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!
Vince’s Picks:
Batgirl #36 ($2.99) – Some say this book went overboard on the quirk. I say, bring on some more. Go even bigger. Get even quirkier. Go even more hipster. This book is everything I wanted it to be when it was promised to us.
Justice League United #6 ($3.99) – Damn you Jeff Lemire – you made me care about a ‘New 52’ Justice League team. You did it with humor, a touch of heart, a bunch of space weirdness, and the best interpretation Martian Manhunter we’ve seen since the relaunch.
The Kitchen #1 ($2.99) – Ming Doyle is a rising star, and something tells me she’s going to be burning bright with 1970’s New York City providing the inspiration. What a cool idea for a very cool artist to tackle.
October Faction #2 ($3.99) – I read the first issue while handing out candy on Halloween. It was the perfect situation.
All-New Captain America #1 ($3.99) – I just feel like I need a taste of “good Remender” to wash the taste of “Axis” out of my mouth. And “Captain America” has been some damn good Remender. Oh yeah, I’m reasonably pumped about Sam Wilson as Cap too.
Total: $19.95
Keith’s Picks:
Batman #36 ($3.99) – Part one of “Endgame” left us with a doozy of a cliffhanger. Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, and FCO Plascencia have not disappointed and I guarantee this issue will show once again why they’re my favorite team in comics.
Batgirl #36 ($2.99) – “Batgirl” was given a fun revamp last issue by the new creative team of Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, and rising star Babs Tarr. The solicit for this issue sounds like it’s going to be just as chock full of reality and wackiness as the last. Babs’ first day of grad school AND “twin sister assassins on motorcycles”? That only equals another guaranteed great Bat-book this week.
Wytches #2 ($2.99) – The first issue of “Wytches” has been my favorite debut of the year so far and Snyder, Jock, and Matt Hollingsworth have only gotten better with the second issue. Prepare for more nightmares and night lights.
Justice League United #6 ($3.99) – I am fairly new to the Legion of Super-Heroes and am only slightly familiar with past stories featuring them. The first part of The Infinitus Saga in “Justice League United Annual” #1 helped me understand why this team from the 31st Century has such a devoted following. The Justice League United team itself isn’t too shabby either. It’s easy to tell that Jeff Lemire is really having fun writing this book.
Green Lantern Corps #36 ($2.99) – I have a feeling, what with all this talk of the Multiverse in the “Godhead” storyline, that the Lantern books are going to have a huge impact on the future of the entire DC Universe. It’s awesome to see a big event throughout a line of books be fun as well as “important”. Plus I can’t get enough of the Multiverse.
The Kitchen #1 ($2.99) – Irish gang wives taking over the family business from their imprisoned husbands during the 1970s? Sounds like an intriguing premise for a miniseries by writer Ollie Masters and artist Ming Doyle. I loved Doyle on the Image miniseries “Mara” and covers by Becky Cloonan only sweeten the deal.
Total: $19.94 – I almost made it to twenty bucks! If you want to instead buy a collection of one of the best series from the 90s that was based on the best animated series ever, I’d recommend “The Batman Adventures Volume 1”. It’s $19.99, so you’re budget won’t be broken! How could you go wrong?
Continued below
David’s Picks:
The Kitchen #1 ($2.99) – A new Vertigo book from people like Ming Doyle, Jordie Bellaire and Becky Cloonan? How could you not give that a shot?
Drifter #1 ($3.50) – This book is damn good sci-fi, and you should pick it up to see the excellent work Ivan Brandon, Nic Klein, Tom Muller and the rest have put together.
Alex + Ada #10 ($2.99) – Unless this issue poops its pants, this is going to be my favorite series of 2014. A completely remarkable book.
Batgirl #36 ($2.99) – I didn’t love the first issue, but I did really enjoy it. I think it’s just going to get better and better, and this issue brings the Jawbreakers. AWWW YEAH!
Thor #2 ($3.99) – Jason Aaron Thor! Jason Aaron Thor! Wait, Thor’s a girl now? Who cares! JASON AARON THOR! JASON AARON THOR!
The Walking Dead #134 ($2.99) – I’m telling you people, this book has gotten REALLY good again.
Total: $19.45 – This is a very good and very interesting week of comics, I say.
Matthew Garcia’s Picks:
The Kitchen #1 ($2.99) – Oboy, if the creative team wasn’t enough to pique your interest, the concept itself sounds like a blast. After their husbands get sent off the prison, the wives take over; and they aren’t planning on giving up their new-found power for a little hiccup like their husbands getting released. Throw in some Ming Doyle art and Becky Cloonan covers, and you’ve got my attention.
Batman #36 ($3.99) – So last month we learned that Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo sprung a surprise trilogy on us! That’s right — a, like, Joker Trilogy, starting with “Zero Year” and moving through “Death of the Family” and now culminating in “Endgame.” This is one of the most entertaining and consistent titles available from the caped crusaders comics, and that makes it a book consistently worth checking out for me.
