Month: March 2023

Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: New Mutants, Batman, B.P.R.D and Hellboy Spin-Offs, Arrowsmith

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel has discounts on New Mutants, DC has a potpourri of titles with lots of Batman mixed in, Dark Horse discounts Hellboy-adjacent comics and then there’s the new mystery category.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

(Disclosure: If you buy something we link to on our site, we may earn a commission.)

In case you’re having troubles with the new UIX (a LOT of people have been):

DC Grab Bag

The  DC Essential Books Sale runs through Monday, 4/3

This is another one of those particularly eclectic DC sales. Let’s start with the obligatory Batman breakout, because most of Batman & Detective from New 52 on are on sale.

  • Batman (’11-’16) – The Scott Snyder / Greg Capullo era
  • Batman (’16 – current) – Tom King, James Tynion IV, Josh Williamson -Zdarksy’s run isn’t on sale yet.
  • Detective Comics (’11-’16) – Tony Daniels, John Layman, Francis Manapul
  • Detective Comics (’16 -current) – James Tynion IV, Peter Tomasi, Mariko Tamaki

A couple things we think are on sale for the first time:

DC Vs. Vampires   Detective Comics

And a couple things we’d recommend that aren’t new:

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth by Daniel Warren Johnson is a comic that can accurately be described as “metal.” Loud, fun and full of action. This Black Label tale has Wonder Woman waking from a coma in a dystopian, apocalyptical future. She’s having trouble remembering what happened and there are a lot of monsters to slay if things are to be put right. Good stuff!

Multiversity is one of our favorite Grant Morrison Events and this one stands out because, while there is a through-plot, much of it is just Grant Morrison building new Earths, that is do say alternate dimensions – a pulp character Earth, a variation on the old Earth-S (Shazam) and, of course, President Superman. Along for the ride are a ridiculous set of artists, including Frank Quitely, Doug Mahnke, Chris Sprouse and Ivan Reis.

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth   Multiversity

Mutations

The Marvel New Mutants Legacy Sale runs through Tuesday, 4/4

Let’s break this one down by the series highlights first:

  • New Mutants (’83 – ’91) – The original run
  • New Mutants (’09 – ’11) – Zeb Wells / Diogenes Neves; DnA / Leandro Fernandez & David Lopez
  • New Mutants (’03 – ’04) – Nunzio DeFilippis / Christina Weir / Keron Grant / Khary Randolph
  • New Mutants: Dead Souls (’18) – Matthew Rosenberg / Adam Gorham
  • New Mutants (’19-’22) – The HoX/PoX (Hickman) era with rotating creators

What’s the best run of New Mutants? That’s a question that runs to personal preference more than most series. We’d say, #18-31 is the core with Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz that stands above the rest. Demon Bear. The introduction of Warlock. A good Legion arc. And it’s conveniently packaged in an Epic Collection. It’s still an interesting run after Sienkiewicz moves on, but he’s so good at setting mood and tone.

Another thing we’d throw out as particularly interesting is specifically the Jonathan Hickman installments of the most recent series. These are also conveniently collected in a single volume… and his issues didn’t always run sequentially.

Past that, this is one where you browse and see if something strikes your fancy.

New Mutants: The Demon Bear Saga   New Mutants

Friends in Warm Places

The Dark Horse – World of Hellboy Sale runs through Monday, 4/10.

Not a Hellboy sale, but rather the related titles. But that’s fine, since B.P.R.D is actually even more of a saga than Hellboy proper. There are two big arcs in omnibus format, mostly written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi with art by the inimitable Guy Davis.

The first sequence is The Plague of Frogs, wherein the Bureau – i.e., the scientists and soldiers (and Abe Sapien & Liz Sherman)  Hellboy works with – go down a rabbit hole, trying to figure out what’s up with all these frog creatures that keep turning up. Hint: BAD things are up. Important note: with that link, skip the ones marked “omnibus” and scroll down to Plague of Frogs V. 1-4. Same material at a lower price.

