Buying comics can be an expensive hobby. A lot of fans simply can’t afford everything they’re interested in, due to rising prices and the over-saturation of the market with superhero titles.
That’s why we’re here. Every week, the Multiversity staff is asked “What would you buy this week if you couldn’t go over $20?” and shares their reasons why, in order to help others who might have similar tastes make their own decisions in buying comics on a budget. Be sure to leave your own picks in the comments!
Kate’s Picks:
Marvel’s Voices: Heritage #1 ($4.99): If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to read more diverse stories, here’s a great way to start.
Doctor Who: Empire of the Wolf #3 ($3.99): Issue #2 kicked the story into high gear, and I’m really excited to see where this goes.
We Ride Titans #1 ($3.99): If you thought your family tested your limits around the holidays, throw in some kaiju and it’s “hold my beer and watch this” time. This has the feel of a Pacific Rim sequel or spin-off, and sometimes kaiju fun is what you need to get through the cold grey bucket of suck that is January.
Total: $12.97
Johnny’s Picks:
Joe Hill’s Rain #1 ($3.99) – I wrote about one of my favorite new artists, Zoe Thorogood, for Multiversity’s 2021 Year in Review just a few short weeks ago without having much awareness of what this young talent was going to be up to next. Well, along with writer David M. Booher, the pair will be adapting one of superstar writer Joe Hill’s novellas for Image Comics, this here miniseries! Thorogood has such an odd, unsettling line – with faces that appear both lifelike but edging towards that uncanny valley into the gothic or surreal. This should serve to tell Hill’s story of a bizarre apocalypse involving spikes of crystalline nails raining from the sky quite well.
Hawkeye Kate Bishop #3 ($3.99) – Five issues seems like the perfect length for this story, and with these creators – which isn’t to say it’s bad, it’s actually quite charming, and Enid Balam’s funky aesthetic is growing on me. Special props to color artist Brittany Peer for absolutely soaking the pages in rich, vibrant colors that plays really well with Balam’s layouts. This mini has been a pleasant surprise.
King Conan #2 ($3.99) – Mahmud Asrar’s time on Conan has cemented his status as one of my favorite artists of this generation, and coming back to the character with Jason Aaron feels like a tidy bow on a fantastic, albeit short, run on the iconic barbarian, rogue, pirate, and now monarch. I see Buscema, I see Corben, I even see a little bit of Barry Windsor Smith in this final tale – Asrar making excellent use of negative space and panel construction to make the fights claustrophobic, intense, and most importantly, goddamn brutal.
Total: $11.97 – I’ll also be grabbing the last “Marauders” issue of this volume, Cloonan, Conrad, and Corona’s deliriously fun run on “Batgirls,” Lemire and Nguyen’s not-so-fun-run on “Robin & Batman,” and more High Republic shenanigans from Charles Soule to get my Star Wars fix!
Brian’s Picks:
Detective Comics #1048 ($3.99) – The ‘Shadows the Bat’ event has been really fun and interesting thus far and, as usual, the best Batman titles rarely have Batman in them.
Falconspeare ($17.99) – When Scott Allie replaced John Arcudi as Mike Mignola’s main collaborator in the Mignolaverse, my interest in those books dropped off considerably. However, Warwick Johnson-Cadwell’s “Falconspeare,” featuring characters created by Mignola, are still among my most treasured reads of the past few years. Spoiler alert: “Falconspeare,” the third in this series, is excellent, and well worth going slightly over budget for.
Total: $21.98 – I’m only human.
Mark’s Picks:
Falconspeare ($17.99) – I’ve been anticipating this book for two years now, so it really had to be on my list, even though there are so many comics I’ll be picking up as well. This is the third book in the “Professor J.T. Meinhardt and His Assistant Mr. Knox” series, and rather than settle into something familiar, writer and artist Warwick Johnson-Cadwell pushes the series into new territory. Brian and I have a full review coming out this Wednesday. We both really enjoyed it.
Total: $17.99. Though, I’ll actually be spending double that since I’ll also be picking up “Mazebook” #5, The Good Asian #10, What’s the Furthest Place from Here? #3, and The Sword of Hyperborea #1 (which is so damn good).
