The entire comics landscape has slowly been changing, increasingly moving away from the days of ongoing comics and shifting towards mini-series and two-arc maxi-series. Publishers typically save space amongst their ongoing offerings for the biggest titles imaginable, and that’s exactly what we’re here to celebrate today: the heaviest of hitters in today’s comic books. Over the past few weeks, the minds behind ComicBook.com have convened to discuss the best ongoing titles to hit the shelves over the course of 2021—finally, we determined which series edged out all other ongoing titles this year.
Videos by ComicBook.com
And the winner of the 2021 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Ongoing Comic is…
Moon Knight by Jed Mackay and Alessandro Cappuccio!
Conveniently enough, the crew at Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios work closely enough to make sure their schedules are often pretty similar. With a live-action Moon Knight series on the way, it was but a matter of time before the House of Ideas brought Marc Spector and his many identities back to print, and the effort has been one of Marvel’s best efforts in recent memory.
Spinning out of the pages of the “Age of Khonshu” arc in Avengers from Jason Aaron and Ed McGuiness, this new Moon Knight series does exactly what one wants from the Fist of Khonshu—it deconstructs the street-level vigilante and returns him to the roots. Throughout the six issues published in 2021, Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio have closely examined Spector and where he resides amongst the pantheon of Marvel greats.
The end result has been a deeply personal character study that follows the character through therapy, and makes him the most human superhero we’ve seen in quite some time—despite being directly connected with a god from Ancient Egyptian mythology.
MacKay’s scripts are as dark as they come, with some classic Spectorian humor sprinkled throughout for just the right amount of levity when needed. Furthermore, Cappuccio puts forth some intense artwork, paying respects to the vigilante roots of the character while creating a sense of urgency through rushed and wispy lines. It only takes but a few panels before the art sets the tone, putting you in the driver’s seat for this intense story.
As with most ongoing titles in the current landscape, there’s no telling just how long the creative team will be able to continue telling stories within their run, but Moon Knight is the best of the best at this point in time. MacKay and Cappuccio have something brewing and should it keep powering forward, the duo might find themselves amongst the hall of Moon Knight greats.
Congrats to the Moon Knight team on their Golden Issue Awards win!
The nominees for Best Ongoing Comic are:
- Black Widow (Marvel)
- Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters (Oni Press)
- Moon Knight (Marvel) — WINNER
- Nightwing (DC)
- Wonder Girl (DC)