Wytches #2 (#2.99) – Another Snyder book for the week. I enjoyed the first issue a lot and Jock definitely helped create some terrifying images. I’m ready for the book to continue on, see where the story goes, and find out what other horrors Snyder, Capullo, and Hollingsworth manage to conjure up for us.
Total: $9.97
Leo’s Picks:
The Life After #5 ($3.99) – I’ve picked this a few times, and it remains on the list. Fialkov and Gabo are just hitting the right sort of weird for me with this book.
Drifter #1 ($3.50) – Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein are making both a thoughtful and damn beautiful book with Drifter. I’m on board.
Teen Dog #3 ($3.99) – Teen Dog is one of the most fun books I’ve read in a long time. Teen Dog is the best.
The Bigger Bang #1 ($3.99) – I honestly don’t know much about this book, but concept interests me. A god-like being searching for atonement and born out of the death of our universe. Should be fun.
Copperhead #3 ($3.50) – I just really want to see more of Ishmael.
Total: $18.97
Dodge’s Picks:
Wytches #2 ($2.99) – The premiere issue was creepy as hell, and hit all the right buttons for horror fans. The writing reveals just enough to keep you flipping the page, and the art from Jock is so dynamic and lifelike it might make you take a second look out your bedroom window tonight.
Batman #36 ($3.99) – The Clown Prince of Crime has returned, and this time Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have thrown the entire Justice League into the mix. Pick it up just to see if the Joker’s face has healed super weird.
Batgirl #36 ($2.99) – The soft reboot in the previous issue was a breath of fresh air for Barbara Gordon, and for female-led DC comics. It looks like Batgirl is ready to take a slight step away from the grim and gritty streets of Gotham, and towards something a bit for fun and adventurous.
The Fade Out #3 ($3.50) – If you want super-hero fights and super-powered actions in your comics, this series isn’t for you. But if you want character-rich noir stories with a hint of melancholy nostalgia and a murderous mystery, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ new series is just about perfect.
Continued belowAll-New Captain America #1, Thor #2, Superior Iron Mon #1 ($3.99 each) – Change is a good thing folks. Supporting change is the only way to keep the comics we love from growing even staler, so pick up any of these relaunches that strike your fancy, and give something new(ish) a shot.
Total: $17.46 – P.S. There’s also a Tarantino-penned Django Unchained / Zorro crossover coming out this week, but for accounting purposes you didn’t hear it from me.
Brian’s Picks:
Resurrectionists #1 ($3.50) – Fred Van Lente is one of my favorite writers working today, and his #1s get an instant buy from me, every time. Plus, have you seen the preview art? This looks amazing.
The Kitchen #1 ($2.99) – Vertigo has been all about the miniseries lately, which is an interesting (and, I think, flawed) model – but if it means more stories from creators like Becky Cloonan, Ming Doyle, and Jordie Bellaire? I’m cool with that.
All-New Captain America #1 ($3.99) – As Mr. Dodge says above – change is good. This is an exciting development in the Cap books, and one that feels very justified and important. If you support new ideas, you need to support this title, and the others Marvel is running out there this week.
Drifter #1 ($3.50) – New Image #1 blah blah blah – plus, David already gave it a nice review, so you’re not going in blind.
Batman #36 ($3.99) – #35 felt like the start of a classic Justice League story from the Silver Age – that is about as high of praise as I can heap on something. Get this, folks!
Total: $17.97
Matt’s Picks:
The Wicked + The Divine Volume 1: The Faust Act ($9.99) – “The Wicked + The Divine” is one of the most important books of the year, and that’s putting it lightly. Not just to me; I mean in all of comics, this book is one of the most important debuts of the year. An impossibly smart and unbelievably beautiful comic, this is Team Phonogram at their very best. I can’t recommend the book enough to everyone, because in a book that’s at least partially about the relationship of fans to creators as well as the power of being a creator (among other things), there really is something for everyone to latch onto here. Plus, it rates pretty highly on the Gillen Tragedy System™, so if you’re up for books that make you feel things then here you go.
Ghosted #15 ($2.99) – 15 issues in and it feels weird to refer to this series as a hidden gem, but after binge reading the first two trades of “Ghosted” I find that this book does not get nearly as much credit as it deserves. Off of an otherwise basic “Ocean’s 11 with ghosts” starting premise, the book has evolved into something very wicked and clever, and the latest gambling-based arc has been rather exciting and illuminating to say the least.
All-New Captain America #1 ($3.99) – To be perfectly blunt, I don’t like “AXIS” whatsoever. I like Rick Remender as a writer in general, but that book does literally nothing for me. That said, I really enjoyed his 25 issue run on “Captain America”, and I’m interested to see what happens with Falcon now as Cap. I’m crossing my fingers its connection to “AXIS” is non-existant, but hey, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and then you have the facts of life.
Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #2 ($3.99) – Ales Kot and Marco Rudy’s first issue, and I’ll paraphrase my review here, balls to the wall trippy and fun. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Issue #2 brings us Kot and Rudy’s take on Old Loki, and man oh man am I excited to see what they can do with that.
Total: $20.96 – You have to have an extra dollar somewhere, right?
