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!
Johnny’s Picks:
Demon Days: Cursed Web #1 ($4.99) – I haven’t hyped this series of books as much as I should have been doing. A spectacularly fun take on some well-trod characters, “Demon Days” puts “Stormbreaker” Peach Momoko front and center on her own book, a retelling of some of our favorite X-Men characters. Does she have the chops to tell a good story, or do her talents lie more as a cover artist? As Multiversity’s own Zack Wilkerson recently tweeted: “Momoko doesn’t miss.” I concur.
New Mutants #21 ($3.99) – Speaking of other artists who don’t miss, Rod Reis’ work on “New Mutants” has been extraordinary- certainly channeling an artist who defined the original series, Bill Sienkiewicz, Reis still has the chops to make his own mark on this iteration. Issue #21 features an attack by the Brood, one of my favorite X-villains, and Reis and writer Vita Ayala turn the claustrophobic Aliens vibe up to 11.
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr #5 ($3.99) – A spiritual successor to books like “Death: The High Cost of Living” from Neil Gaiman/Chris Bachalo/Mark Buckingham, and Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon’s “Daytripper,” Laila Starr by Ram V. and Filipe Andrade was such a pleasant surprise for me this year. A book that will stick with me for a long time, a meditation on life as only our proximity to Death can bring. Special shout out to Andrade and Ines Amaro’s wonderful colors, which made the world they’ve created pop off the page with a vibrant life of its own.
Total: $12.97. I’ll be grabbing a couple other books this week, but those 3 will be going straight to the top of the TBR pile!
Kate’s Picks:
Big Hero 6 The Series Vol. 1 ($11.00): The history of this title after the Pixar film release has been a bumpy one, and perhaps manga, on a meteoric rise in popularly the past few years, could be the key to this series’s staying power.
Life Is Strange Coming Home #2 ($5.99): I remain intrigued with the long and winding path Emma Vieceli takes to end Max and Chloe’s story that I cannot miss an issue. Everything we see in this series will undoubtedly be significant to that ending, so don’t sleep on this or miss an issue.
Total: $16.99.
Mark’s Picks:
Lucky Devil #2 ($3.99) – I really appreciate that the solicitations for each issue of this series are basically exactly the same, giving away nothing more than the basica set-up of the first issue. Issue #2 of Cullen Bunn and Fran Galán’s comic is totally unknown, which is a rare thing in comics lately.
Parasomnia #3 ($3.99) – Another Bunn book, this time with co-creator Andrea Mutti. My biggest joy with this series comes from Mutti’s art as it blurs two worlds, pushing the more dreamlike aspects of both. However, like any story where a significant part is a fantasy or dream, there’s an impact on the pacing, since you can’t truly invest in the plot machinations of the fantasy until they become entangled with something more tangible in the real world. I don’t mind this, but it may make the series more difficult to read in an episodic format for some readers.
Basilisk #4 ($3.99) – Geez, Cullen Bunn has a lot of books coming out this week (and there’s still more that didn’t make my CSBC cut), so this week’s picks are much more heavily skewed than usual. This series, co-created with Jonas Scharf, will take a break after this issue, but it will return later. In other words, expect a cliffhanger.
Continued belowBlack Hammer: Reborn #3 ($3.99) – It’s one of those weeks when I haven’t read any of these comics in advance of writing my picks, so I’m purely recommending on the strength of past issues. ‘Reborn’ marks a shift for “Black Hammer” as it goes from a comics universe to a comics multiverse, which I guess was kind of inevitable given how much the Marvel and DC universes hinge on such things. As you’d expect, this is a major game changer for Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s series and its spinoffs.
Fire Power #15 ($3.99) – In the reality outside this column, I’m actually reading this series in trades, so I can’t accurately recommend it beyond the strength of Robert Kirkman’s sense of fun in his writing, Chris Samnee’s incredible art, and Matt Wilson’s gorgeous colors (which have been a major draw for me ever since the original OGN… and now I want to go back and reread that OGN just to see the colors in that opening sequence again).
Total: $19.95.
Greg’s Picks:
Midnighter Annual #1 ($5.99) – Highest on my list for this week would have to be this. Midnighter is a character I simply can’t pass up, I will buy his appearances in pretty much anything. The same goes for the artwork of Michael Avon Oeming, I find his art and Taki Soma’s colors absolutely compelling. The writing in the story by Cloonan and Conrad has be nothing but amazing so this would be a must at twice the price. They must collect this run of Midnighter stories.
Harley Quinn Annual #1 ($5.99) – Harley Quinn is one of the characters I honestly dig and finally got me she is leading a title that I find fully engaging. Stephanie Phillips’s approach to writing her clicks with how I feel about the character and she has held my attention since the Future State issues. Darko Lafuente’s art design and storytelling is fully charming no matter how grim and gritty the story, I’m excited to see what they bring to the title.
Demon Days Cursed Web #1 ($4.99) – Peach Momoko is one of the few artists that I have and original piece of artwork from so it’s kind of a given I have to buy this. Her art is very much my thing, I can’t justify many books to myself these days but this is one for the art alone. It really doesn’t hurt that she tells a very cool story and has the translation help of Zach Davisson on this very unique project
Total: $16.97