The second sequence is Hell on Earth. And that title is no joke. Things take a turn for the worst.

We revisited these sequences during lockdown and it’s an extremely well done epic. There are some false starts early on as Mignola settles on a creative team, but once Arcudi and Davis arrive, buckle up… things start moving fast and you’ll be flipping pages.

For a very different side of the Hellboy verse, there’s Lobster Johnson. The Lobster is a pulp vigilante from the Shadow/Spider school, operating in the 1930s. The tone is all over the place from a straight pulp thriller to farce to over-the-top adventure with some Spy-Fi and occult touches. Very fun series. Mike Mignola and John Arcudi are your writers. There’s quite a rotation of artists here, but Tonci Zonjic is the most frequent contributor. You can get the first the volumes in an omnibus and then there are three more “single” collections.

BPRD - Plague of Frogs   BPRD - Hell on Earth   Lobster Johnson

The “Maybe” Sale

It has come to our attention that Amazon now has a sort of  $5 and under section for comics. We’re not quite sure what to make of it or how permanent it is.  Some of the listings are this week’s sales. Some of the listings are things that aren’t discounted… like single issues that are normally under $5. And a few things might be unannounced sales?

Some highlights:

Arrowsmith V.1 by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco for $1.99. The high concept here is World War I being fought with mages and dragons. This would be the original run. Six issues for $1.99? For Busiek & Pacheco? That just might be the bargain of the week.

Queen & Country is on the shortlist for the best espionage comic of all time. An homage, of sorts, to the old UK TV show “The Sandbaggers,” it’s a spy comic that also shows the politics that the spies’ handler must suffer through. Greg Rucka writes and the artists rotate by arc, but you’ll recognize a few of the names: Chris Samnee, Jason Shawn Alexander, Carla Speed McNeil and Mike Norton. Great series. Volumes run from $3.99 to $5.99. We think this is an unannounced sale, but we’re not positive about that.

And we have no idea what kind of time frame any unannounced sales in this section will stick around. It is, as they say, a mystery.

Arrowsmith   Queen & Country

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Doctor Strange (the whole thing); Vertigo’s Anniversary Sale; Ultron and the Avengers

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel has discounts on most of the Doctor Strange titles out there, plus Ultron (i.e. Avengers). DC’s celebrates Vertigo’s anniversary.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

(Disclosure: If you buy something we link to on our site, we may earn a commission.)

In case you’re having troubles with the new UIX (a LOT of people have been):

The Doctor Is In

The  Marvel Doctor Strange Legacy Sale runs through Tuesday, 3/28.

And it’s most of the Doctor Strange material that’s been collected in book form.

So first, as is our custom, we’ll walk you through the various series over the years… this is a little more complicated because the early Epic/Masterwork volumes aren’t on the same page. (We’ll let you you pick out the mini’s yourself, since those aren’t as convoluted.)

  • Strange Tales – This is a cluttered series page, but its the original Lee/Ditko run, so let’s break it down to Masterworks 1 and Masterworks 2 or Epic Edition 1
  • Doctor Strange ’68-’69 – the Masterworks listings are here and include the early Marvel Premiere run. The ’68 run is perhaps most notable for some amazing Gene Colan art, but the scripts don’t always live up to the art.
  • Doctor Strange ’74-’87 – The Masterworks here catch the end of the Marvel Premiere run and the Epics pick up with the back half of ’68 run. (Yes, it’s a confusing way to look at things.)
  • Doctor Strange ’88-’96 – Probably best known for the Roy & Dann Thomas run with Butch Guice and Geoff Isherwood as notable artists.
  • Doctor Strange ’15-’18 – Initially Jason Aaron/Chris Bachalo with Donny Cates tagging in towards the end. (The omnibuses here are the better buy)
  • Doctor Strange ’18-’19 – The Mark Waid / Jesus Saiz / Barry Kitson era with Strange in space.
  • Doctor Strange, Surgeon Supreme (’19) – the very much under-rated and too short Mark Waid / Kev Walker run. Walker knocks it out of the park here.
  • Death of Doctor Strange – Jed MacKay and Lee Garbett kill off Stephen Strange. For real. (OK, at least it lasted for a bit and served a plot point.) A clever series that delivers its titular promise in unexpected ways.

