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!
Kent’s Picks
Flash by Mark Waid Book 3 TP ($34.99) – DCs reprint game has been strong when it comes to classic Wally West. Mark Waid’s work here has every bit of that dash and swashbuckle that brought the fun back to Daredevil. Among other treats, his round serves up a team-up with Nightwing and the introduction of Impulse. Can’t say no to that.
Hellboy in Hell Library Edition HC ($49.99) – Mike Mignola’s work here is impeccable. Far better people have heaped praise on this series with far better words than I can. So, I’ll just leave it at this – there is no better presentation available than the Dark Horse Library Edition. Period. And culminations this epic are exactly what the format deserves.
Mister Miracle #3 ($3.99) – It doesn’t matter how broken the bank is. There will always be room to squeeze this in.
Total: $88.97 – Honestly, this is a week to really punish the pocketbook. There’s a about a dozen single issues dropping Wednesday that would make the top of a pull list most any other week. And we’re just lucky I don’t have the forearm strength to comfortable hold the “Justice League by Keith Giffen and J.M. Dematteis Omnibus HC Vol. 1” ($99.99). Could have easily taken this week’s total into the 2nd Century.
Matt Lune’s Picks:
Mister Miracle #3 ($3.99) – This series is mesmerising, and absolutely not what I was expecting from a new Scott Free. I’m not complaining though – it’s exploration of depression and PTSD is gripping.
Redlands #3 ($3.99) – I defy you to have read issues 1 and 2 and not be completely hooked on this new horror series. I simultaneously want to wait until there’s enough issues for me to binge all in one go, and gobble up
each issue as it comes out. Amazing.
Ragman #1 ($2.99) – I assume this is a character with a rich history in DC comics that I’ve just never heard of? It wouldn’t surprise me, I was always a Marvel guy growing up. Either way, the premise for this looks great so I’ll be checking it out.
Retcon #2 ($3.99) – The first issue of this was pretty fascinating, and while the solicit for that issue teased a premise not yet seen in the issues, I’m sticking with it to see just where this all goes.
Dark Knights #3 ($3.99) – I’ve read some really mixed reviews for this book, and while I can usually understand such criticism I straight up don’t get it with this book. I’ve loved the crazy, over the top storyline and the DC deep cuts have got me intrigued and scratching my head in equal measure. All of this is to say that I’m 100% in on whatever this book is throwing at me.
Total: $18.95 – Coming in a little cheaper this week, which makes up for me going over last Wednesday…
Kevin’s Picks:
Dark Nights: Metal #3 ($3.99) – This book is amazing, and it only gets crazier and more metal from here on out.
Detective Comics #966 ($2.99) – I love Tynion’s work on this series and I think it’s been my favorite in Rebirth and now everything has led to here and man is this beautiful. Eddy Barrows is doing the work of his career. This is awesome.
Royal City #6 ($3.99) – So Jeff Lemire has like 10 x 10^30 projects coming out in 2018, and as Royal City enters it’s second arc this week, I hope that doesn’t mean that this is ending anytime soon or going away because this is one of the most beautiful and emotional works I’ve ever had the pleasure to read.
Continued belowHarbinger Renegade #8 ($3.99) – All aboard for the Road to Harbinger Wars 2 and what I’m assuming is more death and sadness.
Falcon #1 ($3.99) – I really loved Sam as Cap. I think it was a beautiful move, and I think, with a handful of notable exceptions, that Nick Spencer’s previous Sam Wilson run was really good, and got to the heart of who Sam is. Now he’s back to being the Falcon in his first series, and for the love of God I hope this is not derivative for the character. With magic and demons and Chicago on the horizon I’m cautiously optimistic.
Total: $18.95. But, if you have an extra $16.99 stashed somewhere, Dark Horse is reprinting “Michael Chabon’s The Escapists” a companion comic series written by Brian K Vaughn spawned by Chabon’s novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which you should all read because both are love letters at their core to what comics are.
Brian’s Picks:
Detective Comics #966 ($2.99) – ‘A Lonely Place of Living’ was always going to be tricky to pull off, but so far, Tynion and Barrows are nailing it. This feels significant in a way that the other Oz-centric story in “Action” just doesn’t.
The Family Trade #1 ($3.99) – Justin Jordan is one of the great minds in comics, able to pull ideas that are both new and deceptively simple, out of the ether. This book incorporates a ton of different influences and synthesizes it into something that is unexpected and engaging.
Fighting American #1 ($3.99) – One of Jack Kirby’s less heralded characters is getting a series, partly in celebration of Kirby’s 100th birthday. There’s never enough Kirby in comics, so this is a welcome addition.
Dark Nights Metal #3 ($3.99) – The most bonkers event in a generation continues to do things that seem impossible.
God Complex #1 ($3.99) – Sometimes you read a solicit, and it just clicks for you. That is what happened here. I have almost no expectations, but I’m looking forward to checking it out.
Total: $18.95 – I follow the rules, unlike some of my compatriots.
Mark’s Pick
“Hellboy in Hell” – Library Edition ($49.99) — My pick this week is utterly predictable. How could it not be? It has been four years since the last “Hellboy” library edition, so obviously this is quite an occasion. It’s even more significant when you consider how few Mignola-drawn story pages have been in the last couple of volumes (eight in Volume 6, seven in Volume 5), and this one is Mignola from cover to cover; all ten issues of “Hellboy in Hell” in an oversized format with a hefty sketchbook section to boot. Oh, what a sketchbook it shall be! Page after page of giant insects, cephalopod-crustacean amalgam monsters, statues weeping blood, masses of Victorian-era buildings rising up like mountain ranges, and puppets—so many puppets!
Since Mignola has put drawing Hellboy behind him, this library edition is the last of its kind and I intend to savour every panel of it.
Total: $49.99 – When comics are this fantastic, screw the budget.
