While 2021 may have been a roller coaster of a year that began with high hopes for a new normal in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic only to experience every imaginable up and down on the march to 2022, there’s one thing that the year delivered on without fail and that’s entertainment. Even in the face of new challenges and a world shaped by the events of last year, 2021 gave us a lot to lose ourselves in across movies, television, games, and more. In particular, this year was a strong one for graphic novels offering readers complex and engaging tales across a variety of genres each with wide appeal for readers of every demographic.
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From fresh takes on familiar characters to thought-provoking collections that dig into the inner turmoil of perceptions versus reality, 2021 gave readers a wealth of tales to make us laugh, cry, inspect our own hearts and minds, and even look at things we love with new eyes. It certainly made choosing just one as the “best” this year difficult, but the team at ComicBook.com came together and after all the votes were counted, there was one graphic novel that stood out from the rest.
And the winner of the 2021 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Graphic Novel is…
Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons written by Kelly Sue DeConnick with art by Phil Jimenez!
Published by DC Comics as part of their Black Label imprint, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons is a book that readers waited a long time for, but the moment it arrived it was clear it was very, very well worth the wait. Stunning from the very cover forward, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons delves into the creation story for the Amazons, borrowing from George Perez’s 1987s Wonder Woman run, but going further to tell the Amazons’ own history as opposed to the stories everyone knows that are told about them. It’s a staggering work, story-wise, that brings a sense of humanity to some of the most god-like characters in all of DC’s stories, but the book goes well beyond just the incredible tale.
The art in Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons is itself something of legend with Jimenez bringing to DeConnick’s story not just stunning visuals but actual masterpieces on each and every page. There is nothing about Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons that isn’t an elevated experience, making it easily not only a year’s best, but perhaps a best of all time as well.
Congrats to the team behind Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons on their Golden Issue Awards win!
The nominees for Best Graphic Novel are:
• Friend of the Devil: A Reckless Book (Image)
• Heaven No Hell (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Monsters (Fantagraphics)
• Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven (DC)
• Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (DC) — WINNER