Strange isn’t included, so somebody considers it a Clea title, perhaps?

What’s good?  This is where we get into Masterworks vs. Epics… because the Masterworks are a LOT more complete right now, particularly through the 70s.  The original Lee/Ditko run is great and you can get that in the first Epic Collection. Things pick up again when Englehart and Brunner show up towards the end of the Marvel Premiere run and the whole ’74-’87 run is solid, though we have a particular soft spot for the Roger Stern / Marshall Rogers / Paul Smith material towards the end.  Yes, Doctor Strange had A list creators most of the time.  That’s your core.

Something under the radar?  The final Waid/Walker run is also a lot more under the radar than it should be.

    Doctor Strange in Strange Tales   Doctor Strange  Doctor Strange

Life After Cancellation

The DC/Vertigo 30th Anniversary Sale runs through Monday, 3/27.

For something with a backlist that still warrants regular sales and media adaptations, you really have to wonder whether cancelling Vertigo was a Big Mistake? Lots of good stuff to browse here and we’re happy to say a decent chunk of it is going for $4.99 and under, which isn’t too bad by DC’s pricing conventions.

Let’s break down the highlights of titles involved here:

  • Preacher – Garth Ennis / Steve Dillon (TV version was on AMC)
  • Hellblazer – The original run (TV and Film as “Constantine” and the Fox TV version was better than it gets credit for)
  • Lucifer – a Mike Carey/Peter Gross series (TV version on Fox, then Netflix)
  • Lucifer (’18 version) – Dan Watters/Max Fiumara/Sebastian Fiumara
  • Y – The Last Man – Brian K. Vaughan/Pia Guerra/Jose Marzon, Jr. (TV version was on FX on Hulu)
  • The Losers – Andy Diggle/Jock (film)
  • Sweet Tooth – Jeff Lemire (TV version on Netflix)
  • DMZ – Brian Wood/Riccardo Burcchiell (TV version on HBO Max)
  • iZombie – Chris Roberson/Mike Allred (TV version on CW)
  • Stardust – Neil Gaiman/Charles Vess (Film, though that was probably from the novel)
  • Saga of the Swamp Thing (TV _and_ film in various incarnations)
  • Fables – Bill Willingham/Mark Buckingham (primary artist)
  • Fables: The Wolf Among Us – video game adaption
  • Unwritten – Mike Carey/Peter Gross
  • The Invisibles – Grant Morrison and rotating artists
  • 100 Bullets – Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
  • American Vampire – Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque
  • Scalped – Jason Aaron/R.M. Guera
  • Daytripper – Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
  • Animal Man – ’88 to ’95 version
  • We3 – Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (amazing this isn’t a movie yet)
  • Books of Magic (’18 version) – Kat Howard and Tom Fowler are the most frequent creators
  • The Wake – Scott Synder/Sean Murphy
  • Global Frequency – Warren Ellis/rotating artists (we liked the TV pilot, but it wasn’t picked up)
  • Transmetropolitan – Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson

A lot of TV/film activity for a “dead” label, eh?

You can pretty much “pick your poison” with this sale.  That said, the 12-issue sized Preacher collections for $4.99 are a pretty good deal.  Same deal for the $4.99 double volumes of Y: The Last Man.

Preacher   Y the Last Man

The Other AI

The Marvel Ultron Sale runs through Tuesday, 3/28.

Oh, sure… you’ve got Chat GPT and you’ve got Google Bard.  But Marvel has Ultron, the AI that Microsoft and Google probably would rather you didn’t have in the front of your mind while thinking about such things. Which probably means it’s a good time for the sale.

