Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Black Friday / Cyber Monday Part 2 - More DC $1.99 Books (w/ More Batman), Plus Dark Horse

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, it’s the second half of DC’s $1.99 Black Friday/Cyber Monday blowout… now with more Batman. Plus, Dark Horse has a Black Friday sale.

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’s Cyber Monday… AKA Black Friday Part 2 – Happy Holidays

The DC Cyber Savings Sale runs through Monday, 12/4.

Let’s call this what it is, the second half of the CRAZY sale that started last week. This installment is Justice League through Zero Hour. Lots of $1.99 collected editions and a few more expensive volumes that finally have a reasonable price. We’re going with annotation format again to cover more ground, but we’ll try and organize it a little better than Amazon does. As you can tell by the unusual length, we’re impressed with the deals and there’s a lot of good stuff here. And yes… we’re shocked something as recent as The Human Target is $1.99.

Batman

Yes, there’s a little more Batman this week and it’s those “Legends of” and “Tales of” volumes that usually have lousy discounts. We hate to say “this week only,” but these aren’t usually at friendly prices and there are some particularly choice bits.

Tales of the Batman: Steve Englehart – Mostly Englehart/Marshall Rogers, but also some Walt Simonson. This is the Detective Comics run that’s on most “best Batman run” short lists, plus the follow-ups over the years. 452 pages / $3.99
Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin – The Batman tales of one of the best writers (who moved up to editorial) and also one of the nicest guys in comics. Probably The nicest guy. 471 pages / $2.99
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle V.1 and V.2 – The Batman team of Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle, who had a fantastic run in the late 80s/early 90s and (get this) introduced a lot of new villains. 522 / 471 pages, $3.99
Tales of the Batman: Gerry Conway Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 / Vol. 3 – Conway wrote Batman & Detective in the early 80s and the stories bounced between the two books quite a bit, so this is the better way to read the Don Newton and Gene Colan stories. 438 / 472 / 502 pages, $3.99
Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert – Normally a TV screenwriter, Brennert wrote some notable Batman over the years, all collected here. 207 pages / $1.99
Legends of the Dark Knight: Alan Davis – The Mike W. Barr / Alan Davis run from Detective. 270 pages / $2.99
Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 / Vol. 3 – This is mostly the very long and rather amazing Bob Haney / Jim Aparo run from The Brave and the Bold. Every volume over 500 pages / $3.99. Fun stuff, off in it’s own little world.

Justice League

Everything’s there except the Grant Morrison run, but here are our highlights.

Justice League of America (1960 – 87) – The biggest highlight here is the set of $1.99 Silver Age collections of the earliest stories. The JSA/JLA team-ups are also deep discounted. This series hasn’t really been collected often.
Justice League of America (1987 – 96) – This is the Justice League International era, as started by Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis/Kevin Maguire. Bwa ha ha. And that’s the best place to start.
- Justice League: Corporate Maneuvers – Collecting Justice League Quarterly, the companion quarterly to the Giffen/DeMatteis era.
Justice League of America (2006 – 11) – The gems here are the 4 volumes written by Dwayne McDuffie (from the animated series): V1 / V2 / V3 / V4
Justice League (2016 -18) – The gem here is the Priest / Pete Woods arc.
The Nail – Alan Davis weaves a masterpiece in this pair of Elseworlds about a world where the Kents don’t find baby Kal-El in his spaceship and Superman does not emerge. A+

Legion of Super-Heroes

Not as much of the Legion run is in digital or currently in print as you might think. Of what is, here are some highlights and recommendations.

