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!
Kate’s Picks:
Dick Tracy #1 ($4.99): I love when classics come back for a new generation, and just as I discovered Dick Tracy in the early 90s thanks to the Warren Beatty/Madonna film, today’s kids (and kids at heart) can discover this detective once more.
Feral #2 ($3.99): This series looks to traumatize like that 1970s animated version of Watership Down from the BBC, but at least this time you know what you’re getting into. If you ever watched a Don Bluth cartoon from the 80s, which were just a touch darker than what Disney was putting out (except for The Black Cauldron, that ish was DARKf), this series is for you.
Man’s Best #2 ($4.99): Clearly I’m on an animal kick this week.
Drawing Blood #1 ($3.99): For a second I had this confused with another series with a similar title (“Drawing Blood Spilled Ink”) from 2019 which features the same character as in this series, Shane Bookman. So I’m not sure if this is a reprint or a continuation or both, but the concept – this look into the mind of a comics creator – has me intrigued.
Total: $17.96
Mark’s Picks:
Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen – Volume 3 ($12.99): This is an ultra low stakes spinoff from Kamone Shirahama’s “Witch Hat Atelier” by Hiromi Sato. As you’d expect from the title, there’s plenty of cooking (with recipes included) and just spending time with the characters with an emphasis on caring for each other. I love cooking and I love “Witch Hat Atelier,” so this is very tailored for my tastes.
Mapmakers and the Flickering Forest: ($13.99): The final volume of Cameron Chittock and Amanda Castillo’s “Mapmakers,” so if you’ve got a kid reading middle grade comics, it’s the perfect time to pick the whole series up. (This is definitely part three of a single story, so don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a standalone volume.) If you want to get a sense of what the series is like, The Beat has a preview of the first book. I’ve not read the third volume yet, but I’d certainly recommend it based on the previous two.
Total: $26.98. Blowing the budget, as I inevitably always do when graphic novels are involved, but considering this is 400 pages of comics, I’m OK with that. I’m also picking up “Man’s Best” #2, “Monstress” #51, “Spectregraph” #1, and “Dawnrunner” #2.
Christopher’s Pick:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things ($19.99): I don’t know what’s stranger (no pun intended), that Stranger Things has already had a crossover like this, or that it was with TMNT (yes, the show’s technically a TV-14, and there’s an R-rated Last Ronin movie in the works, but sheesh.) In any case, as a fan of varying degrees of both series, I feel obligated to check out Cameron Chittock and Fero Pe’s unexpected crossover, especially after the fifth and final season of Eleven’s story got delayed until next year, and besides, who doesn’t want to see if the comic is even somewhat compatible with the show’s canon?! I might not be able to rewatch seasons three and four the same way ever again!
Total: $19.99
Johnny’s Picks:
Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives! #1 ($4.99): It’s a Ram-V.-O-Rama this week and I’m lumping 3 books into this one pick. First off, this imagined sequel to the 1954 horror classic picks up some time after the events of the film, with a journalist on the hunt for a serial killer in the Amazon, and finding something she definitely hadn’t bargained for! Dave Stewart is on the colors of this Image/Skybound book, and if you want to color monsters, you go see this guy. He knows his business. Art by the talented Matthew Roberts and co-written by Ram V’s partner in the “The One Hand / The Six Fingers” – verse, Dan Watters. These two just keep cranking out bangers. Keep it up, fellas! Also out by Ram V. this week is Rare Flavours #5 and Dawnrunner #2, and Ram V. just keeps dipping RIGHT into my wallet.
Continued belowBatman: Dark Age #2 ($5.99): Bruce Wayne…drafted?!?!?! In Mark Russell’s version of the iconic character, real world events coincide and form the concoction of events that turn these heroes into the super, and in this version of the Dark Knight, a young Bruce Wayne is sent off to Vietnam! The first issue didn’t click for me in the same way Russell and artists Mike and Laura Allred’s turn with Superman did, but with this kind of talent at the helm, I’ll trust their vision will challenge and win over any doubts.
Man’s Best #2 ($4.99): Writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Jesse Lonergan are a dynamic duo of talent, Lonergan’s brilliant and multi-layered panelwork matching Pichetshote’s nuanced storytelling punch for punch. I knew this charming conceit of “animals in power suits on an incredible journey” would be greater than the sum of its inspirations in these very capable hands.
Duke #5 ($3.99): Absolutely digging the hell out of this great little G.I.: Joe reboot(?) prequel(?) – whatever it is, it’s hitting all the right notes, pulling this away from the toy, cartoon, movie, even Marvel-comic iterations that have come before it. I know this is a shared universe project, but it feels so entrenched in the “Joe” mythos, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Great, gritty, fun action comic.
Mythologies & Apocrypha #1 ($5.99): Read an article on TCJ with the creator of this comic, illustrator Tim Lane, whose work has graced the likes of institutions like The New York Times, Believer, The Wall Street Journal, Village Voice, and Rolling Stone. This new comic series delves into the warped and often toxic masculinity of the 20th Century through the lens of its pop culture icons. From the likes of Steve McQueen to Elvis to Frank Sinatra in stories true, apocryphal, and/or downright fantastical. Have high hopes for this one!
Total: $25.95 (plus the extra Ram V. titles!) – I think I was well under the last couple of weeks, so it’s no surprise this week is a blowout. Add in all the usual Marvel junk I buy and hoo boy, the wallet is a-hurtin!