We raised an eyebrow at the overly eclectic selection of Ultron stories (no “Even an Android Can Cry” or “Ultron: Unlimited?”), but here’s where we’d go:

The Bride of Ultron is largely by Jim Shooter, with George Perez and John Byrne tagging in and out for most of it. The runup to the titular Ultron tale is the re-introduction of Wonder Man, which plays into the whole Vision/Simon Williams/Ultron triangle of intrigue.

Ultron Forever is primarily by Al Ewing and Alan Davis, with a few older issues included for background. Avengers of various eras are plucked out of the timestream and brought to the future to face down a triumphant Ultron. (If you think this sounds like Ewing’s recent Ant-Man, yes, there are similarities.)

The title Marvel would probably like you to purchase here is Age of Ultron, with the core by Brian Bendis, Bryan Hitch, Brandon Peterson and Carlos Pacheco. We’d put this one towards the bottom of the Ultron pile, but that’s just us.

Avengers: Bride of Ultron x Avengers: Ultron Forever x Age of Ultron

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Thor, Cable & Berger Books

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel has discounts on a LOT of Thor titles, and Cable, too. Dark Horse favors dropping the price on the Berger Books line.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

(Disclosure: If you buy something we link to on our site, we may earn a commission.)

In case you’re having troubles with the new UIX (a LOT of people have been):

Hammer Time

Marvel’s Thor Legacy Sale runs  through Tuesday, 3/21.

As per our custom, here’s the breakdown by series/volume:

  • Journey Into Mystery ’52-’66 – The earliest Thor stories from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
  • The Mighty Thor ’66-’96 – From Lee & Kirby until the relaunches started
  • The Mighty Thor ’96-’04 – The Heroes return Dan Jurgens era, initially with John Romita, Jr.
  • Thor ’07-’11 – Starts with J. Michael Straczynski & Olivier Coipel, ends with Matt Fraction & Pasqual Ferry. Gillen in the middle.
  • The Mighty Thor ’11-’12 – Fraction gets a relaunch with Coipel, Ferry and early Pepe Larraz
  • The Jason Aaron era ’12-’19 – It’s a LOT easer to look at the omnibuses across all the relaunches here
  • Thor ’20 to present – The current Donny Cates run with Nic Klein as the primary artist

Of your point of reference for Thor is the most recent film, you want the Jason Aaron era. The God Butcher is the first arc. If you go with that set of omnibuses, Jane Foster picks up the hammer in V.2. We don’t think that starting with the first Jane Foster issues (and slimmer volumes) is a great jumping on point. It’s a saga and you’ll get a lot more out of it if you start at the beginning of Aaron’s run.

Past that, we’re all about the Walt Simonson Thor. It’s probably the most influential run since early days and it’s great. You’ll want the Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson set that starts here. (The Thor by Walter Simonson version of the reprints seems to be missing the final volume, or at least the last few issues. *sigh* These things happen.)

We also like to go back to the original Lee/Kirby. Not too early. We’d say stay closer to where it changed from Journey Into Mystery to Thor. The first year of JIM was a little rough. The Wrath of Odin  Epic Collection is a good chunk of prime Lee/Kirby Thor and also features the first time Jane Foster was elevated to godhood, since Jane is a big topic right now. It’s also a $6.99 Epic Collection note: the Epic Collection prices vary a bit and the newer ones a little more expensive, so keep an eye on that and compare with the Masterworks editions.

Thor by Jason Aaron   Thor by Walt Simonson   Thor - The Wrath of Odin

No, This is Not a Spectrum Sale

The Marvel Cable Sale runs through Tuesday, 3/21

There really have been a lot of Cable titles over the years.

The original Cable series was the longest-lived. It starts out as Cable Classic with the original mini’s, but we might lean a little further down the page – Ladronn art and early stories by Joe Casey and James Robinson.

The other long-running title was Cable & Deadpool. Fabian Nicieza was the writer, with Patrick Zircher and Reilly Brown as the primary artists.

The most recent Cable was the HoX/PoX era series by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto which finds Cable much younger, but still up to his neck in time paradoxes.