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Silver Age – The earliest appearances, through the first 10 issues of their Adventure Comics feature.
Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes – These two volumes pick up roughly where Paul Levitz starts writing and takes you through where Superboy leaves the Legion (which is the Gerry Conway run). Artists include Mike Grell, James Sherman, Joe Staton and a bit of Jim Starlin. Included are the wedding of Lightning Lad & Saturn Girl and the Earthwar sequence.
Legion of Super-Heroes (1980-85) – What you’re really looking at here are the last two volumes where Paul Levitz returns and starts to hit his stride, which Keith Giffen joining him fairly quickly.
- The Great Darkness Saga – Levitz/Giffen with their all-time classic arc in the middle of it. 414 pages for $1.99? A steal.
- The Curse – Levitz/Giffen continue to deal with the fallout from The Great Darkness. 544 pages for $1.99? Very hard to beat for value.
Legion of Super-Heroes (1985-89) – Only one volume available and they really need to get on the stick about collecting the rest of the Levitz run.
Legion Lost – The entertaining (if controversial) Dan Abnett / Andy Lanning / Oliver Copiel run. The setup and then the actual Legion Lost.
Legion of Super-Heroes (2005-09) – Starts out with the now familiar team of Mark Waid and Barry Kitson. Ends with a flawed, but interesting run by Jim Shooter, returning to the feature he started out on.
Legion of Super-Heroes (2010-11) – Paul Levitz returns.
Legion of Super-Heroes (2011 – 13) – The Levitz run is relaunch for New 52… and Keith Giffen returns for the final volume in the set.

Jack Kirby

Most of his DC material is included (in the back half of the alphabet)

Fourth World:

New Gods – The crown jewel of Kirby at DC, 424 pages/$1.99
Mister Miracle – The escape artist – 442 pages/$1.99
Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen – In a way, this was Kirby’s Superman title. This is where the Cadmus Project comes from, too.
The Forever People – Kirby’s hippie riff

Non-Fourth World DC work:

Boy Commandos by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby – The original ’40s feature.
The Demon – “Gone, gone o’ form of man…”
Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth – Kirby’s insanely fun riff on Planet of the Apes. Also the longest running of his DC titles. 438 pages/$2.99 (The second volume just came out, but is too new for the sale.)
The Newsboy Legion by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby – The original ’40s feature.
OMAC – One Man Army Corps – A dark science fiction satire, one of Kirby’s more unique works
Super Powers – Yes, from the toy line. It’s how DC snuck some more significant payments to Kirby.

“At-Large” gems:

Kingdom Come – Mark Waid and Alex Ross paint a dystopian future (and comment on the 90s grim ‘n’ gritty trend) – $1.99
Lobo by Keith Giffen and Alan Grant – With art by Simon Bisley, until the editors realized what he was sneaking into the cover. The rude, crude humor version that screams “Jason Momoa” to everyone. Much fun, but not for puritans.
Manhunter – Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson did an absolute classic as a backup in Detective. Spies, ninjas, a secret society and Batman crosses over in the end. Highest recommendation.
Marshal Law– Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill do a satire of superheroes as a Judge Dredd like vehicle. If you like The Boys, this is worth a look for $3.99. Darker and more violent, not for kids.
Mister Miracle by Steve Englehart & Steve Gerber – A few years after Kirby left, DC revived Mister Miracle, only to have it fall in the “DC Implosion.” That’s actually Englehart/Marshall Rogers and Gerber/Michael Golden/Russ Heath. Yes, Heath inking Golden and it’s GREAT. The Gerber/Golden/Heath run is the star and you’ll be mad it was cancelled. Totally under the radar for years.
Mister Miracle (2017-19) – The Tom King / Mitch Gerads Eisner-Winning revival. $1.99?!?
Night Force – Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan (as in Tomb of Dracula) reunite at DC for horror/time travel series that flew under too many radars.
Nightwing – Tom Taylor / Bruno Redondo – the series that could be the current center of the DCU. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, $1.99@. (We think it hits its stride in V.2)
The Omega Men: The End – Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda turn the Omega Men into a study of fanaticism and terrorism. Also a Green Lantern take as Kyle Rayner is abducted. Near the top of the King cannon. Yes, $1.99.
One-Star Squadron – The “wait… why haven’t they collaborated before?” team of Mark Russell and Steve Leiber pit Red Tornado and Power Girl against the gig economy! Yes, it’s a pitch black satire.
Orion by Walt Simonson – Walt at the top of his game exploring the Kirby mythos. We’d put it up with his Thor, but DC didn’t market it very well and hardly anyone remembers it. Recommended.
Planetary – Warren Ellis & John Cassaday. Yes, you can get the whole deconstruction of pulp heroes in 2 volumes for ~$4, all-in.
Plastic Man: Rubber Banded – Very few people have really done Plastic Man right since Jack Cole shuffled off the mortal coil. Kyle Baker is one of them. Hilarious and silly book.
Prez: Corndog-in-Chief – Mark Russell & Ben Caldwell. We wish this book wasn’t so darn relevant. An accurate satire of election law and political horse trading finds a teen becoming president after a video of her mishap with a corn dog deep fryer goes viral. It’s a winner, especially as we approach an election year.
Promethea – Alan Moore & J.H. Williams explore mythology and symbolism as a college student becomes the latest incarnation of the avatar of imagination… and tries to head off a looming apocalypse. Smart and beautifully illustrated book.
The Road to Perdition – Max Allan Collins & Richard Piers Rayner – this is where the film came from.
Sandman Mystery Theater – Matt Wagner / Steven T. Seagle / Guy Davis (main artist) – A wonderful pulp detective series from Vertigo with the Golden Age Sandman (pre-teen sidekick). Pulp with more introspection. 300+ page installments for $1.99. Great series.
Scalped – Jason Aaron & R.M. Guéra – A Vertigo crime series. An FBI agent goes undercover at the casino on the reservation he grew up in and thought he’d escape. Nobody does rural noir like Aaron.
Secret Society of Super Villains – For the completists, at a better price.
Seven Soldiers of Victory – Grant Morrison’s self-contained series of mini-series/Event in two volumes for ~$4 total.
Shade, The Changing Man – Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo reimagine the Ditko character for Vertigo.
The Sheriff of Babylon – Tom King & Mitch Gerads explore murder and crime in Baghdad’s Green Zone. The full series for $1.99
Starman – James Robinson & Tony Harris reinvent the legacy superhero (and legacy villain) with one of the best things to come out of DC in the 90s. DC really needs to finish collecting this one.
Stormwatch – The original Warren Ellis / Tom Raney / Brian Hitch run
Strange Adventures – Tom King & Mitch Gerads with a political/deconstructionist take on Adam Strange
Suicide Squad – John Ostrander / Luke McDonnell – the original ’80s Dirty Dozen riff that spawned the current franchise. Some genius forgot to discount V. 1, but that will be on sale again at some point. The rest are $1.99
Suicide Squad: Get Joker – Brian Azzarello & Alex Maleev did a Black Label version
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? – Matt Fraction & Steve Leiber drop a joke bomb disguised as a murder mystery. HILARIOUS. Highly recommended.
Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, V.3 – Bizarrely mislabeled, this is the first six issues of the Steve Englehart/Joe Staton Green Lantern Corps
The Authority – Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch revamp Stormwatch, then Mark Millar & Frank Quitely tag in.
The Brave & The Bold – Liam Sharp teams Batman and Wonder Woman against Celtic gods.
The Flash by Mark Waid – The volumes that weren’t on sale last week are on sale this week. No, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to us either, but there it is.
More Flash – Also from the original Wally West run – the Mike Baron and Grant Morrison runs.
The Green Lantern by Grant Morrison & Liam Sharp – One of the more imaginative Lantern stories in a while, especially as illustrated, this is really one long story in four volumes, broken up as Season One and Season Two (even though the first series was never referred to as a season… that or DC is actively trying to confuse you, which is not beyond the realm of possibility).
The Hawk and the Dove: The Silver Age – Steve Ditko’s original run for $1.99
The Human Target – One of the most recent releases listed, Tom King & Greg Smallwood craft a noir mystery about Christopher Chance investigating who poisoned him and it looks like one of the BWA HA HA era Justice League did the deed. Noir and slapstick intermingling? YES. Very well done and especially great art. Both volumes for ~$4, total.
The Huntress: Origins – Paul Levitz and (mostly) Joe Staton with The Huntress’s adventures from Batman Family and Wonder Woman.
The Invisibles – Grant Morrison / Jill Thompson / Phil Jimenez – The one with the letter column request. If you know, you know.
Multiversity – Grant Morrison’s tale of parallel worlds. One volume/$1.99.
The Nice House on the Lake – James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno spin a horror table in what was a pretty big hit.
The Spectre – John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake’s under the radar classic about a man who isn’t alive and the force of destruction he’s bound to.
The Unwritten – Mike (M.R.) Carey and Peter Gross in a tale of fiction shaping reality (with a mild Harry Potter satirical element in the premise).
- The Unwritten: Apocalypse – The end of the tale.
The Wild Storm – Warren Ellis and John Davis-Hunt reimagine the Wildstorm universe.
- The Wild Storm: Michael Cray – Bryan Hill / N. Stephen Harris companion book where an assassin goes after funhouse mirror versions of the DC heroes.
Top 10 – Alan Moore / Gene Ha / Zander Cannon – What if Alan Moore wrote Hill Street Blues, but the police were superheroes? That’s essentially what this is and it’s wonderful.
Transmetropolitan – Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson present the absurdist adventures of a Hunter S. Thompson-esque journalist in a dystopian future, butting heads against a corrupt president. The interesting thing is how many different presidents/prime ministers/etc. have been compared to “The Smiler.”
Watchmen – Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. We figure you’ve heard of it by now. $1.99. We do find it a little offensive this is listed as “Media Tie-in / Adaptation,” though…

