By Zack Quaintance — So, it all comes down to this…my very tardy ranking of the best comics of 2021, the top five (periodical comics in North America only…phew). If you want to see the rest of my list, you can click these links for #6 - #15 and #16 - #25. You can also check the site later this week for lists of the best single issues of 2021, as well as best new series (books that launched strong but will be more closely associated with next year).

As always, you can find some brief guidelines that pertain to this list below…enjoy!

Learn to love categories: Cramming the best comics of the year into one list is a challenge, so why not make multiple lists? We have our group-sourced Staff Picks, which gives anyone who wrote for the site last year a chance to weigh in. On top of that, check back soon for our Best Graphic Novels of 2021 list, to be completed once I have read a critical mass of last year’s graphic novels (soon, I promise!).

Monthly periodicals only: This list is also limited to books that came out monthly (or close enough) in the North American comics periodicals market. I say this every year, but we are still searching for someone to regularly write about webcomics, manga, or crowdsourced comics via monthly columns for us, so if you’re interested in any of that, please reach out via an email to zackq@batmansbookcase.com.
Longevity matters: Finally, choices here considered how many issues were published in 2021. This makes it harder to put debuts or series that wrapped early on our list, barring some exceptions. Basically, I’m looking for comics most closely associated with 2021, so the list feels like a reflection of what comics I was reading this year.

5. Wasted Space
Writer: Michael Moreci
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Vault Comics
Issues in 2021: 7
Billy Bane is a prophet who got it all wrong, and the galaxy has been burning ever since. All he wants is to waste away in the darkest corner of space with his best pal Dust, a supercharged Fuq bot. But when a new prophet comes calling, Billy is summoned to save the galaxy he's at least partially responsible for destroying. Too bad he couldn't care less.
Why It’s Cool: With the arrival of its 25th issue finale this year, Wasted Space takes its position among the best space operas in all of comics. I’ve written about this book so much over the years — it was actually one of the first two comics I reviewed for this site all the way back in early 2018, when the site and the series first launched — and all of it glowing. In brief, I just think this book offers readers a singular blend of philosophy, fast-paced space action, visionary fearless artwork, and unflinching character study.
With lesser creative inspiration and narrative momentum, these ingridients might seem disjointed at times, but after 25 fantastic issues, Wasted Space has no missteps. It’s a voice-heavy romp of a book that comes off as fun as it does personal and honest. It’s a rare comic, and it will be sorely missed. If somehow you missed it in its run, brace for the full collected hardcover that just has to be coming. You’ll love it, I promise.
Read This Book: Start with Wasted Space Vol. 1 and go from there…

4. The Blue Flame
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Adam Gorham
Colorist: Kurt Michael Russell
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: Vault Comics
Issues in 2021: 6
THE BLUE FLAME is a cosmic hero. The Blue Flame is a DIY vigilante that fights crime on the streets of Milwaukee. The Blue Flame is a blue collar HVAC repairman named SAM BRAUSAM. In the wake of a horrific tragedy, the boundaries of the Blue Flame’s identity blur even further. Now, before a universal trial, the Blue Flame must prove that humanity is worth saving. But in order to do that, Sam Brausam has to save himself. Can he?
Why It’s Cool: The Blue Flame is a smart and powerful story that takes superhero tropes and uses them to raise questions about how it feels to struggle onward in our present moment…at least I think. One of the qualities that made this book one of my five favorite monthly comics in 2021 was that the nature of the story has evolved so thoroughly from issue to issue, blurring and refocusing its reality in a way that’s evocative of the recent-classic Mister Miracle miniseries from Mitch Gerads and Tom King.
To me, at the heart of The Blue Flame is a contemplation on intentions, on trauma, and on how it feels to be hurt. This themes are all raised by dual narratives, one of which is set on deep space and the other in Wisconsin. I don’t want to give too much away, but as the book has continued the two narratives have started to increasingly overlap, building more power and poignancy. I’ve loved every last page of it, and with just four issues left to go, I’m confident this book is building to something truly special.
Read our interview with writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Adam Gorham!