Cable   Cable & Deadpool   Cable

Karen Sale

The Dark Horse Berger Books Sale runs through Monday, 3/20.

As you may recall Berger Books is Karen Berger’s imprint. Karen basically was Vertigo at DC. Berger Books is a combination of new material and pulling in a few of the old DC titles. For example:

Air is a pre-Ms. Marvel series by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker that ran at Vertigo awhile back. It’s an odd book about a flight attendant, terrorists, dimension hopping, missing celebrities and all manner of conspiracies. It’s a fun one that didn’t get the run it should have at Vertigo and we sure hope there’s a continuation.

Along those lines, Incognegro by Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece is the excellent tale of a New York-based reporter passing for white, in order to investigate accusations that his brother murdered a white woman in Mississippi… as the lynch mob assembles. In this case, there was a continuation. Technically a prequel. Incognegro: Renaissance has cub reporter Zane Pinchback investigating a murder in 1920s Harlem.

Air   Incognegro   Incognegro: Renaissance

Something totally new from the line? Seeds by Ann Nocenti and David Aja is a striking book. This one blends a lot of disparate elements: an extra-terrestrial occupation, ecological terraforming, terrorism, forbidden love and… well, you get the picture.

The Seeds

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Comixology Sales: Batman Family; Moon Knight; Shazam!; Annihilation

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, DC drops prices on the Batman family and Shazam!, Marvel discounts Moon Knight and their cosmic world.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

(Disclosure: If you buy something we link to on our site, we may earn a commission.)

In case you’re having troubles with the new UIX (a LOT of people have been):

NOTE: We’re seeing Tuesday, 3/14 as the end date for a lot of this week’s sales. Sales usually end on a Monday, so we’re not sure if they’re changing the schedule or somebody put in the wrong date for this week’s sales. We’ll find out Tuesday? And wait until you get a load of the “Nega-Bands” sale conundrum. It’s special.

Bats Everywhere

The DC Bat Family Sale runs through Tuesday, 3/14.

Lucky you, the “real” sale prices arrived Friday morning. Another slow roll-out, but they’re here for the weekend. Also “Bat Family,” not “Batman Family?” Lean in, already.

So, what’s good? We’ve always been very large fans of the original Greg Rucka / J.H. Williams III Batwoman arc, when it took over Detective Comics. Good stuff! (That volume also includes the Jock-illustrated arc.)

You say you’d rather have Batman & Robin? Well, we’ve got two options for you: The Grant Morrison Batman & Robin with Frank Quitely and Frazier Irving art and the Peter Tomasi / Patrick Gleason Batman & Robin.

Batwoman   Batman & Robin   Batman and Robin

And for the Nightwing fans:

Grayson   Nightwing

The Light of the Silvery Moon

The Marvel Moon Knight Sale runs through Tuesday, 3/14.

The original Moon Knight run is mostly in Epic Collections, but it’s in two separate links because… well, we shouldn’t be surprised by this, should we?  The first link has two volumes that are not closely related. Bad Moon Rising is the Werewolf by Night appearances through the backups in Hulk Magazine and the first issues of 1980 solo series. The other volume in that link… we’re not as big on. That was later volumes.

You can go here for the rest of the 1980 Moon Knight series, which was the most famous version for quite some time. If you came into the character through the TV series, know that the original Moon Knight was a lot closer to Batman and The Shadow. Oh, sure the werewolf showed up, but most of the mystical things around Konshu were kept in the background and a lot more mysterious. The multiple identities were originally more like the cover identities adopted by the Shadow (and the original series editor, Denny O’Neil, adapted The Shadow for DC.) This is where Moon Knight got popular.

Moon Knight   Moon Knight Epic Collection

If you came in through the TV show, there really isn’t a comic that quite matches that version of the character, but the series did draw on the Jeff Lemire / Greg Smallwood Moon Knight series in which Moon Knight has a run-in with the Egyptian gods and his personalities run amok. It’s also a good run.

