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!
Mark’s Picks:
Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #1 ($3.99) – Hellboy in is his youth is a character I’ve wanted to see explored, ever since Mike Mignola drew a panel of him at a U.S. airbase, writing his name on the wall. Over the last twenty-seven years we’ve had a few stories featuring young Hellboy, but mostly as a B or C plot, or a gag plot like the two-page short story “Pancakes.” “Hellboy: The Midnight Circus” with artist Duncan Fegredo was the one time young Hellboy really got to take the lead in a full story and it was utterly magnificent. And yet there is still so much to explore, and thankfully, Mignola agrees. So now we’re getting our first proper “Young Hellboy” miniseries, ‘The Hidden Land’ with cowriter Thomas Sniegoski who previously worked with Mignola of “B.P.R.D.: Hollow Earth,” and the novel Grim Death and Bill the Electrocuted Criminal. I think it’s the latter of those two works that really informs the collaboration here, because “Young Hellboy” swings BIG, giving artist Craig Rousseau an entire island full of monsters to play with.
Snow Angels #1 ($2.99) – Jeff Lemire and Jock have a new series on ComiXology out today. It’s a speculative fiction story about two girls and their father living their entire lives in a long, icy trench. The whole story’s set to run around ten issues. I’ve read the free preview and it’s got my attention.
Family Tree #11 ($3.99) – Another Jeff Lemire title, this time with artists Eric Gapstur, Phil Hester, and Ryan Cody. I’m so far behind on this series―I’m waiting for the last issue next month so I can catch up and finish it all in one go. I recommend this still based on the strength of the ending for the first arc.
Barbalien: Red Planet #4 ($3.99) – This is definitely a book I recommend―writer Tate Brombal and artist Gabriel Hernández Walta have put together a powerful comic here―but it’s not light reading. Despite the escapist-sounding title, “Barbalien: Red Planet” is full of heavy subject matter and you may not be in the right headspace to read it, especially scenes in which a police officer shoots unarmed people in the street. I just think it’s something readers should be aware of.
Total: $14.96
Johnny’s Picks:
Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #1 ($3.99) – I’m a big fan of giving artist Craig Rousseau fun toys to play with, and writers Mignola and Sniegowski have seen to it to let li’l Hellboy frolic on a island of forgotten creatures…like…maybe…large, and ape-like ones. Rousseau has such a fun style that bounces between classic (reminding me of folks like Doc Shaner) and something more playful and animated, and I think that’s the perfect vibe for a Young Hellboy series that might capitalize on old pulpy serials and “Jonny Quest.”
Savage #1 ($3.99) – *siiiiiigh* I’m just a sucker for Tarzan/Kamandi/Ka-Zar stories, I guess. This series sees fish-out-water Kevin Sauvage defend his new home (England) from threats of his old home (uncharted island X…maybe the same one Young Hellboy goes to, who knows?). I don’t really know that I’ve read anything from Max Bemis before, but Nathan Stockman is a capable artist. I’m in it for the intro issue, anyways.
b>Total: $7.98
Vince’s Picks:
Haha #2 ($3.99) – The first issue of this knocked me off my feet, mostly due to the gorgeous and twisted art of Vanesa del Rey, but also the tragicomic nature of the story itself. I want to go into every issue of this knowing nothing but the creatives involved, in hopes of achieving that same level of surprise. This time it’s Zoe Thorogood on art, whose delightfully dense and imaginative work you may have seen in “The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott.”
Continued belowExcellence #10 ($3.99) – Low key one of the best books Image is putting out, and Brandon Thomas is a name to know. If you recognize his name from the “Future State” stuff and like what he was doing with DC, go back and check this out.
Total: $7.98
Kate’s Pick:
Sylvie ($16.99) – This graphic memoir – cartoonist Sylvie Kantorovitz’s tale of growing up in France and discovering her identity as both artist and woman – is a lovely Valentine for the young one in your life who is trying to forge their own path in the world.
Total: $16.99. Also of note – – though way out of budget – – is a new printing from Hermes Press of Golden Key’s Dark Shadows comics, comics that were published during the show’s original run in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I got hooked on this soap back in high school when SyFy would show reruns during the day, and I still love the pulpy horror and humor.
