Top 12 Marvel Comics of 2021 [Part 1]
While 2021 may not have been the best year for things like “immunocompromised people being able to leave their houses,” it was a great year for Marvel Comics! Over the past twelve months, we’ve seen one incredible title from the House of Ideas after another. Now, in the final days of the year, Marvel Blog is counting down our Top 12 Marvel Comics of 2021!
Here’s the first six, Marvel Blog True Believers!
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The Winter Guard
Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
In The Winter Guard, the stars of Black Widow, Yelena Belova and Alexei Shostakov, find themselves pitted against the Russian equivalent of the Avengers in an espionage-fueled conflict. This series was a sleeper hit that featured some of my favorite Marvel Comics characters, like Ursa Major!
The creative team on this series included Ryan Cady, Djibril Morissette-Phan, Jan Bazaldua, Federico Blee, Ariana Maher, Toni Infante, and Fernando Sifuentes.
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Star Wars: Bounty Hunters
Bounty Hunters #13 Pride Variant by Jacopo Camagni. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
There were lots of great Star Wars books from Marvel Comics this year, but Bounty Hunters was my absolute favorite. These tie-in issues not only featured the return of Valance, a legacy Star Wars character who gets plenty of upgrades under the pen of scribe Ethan Sacks, but also fantastic new characters like T’Onga and Losha.
Plus, when it comes to tie-in issues for War of the Bounty Hunters, this title consistently delivered the goods. How’s that for totally wizard?
Bounty Hunters #18. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
(Note: please see Marvel Blog’s individual reviews of Bounty Hunters for creative teams on this title.)
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Heroes Reborn
Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
In this New-ish 52-ish Marvel Comics crossover event, the Marvel Universe was remade by President Coulson, who wields the Pandemonium Cube! This story is exactly as wild as it sounds, and in addition to the main title issues being a lot of fun, the tie-ins have some incredible additions.
The main books in this event were mostly written by Jason Aaron, but please see Marvel Blog’s individual issue reviews for full creative team details.
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Shang-Chi
Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings debuting in theaters in September 2021, it was time for a new version of Shang-Chi to be established in the panels of Marvel Comics. Fortunately, Gene Luen Yang, Dike Ruan, Tríona Farrell, Travis Lanham, Leinil Francis Yu, and Sunny Gho were up to the task! This six issue series sets up the new status quo for the Marvel Comics version of the eponymous hero (which is a little different than the Ten Rings-welding MCU incarnation).
But my favorite part of this six-issue arc was the way that it allows the characters we think of as the heroes of the Marvel Universe to make bad decisions regarding how they treat Shang-Chi. Sometimes, things like this can happen – and it’s cathartic to see it depicted in the panels of Marvel Comics.
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Silk
Silk #1 cover by Stonehouse. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
Twhip thwip! Are you looking for the best Spider-Book of the year? Then look no further than Silk by Maurene Goo, Takeshi Miyazawa, Ian Herring, and Maher! This series let us better get to know Cindy Moon, her hot therapist, and her antagonists (who proved to be much more complicated than you might expect at first glance).
Plus, this title featured plenty of quality J. Jonah Jameson action. I want pictures of Silk (in future Spider-Man adaptations)!
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M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games
Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games is such a great comic that it would have a place on this list even if it weren’t for the Gwenpool cameo! This hilarious comic proves that creators Jordan Blum, Patton Oswalt, Scott Hepburn, Carlos Lopez, Lanham, and Cully Hammer just might know the Marvel Comics universe better than anyone else.
As my wife Avery Kaplan said in her review of Head Games for The Beat, “By the time you reach the conclusion of this four-issue miniseries, some real pathos has been uncovered.” Plus, it explains how the comic connects to Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. on Hulu, one of the funniest shows of 2021!
More Marvels to Come
You’ll want to return to Marvel Blog tomorrow, the final day of 2021, in which we’ll reveal our top six choices for the Top Marvel Comics of 2021!
Plus, we want to hear your countdown, too! Share your thoughts with us in the comment section.