We also have been enjoying the current Jed MacKay/Alessandro Cappuccio Moon Knight series. This one takes up the unenviable task of rationalizing the various incarnations over the years (and there have been a lot of different takes on the character). Mr. Knight is in therapy for his multiple personality issues. He’s running the Midnight Mission and conduct himself as Konshu’s ambassador… after a fashion, although he’s not really happy with Konshu. And there are vampires. Lots of vampires. $0.99 single issues, too, if you prefer that format.

Moon Knight   Moon Knight

The Nega-Bands / Magic Word Sales

You might want sit down for this, ’cause it’s WEIRD. There’s a Marvel Cosmic Heroes sale and a Shazam sale. And they have the same URL (that’s techie for web address). We can’t be sure if this is a coding error or the world’s most awkward A/B test, but when you click on the link to either sale (or load the overall Deals page at Amazon), you won’t know which one will show up. If you get the wrong one, start reloading and the other should show up within 5 reloads.  Maybe Amazon will fix it and BOTH sales will show up on the Deals page? As we said, we aren’t 100% if this is by design or not.

It’s like when Mar-Vell would clang the Nega-Bands together and trade places with Rick Jones in the Negative Zone. Or when Billy Batson speaks the magic word and is replaced by Captain Marvel. Are both Captain Marvels in this sale? Yes. So we’re really not sure if this is a sort of prank or performance art piece.

The Magic Word

The DC Shazam Sale runs through Monday, 4/3.

You’d think there was a movie or something. The original Captain Marvel has some very different incarnations. The sampler is Shazam!: A Celebration of 75 Years, which has tales from the 40’s through the Geoff Johns reimagining a few years back. It’s also the only place to get the original, more whimsical, 1940s version.

It was revived in the 1970s and for this run, we’d direct you to V.3, which is the E. Nelson Bridwell / Don Newton “new look” run that began at the tail end of the solo series and continued into World’s Finest and Adventure Comics digest. An obvious labor of love, and some of the best work of both, it’s a fairly successful attempt to write the original characters and scenarios from a slightly more adult perspective, while sometimes retaining the whimsy (depending on the individual plot). It’s under rated. Technically, this run begins in the last two issues collected in V.2, but most of that volume is younger audience material and the influences of the TV show weren’t helping. V.3 is a better place to start if you aren’t a completist.

The next major revival was the Power of Shazam by Jerry Ordway and Peter Krause, this was the post-crisis reinvention and still faithful to the spirit of the originals. This is a little goofy in the usual way – you can get the first 12 issues cheaper in the collected edition and the #13 onwards are $0.99 single issues.

Shazam   Shazam!   Power of Shazam

Also of possible interest: $0.99 issues of the current Josie Campbell / Doc Shaner New Champion of Shazam!

The Cosmic Ride

The Marvel Cosmic Heroes Sale runs through Tuesday, 3/14.

We promised Mar-Vell and he makes a couple appearances in Captain Marvel: Starforce. Let’s refer to this one as creative packaging, reprinting some very random tales with Kree villains as a theoretical movie tie-in.  But it fits the theme of Nega-Band links!

A lot closer to the current definition of “cosmic” at Marvel is Annihilation. This started out a series of mini-series bring some of the comic heroes of the present, like Nova, Star-Lord and Drax, together to face down an invasion by Annihilus. After some sequels, the format eventually reformed as the current incarnation of The Guardians of the Galaxy, so this is roughly where all that starts. (You’ll want the two “complete collection” volumes.)

The Last Annihilation is a sort of mini-event centered around the final Al Ewing/Juan Frigeri Guardians of the Galaxy arc. The Guardians, plus S.W.O.R.D., the Wakandans and Doctor Doom face down a different type of incursion… and the cover should tell you all you need to know about that. It’s quite good.

