old-school villains like Arcade and the Absorbing Man. But what's really going on in Tony's head? As old friends like Hellcat try to help him find peace of mind, lurking on the horizon is a threat Tony — and the entire cosmos — hasn't seen in years. Prepare for the new saga of Korvac!
Why It’s Cool: Every time a new issue from this burgeoning Iron Man run has come out, I’ve eventually taken to Twitter to post artwork from it, pointing out how this book manages to be both intensely psychological and rooted in character, yet also high on the giant lightning strikes of superhero theatrics. It’s a really stunning blend, made all the more impressive by the way that Cantwell and Cafu so expertly root everything that goes on — from the Tony Stark character beats to the heroes he teams up with — in continuity from the past. It’s obviously still early, but this is my pick for breakout new superhero comic of 2021, in the style of House of X or Immortal Hulk.
Read It Digitally: Iron Man

Penultiman
Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Alan Robinson
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: Ahoy Comics
From the pages of the AHOY interactive sensation Steel Cage! Penultiman, The Next-To-Last-Stage In Human Evolution, is the greatest, best-looking, and most admired super-hero in the world! So how can he stop hating himself? His android understudy, Antepenultiman, thinks he knows the answer! Created by Tom Peyer and Alan Robinson. All AHOY books feature additional prose stores and art.
Why It’s Cool: As staff writer Jacob Cordas articulated so well in his Penultiman #1 review, this comic is a satire about a Sad Sack Superman, and in many ways it feels like a perfect book for exploring a self-concious side of superheroes that’s rarely touched on or considered. Of course these heroes have issues, and Penultiman is determined to take a tragicomic path right to the heart of them, making it a must-read for 2021 as it heads toward its second half.
Read It Digitally: Penultiman

Post Americana
Writer/Artist: Steve Skroce
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Lettering and Design: Fonografiks
Publisher: Image Comics
From MAESTROS creator, WE STAND ON GUARD co-creator, and The Matrix storyboard artist STEVE SKROCE with coloring by Eisner Award-winning DAVE STEWART. The Cheyanne mountain installation, aka The BUBBLE, is the most sophisticated super bunker in the world. It was built to ensure the survival of America's executive branch of government and its most important citizens, should the unthinkable happen. When the world ended, the executive branch failed to reach the sanctuary, but the elite citizenry did. Eighty years later, one of their own has named himself the new President of the United States. His plan? Subjugate the survivors of the American Wasteland using the same bunker resources meant to rebuild it. The only thing standing in their way is a deadly Wasteland girl, hellbent on revenge!
Why It’s Cool: You can read several hundred words of glowing praise for this book in my Post Americana #1 review, but put simply, writer/artist Steve Skroce has made the best-looking and most-exciting apocalypse comic.
Read It Digitally: Post Americana #1

Red Atlantis
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Robert Carey
Colorist: Rosh
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Story By: Janosh Neumann, Victorya Neumann, and Nicholas Leeds
Publisher: AfterShock Comics
A series of unexplained, violent crimes on Election Day around the U.S. leads the FBI to zero in on a covert group of Russian terrorists. When a Texas journalism student named Miriam accidentally finds herself mixed up in the investigation, her life will never be the same. With political espionage, treason, and even mind control, can she clear her name and stop the U.S. from entering into a new Cold War? From writer Stephanie Phillips (Butcher of Paris, ARTEMIS AND THE ASSASSIN, DESCENDENT) and artist Robert Carey (Aliens: Resistance, James Bond) comes a fast-paced political thriller that explores the dark history of U.S./Russian relations.
Why It’s Cool: This book features commentary on current events, espionage, superpowers, and a protagonist who is a reporter. It checks all my boxes, personally, but it’s also just a very exciting read from start to finish, one I expect to gain more acclaim as more readers discover it this year.
Read It Digitally: Red Atlantis

Stillwater
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Ramón K Perez
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics - Skybound
Nobody dies. In the town of Stillwater, that’s not just a promise. It’s a threat. Join superstar writer CHIP ZDARSKY (Daredevil, THE WHITE TREES) and Eisner Award-winning artist RAMÓN K. PÉREZ (Tales of Sand, Jane) as they dive into a world of horror and intrigue in this new Skybound original series.
Why It’s Cool: Last but definitely not least on our list of best comics of 2021, is Stillwater, which debuted late last year and has been excellent ever since. You can read about why the first issue was so good in our Stillwater #1 review, and also rest assured that the series has maintained this high level of excellence throughout its first arc. This isn’t just an entertaining comic; it’s one that has the potential to be the first-major new long-running Image series of recent months.
Read It Digitally: Stillwater

Check out our Best Comics of 2020 — Staff Picks!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.