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!
This installment is also the last regular edition of Comics Should Be Cheap while Multiversity is still a going concern. Next week, the final week the site is in regular operations, we’ll be doing something special with this column to send it off. To all our staff for their picks, and to all of you for reading over these years, thank you.
Christopher’s Pick:
Karate Prom ($17.99): I’ll let the synopsis for Kyle Starks’s OGN, a charming-sounding homage to ’80s teen comedies and martial arts films, do the talking: “Don ‘TheDragonWilson’ Jones is the finest fighter Benjamin Harrison High School has ever produced. But when he enters the ring against Lincoln High’s Sam Steadman, it’s love at first knockout. Unfortunately, Sam has a jerky ex-boyfriend… and Don has a seriously terrifying ex-girlfriend. Like, ‘global crime cartel’ terrifying.” Ah, young love.
Total: $17.99
Mark’s Picks:
Plain Jane and the Mermaid ($14.99): There are some cartoonists whose comics I’ll always buy. Vera Brosgol is one of those cartoonists and has been ever since “Anya’s Ghost.” I even did an Artist August feature for her once. This latest book is for middle grade readers, and explores what is expected of Jane, what she expects of herself, and what she really needs to be happy.
Man’s Best #3 ($4.99): Pornsak Pichetshote and Jesse Lonergan doing a story with animals in space? Sold. This feels like a book that could have only been drawn by Lonergan, and that alone is enough to sell the book for me.
Total: $19.98. I’ll also be picking up the “Hellboy Artists Collection: Richard Corben.” Yes, I already have all the stories collected within, but several have never been presented with the oversized page of this hardcover, so I didn’t want to miss this one.
Kate’s Pick:
Becoming Who We Are ($16.99): Pride Month kicks off next week, and there’s several excellent graphic novels exploring issues of gender and identity coming out this week, this one among them. (Another one to check out that is out this week: “Lunar Boy.”) A Wave Blue World is a publisher focused on what they call “socially conscious storytelling” so you can have confidence those who contributed to this anthology will have their stories told with heart, sensitivity, and respect.
Total: $16.99
Johnny’s Picks:
Blood Hunt #2 ($4.99): I feel like vampires are a terrifically goofy conceit in a world of superbeings, and I’m half convinced writer Jed McKay does too, as his first big crossover event is absolutely chock full of the nightwalking miscreants. That’s not to say the stakes (see what I did there?) aren’t incredibly high, that the plot twists aren’t dizzying, and the overall urgency and pace the first issue moved at wasn’t *exactly* what you would want from a Big Two Event – because they very much are for all three. McKay and the always top notch artist Pepe Larraz are giving fans a show, and maybe the best part is that the villains are of the “we can absolutely destroy these things without worrying about the morality of our heroes doing some killing” type, and so Hero v. Monster violence abounds! I don’t really *need* the R-Rated version of this series to have fun, but many folks seem to dig the explicit violence (especially that final page of issue 1!), so it’s out there if you want it!
Blood Squad Seven #1 ($3.99): Joe Casey is one of those writers who loves to dissect the many eras of comics history – and in this series he seems to be putting his sights on that first generation of Image Comics’ books and characters – where the undeniable well of creativity coming from Image in the early 90’s was heavy on style and not so much on the substance. It will be interesting to see if Casey and artist Paul Fry can cultivate diamonds from coal, so to speak, as they deconstruct a very Youngblood-esque team and see what 30 years of hindsight has to say about that era.
Back Issue #151 ($10.95): The “Dreams and Nightmares” Issue! Not a series I grab regularly, this comics magazine nevertheless very consistently has some entertaining and informative articles and interviews. This issue is very “Sandman”-centric, with a Neil Gaiman interview headlining the proceedings. Also in the issue are explorations of Marvel’s “Sleepwalker” and “Nightmare” characters, Matt Wagner and Steven T. Seagle’s “Sandman Mystery Theatre,” and even Casper’s Ghost Horse, Nightmare! A really fun concept issue that I can’t wait to read – but maybe not right before bedtime!
Total: $19.93 – Now THAT is a Price is Right total if I’ve ever seen one! Just seven cents below our $20 budget!