Captain Marvel: Starforce   Annihilation   The Last Annihilation

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: A Trio of $0.99 Masterworks; Rogue and Gambit; Milestone Media; Resident Alien

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel sneaks some $0.99 Masterworks into their Women of Marvel sale, plus Rogue & Gambit. DC celebrates the anniversary of Milestone Media and Dark Horse discounts their aliens.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

(Disclosure: If you buy something we link to on our site, we may earn commission.)

In case you’re having troubles with the new UIX (a LOT of people have been):

McDuffie & Friends

The DC Milestone 30 Anniversary Sale runs through Monday, 3/6.

Yup, it’s been 30 years since Milestone debuted and we’re just going frame this as a Dwayne McDuffie tribute sale, whether that’s overstating things or not. He got enough grief from DC over the years, we’ll let the spotlight sit on him for a moment.

First, let’s just list out the content involved:

The first thing to say here is that most of the content is cheaper in single issues.  The original Icon and Hardware collected editions are slightly cheaper than single issues, as is the ’11 version of Static Shock. Other than that? Go with the singles. Especially with the current versions.

Favorites? We say start with the originals. McDuffie had a strong hand in most of the launches, though they gave a lot of people a few issues of various titles as it went on. Hardware‘s opening arc is a particular favorite and you get the McDuffie wit with Icon’s conservative nature. And we’ll also say Xombi is conspicuous by its absence.

Hardware   Icon

The Other Kind of X

The Women of Marvel Sale runs through Monday, 4/3.

Yes, this one will run all month. What’s good?

You may recall that Kelly Thompson and Elena Casagrande won an Eisner Award for their Black Widow run? It’s good. It starts out with Natasha getting abducted and then there’s a lot of revenge. We were a little surprised and sad this series wrapped up when it did and we keep expecting it to return in some form.

We have also sung the praises of the Tom Taylor / David Lopez / Marcio Takara / Leonard Kirk All-New Wolverine before and we’ll probably sing it again. Great series that runs the gamut of themes and moods. This is Laura / X-23’s debut as Wolverine (while Logan was “dead”).

Black Widow   All-New Wolverine

Did somebody say $0.99 Masterworks?

Oh, that’s not cheap enough for you? You want $0.99 Masterworks? Ordinarily, we’d say wait until December, but it appears we have some for you. Yes, this is unusual:

The original Carol Danvers Ms. Marvel which was largely written by Chris Claremont (with Gerry Conway starting it). Art by Jim Mooney, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Carmine Infantino and Dave Cockrum.

The original (Jessica Drew) Spider-Woman. Authors include Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald and Michael Fleisher . Artists include Carmine Infantino and (the beginning of an under-rated run by) Steve Leialoha.

Savage She-Hulk starts out with Stan Lee / John Buscema and then continues with David Anthony Kraft / Mike Vosburg

The first two volumes are $5.99, but Dazzler Masterworks V. 3 is $1.99. It’s largely by Jim Shooter and Frank Springer.

‘Til Death Do Us Discount

The Marvel Rogue and Gambit Sale runs through Monday, 3/6.

The series the best lives up to the sale’s theme is Mr. & Mrs. X by Kelly Thompson, Oscar Bazaldua and David Lopez. That would be Rogue and Gambit, if you missed the wedding.

While Gambit is the newer character, he’s had more exposure in solo titles. Gambit Classic collects the original Uncanny X-Men arc and the early mini’s, including the 1995 Rogue mini-series in V.2.

Gambit: The Complete Collection is the slightly better known 1999 series primarily by Fabian Nicieza / Steve Skroce / Yanick Paquette

Mr. and Mrs. X   Gambit Classic   Gambit: The Complete Collection

No… The “Other” Aliens

The Dark Horse – Aliens Digital Sale runs through Monday, 3/13.

Let us first pause to comment how jarring it is to see “Dark Horse” and “Aliens” without the film franchise being involved.

This is a media tie-in sale (a DH specialty), but Resident Alien by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse was a comic before it was a TV show.

Resident Alien Omnibus collects the first three volumes.

You can pull V.4-6 here.

And the single issues are $0.99.

Resident Alien

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Posted on by comics_p1pusl