3. Catwoman - Lonely City
Writer/Artist: Cliff Chiang
Publisher: DC Comics - Black Label
Issues in 2021: 2
Ten years ago, the massacre known as Fools' Night claimed the lives of Batman, The Joker, Nightwing, and Commissioner Gordon...and sent Selina Kyle, the Catwoman, to prison. A decade later, Gotham has grown up-it's put away costumed heroism and villainy as childish things. The new Gotham is cleaner, safer...and a lot less free, under the watchful eye of Mayor Harvey Dent and his Batcops. It's into this new city that Selina Kyle returns, a changed woman...with her mind on that one last big score: the secrets hidden inside the Batcave! She doesn't need the money-she just needs to know...who is "Orpheus"?
Why It’s Cool: First things first, I know one of the three guidelines I put in place for this list was longevity matters…and yet here I am putting a book that only had two issues out in 2021 at #3. Well, both of those issues were oversized, making for half the total story here, so I feel like it’s merited. Also, this comic is just sooo good. It’s a very modern comic, armed as it is with Cliff Chiang’s artwork, and Chiang being one of the best designers in the superhero comics game. He’s also one of the best sequential storytellers, laying out a narrative here that feels steeped in 2021 culture in the best way, as well as additive insider nods to life in New York City (and Gotham has always been New York City).
In addition, this is a book that looks at the future of a Batman characters, and it takes careful steps to pay homage to the classic comics before it that have done the same, specifically The Dark Knight Returns. I’ve said this several times (mostly on Twitter), but with Catwoman - Lonely City, Selina Kyle is getting her own DKR, just with a refreshing modern aesthetic/sensability update that makes for quite possible the best Big 2 comic of the young 2020 decade thus far.
Read This Comic: Catwoman - Lonely City #1, and Catwoman - Lonely City #2
Read our review of Catwoman - Lonely City #1!

2. The Department of Truth
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Image Comics
Issues in 2021: 10
Cole Turner has studied conspiracy theories all his life, but he isn’t prepared for what happens when he discovers that all of them are true, from the JFK assassination to flat Earth theory and reptilian shapeshifters. One organization has been covering them up for generations. What is the deep, dark secret behind the Department of Truth?
Why It’s Cool: Talk about a bold and timely comic. This series (which finished just outside the top 20 last year) really came into its own in 2021, making good on the incredible amount of potential inherent to its ambitious and interesting concept. Yes, in The Department of Truth we all live in a world where if enough people believe passionately in a conspiracy, it manifests itself in reality as a truth. This is a fantastical and really compelling way to unpack the outsized impact that conspiracy theorists, disinformation, and just general disregard for reality is having on our society.
That is, of course, one thing, and we’ll get into the relevance to our current moment a bit more with our #1 pick. What is also very impressive to me about The Department of Truth is the way the creative team has so perfectly affixed its storytelling choices to the concept. The writing, of course, does this inherently, and it does it well. There are conversations in here about conspiracies, mass belief, and other perceptions of reality that really made me think about all that’s happening today. That’s a big credit for a comic. In addition, the visuals that Martin Simmons is creating in tandem with Bidikar’s absolutely jolting lettering (read more on that via Ritesh Babu’s fantastic piece here) really makes the hazy nature of reality a key part of this book through the visuals. In 2021, there were few new issues I looked forward to as excitedly as The Department of Truth, just one series really and we’ll get into that below…
Read These Comics: Start with The Department of Truth, Vol. 1 and go from there
Read more about the role of lettering in The Department of Truth!

1. The Nice House on the Lake
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Alvaro Martinez Bueno
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Andworld Design
Publisher: DC Comics - Black Label
Issues in 2021: 6
Everyone who was invited to the house knows Walter-well, they know him a little, anyway. Some met him in childhood; some met him months ago. And Walter's always been a little...off. But after the hardest year of their lives, nobody was going to turn down Walter's invitation to an astonishingly beautiful house in the woods, overlooking an enormous sylvan lake. It's beautiful, it's opulent, it's private-so a week of putting up with Walter's weird little schemes and nicknames in exchange for the vacation of a lifetime? Why not? All of them were at that moment in their lives when they could feel themselves pulling away from their other friends; wouldn't a chance to reconnect be...nice?
Why It’s Cool: Claiming my top spot for the best comics of 2021 is The Nice House on the Lake. As I wrote back in June when the first issue hit, this is one of the most compelling and assured debut issues I’ve read, ever. It’s just so well-told, engaging from the first paged and perfectly paced. I loved it all, from the mysterious concept at this book’s core to the way it used infographics, making it as far as I can recollect the first non Jonathan Hickman comic to use infographics in a way I enjoyed. And the quality hasn’t dipped in the subsequent five issues either. It’s reductive and kind of dopey to say it this way, but I am at a loss for a better way to describe it — this book whips ass.
What truly elevates this comic however is a similar perspective on our current times to The Department of Truth. With both books being written by James Tynion IV, I see these books as companion pieces. Whereas The Department of Truth looks at the symptoms — anger, distrust, susceptibility to false narratives that run counter to society — The Nice House on the Lake looks at the affliction. It’s a book about largely privileged people riding out the apocalypse in comfort. As the world literally burns around them, they sit in a nice house on a lake where something mysterious brings them whatever they request. Does that sound familiar to you? It just might, and there’s a lot of powerful questions to be raised about why that is, how it came to be, and what happens next.
Read These Comics: Pre-order The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 1, due to arrive in March
Read the full review of The Nice House on the Lake #1!

Check out Best Comics of 2021, #6 to #15!

Check out Best Comics of 2021, #16 to #25!

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