You’ll want to browse this one yourself. Last week’s first half of the sale was good, but this week’s back half is even better.

Black/Cyber/Holiday Horsefeathers Sale

The Dark Horse 2023 Black Friday Digital Sale runs through Monday, 12/4.

And it’s pretty much the entire Dark Horse catalog, as near as week can tell, so this is another one you might want to browse between now and Monday night. Yes, Hellboy and BPRD are in there, but we’ll look a bit more off the beaten path for our overview.

Air by G. Willow Wilson and M.R. Perker. Berger Books is re-issuing Wilson’s pre-Ms. Marvel Vertigo series. It’s a good one, though a bit hard to describe. A flight attendant finds herself caught up in a far-ranging conspiracy that involves jihadists, dimension-hopping and… Amelia Earhart? This one came out around the time DC started micromanaging Vertigo and got wrapped up before it connected with it’s audience (or Wilson’s name became a selling point). We liked it quite a bit and would love a continuation.

Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido is something fairly unique. Private detective stories in the vein of Philip Marlowe, except the cast is anthropomorphic animals. No, absolutely not funny animals and not a bit of camp to it. Hardboiled detective stories. Good ones and some of the best art in comics. Manga is not the only import.

The Eltingville Club by Evan Dorkin is a parody of obnoxious fanboys run amok. Or is it actually a parody? We’re not sure how far fetched it is and it might be on the pointed side, but that’s why everyone loves Dorkin.

Finder by Carla Speed McNeil is one of the smarter science fiction comics out there and it’s been popping up since the ’90s. Sometimes referred to as “aboriginal science fiction,” Finder spends more time building worlds and, more importantly, cultures than most comics. The nominal lead, Jaeger, is a “Finder” – an uncanny tracker with mysterious abilities related to healing and travel. He’s also a Sin Eater, which causes him no end of trouble. This one has never really popped above the radar like it should.

Grandville by Bryan Talbot is a different flavor of anthropomorphic comic – steampunk. In a world where Britain fell to Napoleon and France is the center of Europe, a badger named Detective-Inspector LeBrock, based out of Scotland Yard, pursues scoundrels. Unlike Blacksad, Grandville does have a sense of humor.

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan: The Complete Joe Kubert Years – Joe Kubert is generally acknowledged as one of the masters of the artform. Tarzan was always a favorite for him and when DC was able to get the Tarzan license, a passion project ensued. This just might be Kubert’s finest art.