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!
Leo’s Picks:
Manifest Destiny #25 ($2.99) – After the last arc, which included one-eyed Sasquatches as the “monster of the arc”, really turned up the weird and crazy in “Manifest Destiny”, I’m really interested to see where this next one takes things. We’re finally starting to get more of an idea of just why the Corps of Discovery is actually making this trek and killing all these monsters, and why the monsters are there in the first place, so hopefully we can keep getting some answers.
Postal #17 ($3.99) – Mark’s father, one of the most important characters in the world of “Postal”, but one we haven’t actually seen much of finally starts to show up in a big way. Things in Eden are about to get even more volatile.
Black Hammer Annual #1 ($5.99) – Jeff Lemire teaming up with artist like Matt Kindt, Dustin Nguyen, Nate Powell, and more to tell stories about the various “Black Hammer” characters sounds fantastic. Even at $6, it’s worth a buy.
Curse Words #1 ($3.99) – I will buy pretty much anything that Ryan Browne has a hand in. I will definitely buy a book about wizards drawn by Ryan Browne. It’s a no-brainer.
Few #1 ($4.99) – I really liked “Saints”, so seeing Sean Lewis come back with another book has me interested. From what I’ve seen of Hayden Sherman’s art and the fact that this is some kind of dystopian sci-fi, it’s probably safe to say that “Few” gets at least a couple of issues from me.
Total: $21.95. Yeah, yeah. I went over. This doesn’t even include the awesome trades coming out this week, like the collected edition of “Snow Blind” and the first volume of the very irregularly released “Goddamned”. It’s a good week for comics, y’all.
Vince’s Picks:
Superman #15 ($2.99) – DC Comics is at their best when they celebrate the vast multiverse and the absurdity of cape comics. Tomasi & Gleason go hogwild with the different Supermen of the 52 known earths and a bevvy of artistic talent is on-board to render them all beautifully.
Black Panther: World of Wakanda #3 ($3.99) – One of the few Marvel titles I’m still reading, because the richness of this comic is extremely gripping. It fills out a less-explored corner of the Marvel U in ways that I wish they would attempt more often.
WWE #1 ($3.99) – I have to read this just to keep up with Jess Camacho’s twitter account.
Green Lanterns #15 ($2.99) – I can’t believe I’m recommending a current Green Lantern book here, but I am. This issue explores one of the few truly novel and good ideas that the lantern books have brought forth in a while: what if a Green Lantern suffered from the actual clinical disorder of anxiety? I can certainly relate.
Total: $13.96
Matthew’s Picks:
Ultimates 2 #3 ($3.99) – Al Ewing’s work with “The Ultimates” continues to be the book I insist people talk about and do not see enough people talking about. Not sure what it will take to get you all to stop sleeping on this series, but stop doing that and get on this book already.
US Avengers #2 ($3.99) – Can we all take a second to acknowledge that the first issue of this series may have been the most wild, bombastic and wonderfully fun series in Marvel’s recent history? If I wasn’t on the Ewing hype train from Ultimates, this would sure put me on it.
Continued belowBlack Hammer Giant-Sized Annual ($5.99) – Jeff Lemire’s “Black Hammer” was one of the pleasant surprises of last year. I say surprise, but I really shouldn’t; Lemire had a banner year, and Dean Orston nailed the visuals. Looks like this Annual issue (not even a year into the series, but, ok) will be a lot of fun.
They’re Not Like Us #13 ($2.99) – This is one of my favorite Image books right now. A lot of alt-superhero books are trying to capture the look and feel that this book does with little to no effort.
Justice League vs Suicide Squad #5 ($3.99) – I… I am really liking this book a lot. I can’t help it.
Total: $20.95
Ken’s Picks:
Star Trek: Waypoint #3 ($3.99): A little special comic. IDW has been doing this little anthology series outside of their regular Trek series following the Abramsverse. What makes this one special is that it has a new “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (a.k.a. The Good One) story and as someone making his way through that series on Netflix, that’s right up my alley.
Generation Zero #6 ($3.99): New jumping-on point for the Children of the Damned as the weirdness in Rook intensifies.
Harbinger Renegade #3 ($3.99): Meanwhile, this book is gonna be a slow burn but I am intrigued by it.
JLA: The Ray #1 ($2.99): Because I am a gross “Young Justice” fan, I had been interested in how Steve Orlando and Stephen Byrne were going to reintroduce this character for the modern age.
Total: $14.96- A nice, solid week.
Mark’s Picks:
Dark Horse Presents #30 ($5.99) — Back in 2010, Francesco Francavilla was publishing “Kara Böcek” on his blog and about halfway through he stopped. The story was left on a cliffhanger. Now, in 2017, the version serialized in “Dark Horse Presents” finally catches up to that cliffhanger and goes beyond it. So that was very satisfying. There’s also more “Black Sinister” from Troy Nixey and Kaare Andrews, and more “Finder” from Carla Speed McNeil. This is a really solid issue.
Black Hammer Annual #1 ($5.99) — I think it’s time I checked out “Black Hammer.” The superhero aspect kind of made me keep my distance, but I’ve heard good things, and this seems like a great place to dive in.
Total: $11.98. A smaller week for me, but next week is going to be enormous…
Matt’s Picks:
Chew Vol. 12: Sour Grapes ($16.99) – While Image is great at launching series, they’re not so good about maintaining that energy and hype throughout a book’s run. I was a little disappointed that “Chew” ended with little fanfare. It ran for 60 issues, featured the same creative team, and had one great endpoint in mind the whole time. I read this in the collections (I can’t imagine what it was like to read this issue by issue) and am eager to see how Guillory and Layman bring it all home.
The Castoffs #4 ($2.99) – Just a reminder this series is still going and it’s still awesome.
Total: $19.98
Brian’s Picks:
Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #4 ($3.99) – My favorite ‘Young Animal’ series races to its first arc’s conclusion. Despite this issue not having a Tom Scioli backup, it is still going to bee the most gonzo book you read all week.
The Goddamned Vol. 1 ($9.99) – Image’s $9.99 first volumes are an absolutely stellar way to get into a new series. I had slept on this when it first came out, but am very excited to take a closer look.
Jeff Steinberg Champion Of Earth #5 ($3.99) – Simply put: one of the most fun comics being released today.
Total: $17.97
