Tag: Comixology Sales

Comixology Sales: DC’s “Fandome” Sale Brings Back the GOOD Discounts For a Week

DC breaks out the grown-up discounts to Comixology this week, so it’s a special Tuesday edition!

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

Real Discounts Return to DC

The DC Fandome Sale comes in two parts: Part 1  and Part  2 . Strangely, these listings aren’t really alphabetical, so just dive in. Lots of 69% – 75% off prices here.  Higher if you have a Comixology Unlimited membership.

Yes, the usual suspects are in the sale. After all, there are something like 2500 items… but let’s take a stroll for the garden looking for some forgotten items and better values, shall we?

Do you like the Wally West Flash of the 80s and 90s? Have a look at the series page for that run of The Flash.  Specifically, look at the omnibus section. The Mark Waid volumes are good buys and the Geoff John volumes are ~300 pages each for $3.99.  Two excellent runs for the taking.

Before Southern Bastards and before Thor, Jason Aaron wrote Scalped, with art by R.M. Guéra. It’s a neo-noir about an FBI agent reluctantly returning to the reservation of this youth to investigate organized crime at the casino there. Hit up those omnibus editions at 75% off.

The Flash   Scalped

The Alan Moore / Stephen Bissette / John Totleben / Stan Woch / Rick Veitch Saga of the Swamp Thing run at $3.99 per volume?  That’s a can’t lose proposition.

A couple years back, Robert Venditti and Eddy Barrows had a 12-part Freedom Fighters serial that was SOLID and did not get enough love. It’s the Man in the High Castle premise of their Silver Age revival – the Nazi’s won the war, but Uncle Sam and company are leading the resistance… with a slight complication springing from a Kryptonian escape rocket the Nazi’s found back in the ’30s. At $3.99, that’s 12 issues for the price of one.

Swamp Thing   Freedom Fighters

You’ve heard of The Great Darkness Saga, where Darkseid appears in the future the vex The Legion of Super-Heroes? It’s an absolute classic tale by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen. This particular volume also has some lead-in stories with Pat Broderick on the art. $3.99 for 414 pages makes this one of the best values on the site!

Legion of Super Heroes The Great Darkness Saga

Lots and lots of material here, so we encourage you to browse on your own. DC has not been having discounts like this very often, so while we hope they keep it up, it’s more likely it’ll be back to 50% off next week.

Still On Sale

 

 

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Comixology Sales: Avengers, Spider-Man, Batman, James Bond and Dark Horse Celebrates Halloween

Highlights of this week’s Comixology Sales include Hickman’s Avengers, the chronology of once and future Spider-Man, Ben Reilly, Dark Horse’s Halloween sale and a whole bunch of DC graphic novels… which is to say, Batman.

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

The New Spider-Man (Again)

The Marvel Ben Reilly: Spider-Man Sale runs through Sunday, 10/10.

If you’re not up on this, it’s going to take some explaining. When Nick Spenser leaves Amazing Spider-Man, the Ben Reilly character will be putting on the Spidey suit and taking over. (Yeah, we know. It almost certainly won’t be forever.) So this sale is about catching you on the character.  You’re going to need a score card, so let’s walk you through this.

Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga is where this kicks off, way back in the 70s. (Yeah, we’re talking clones, so this is a long and winding road.)  The clone saga truly starts with a plot by The Jackal spawning the first clones at the end of the Gerry Conway/Ross Andru run. Then we fast forward to the first encounter with Carrion in the Bill Mantlo/Sal Buscema Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man run as the clones return.  This is where Ben Reilly comes from, though you won’t read that name yet.

Flash forward to the ’90s. Nobody really called the “Original Clone Saga” anything like that until the “Clone Saga” took over the Spidey line in the 90s. It’s collected in the 5 (thick) volume “Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic” series. This is where Ben Reilly, Peter’s clone,  shows up as the Scarlett Spider. So you’ve got the Jackal back running around, and hijinks with Venom and Carnage in the middle of it.

At the conclusion of how Marvel’s collecting the Clone Saga, Ben Reilly takes over as Spidey. This run is collected as Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic. At the end of it, we’re done with Ben Reilly for awhile and many would say that’s the real end of the Clone Sage (90s version).

Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga   Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic   Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic

Of course, this is comics, so of course Ben Reilly is back from the grave in the Dan Slott-era Amazing Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy. And then he spins off into his own series, as you knew he would in the current era.  But hey, we warned you all this clone stuff is a long and winding road. That’s your primer for the new Spidey era.

Amazing Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy

Hickman’s Revenge

The Marvel Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Sale runs through Sunday, 10/10.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Hickman’s Avengers run is really one long story and you need to treat it as such.  Do not try and read Avengers and New Avengers as separate collections.  That’s not how the material was published.

Fortunately, Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection seems to be taking that approach. Yes, this sequence includes Infinity, so you don’t need to buy that on its own.  Next up is Time Runs Out, which is the ending arc of Avengers and New Avengers. All in one oversized volume. And finally, after the collapse of known universes, the story wraps up in Secret Wars.

“Epic” is a word that gets thrown around a lot at Marvel. Hickman’s Avengers tale earns that word. The sheer scope of the story is stunning and is really a vital part of the experience. Don’t jump in at the end. Start at the beginning and take the full ride. In for a penny, in for a pound.  Or maybe five pounds in this case.

Avengers by Jonathan Hickman - the Complete Collection   Avengers: Time Runs Out    Secret Wars

Let the Halloween Sales Begin

‘Tis the season for horror-ish sales and The Dark Horse Halloween Sale kicks it off (and runs through Monday, 11/1).

There’s a lot of stuff in here, since Dark Horse has always published a lot of horror. We’ll assume you already know about Hellboy and B.P.R.D – both are in there and both are worth your time if you haven’t partaken, but we’ll focus on some different offerings.

Point in case, one of the… outer resident of the Mignola-verse is Baltimore, the tale of a world where the vampires rose at the end of WWI and the bloody quest for vengeance Lord Baltimore sets out for against those vampires. Now conveniently contained in two omnibus editions, we had a good time reading those a few months back. Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden are the authors with Ben Steinbeck and Peter Bergting tagging off on art.

It seems like this is the season for some Neil Gaiman, and there’s plenty on sale. Perhaps it’s a good year for Snow, Glass, Apples? That would be Colleen Doran adapting Neil’s twisted retelling of the legend of Snow White. (Also available in The Neil Gaiman Library V. 3)

And for something extra below the radar, we offer up The Marquis.  Originally published by Oni, this is a supernatural affair written and drawn by Guy Davis. Yes, the same Guy Davis who rocked B.P.R.D. The Marquis concerns an ex-inquisitor in the 18th century who can see the demons who are possessing members of society as he dons a mask to root them out… in a hail of bullets. It’s Guy Davis with the gloves off, slinging horrors at the reader.

Baltimore Omnibus 1   Snow, Glass, Apples   The Marquis

The Road to PR

The DC Road to FanDome Sale comes in Part 1 (100 Bullets to New Teen Titans) and Part 2 (New Teen Titans to Zero Hour). FanDome is DC’s attempt to pass off a PR event as their own convention, so they’re pretty much putting most of their graphic novels up for 50% off.

If you’d like a little bang for your buck, you could do a lot worse than Batman by Ed Brubaker V. 1. That’s Brubaker with Scott McDaniel and Karl Story as the primary art team. 317 pages for $5.99. There’s a second volume, but heads up that it’s in the middle of the “Bruce Wayne: Fugitive” event, so parts of it might read a little odd – not an uncommon problem with single-creator themed Batman collections.

Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen by Jack Kirby is essentially the Fourth World Superman title and it’s a little under-rated.  Jimmy Olsen hooks up with the Cadmus Project as Intergang and Darkseid loom over things and Superman keeps watch. A more influential series than you might realize – these additions to the mythos have largely stuck around over the years.

The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman is Liam Sharp’s tale of Batman and Wonder Woman investigating the death of a Celtic god from a couple years back (before Sharp hooked up with Grant Morrison for Green Lantern).

Batman by Ed Brubaker   Jimmy Olsen by Jack Kirby   The Brave and the Bold

No Time to Die Shop

The Dynamite James Bond Sale runs through Monday, 10/18.

If you like Ian Flemming’s novels, have we got a comic for you.  Kill Chain by Andy Diggle and Luca Casalanguida bring Bond back into the crosshairs of SMERSH. One of the best 007 updates, period.

James Bond Kill Chain

Still On Sale

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Comixology Sales: Wolverine, Venom/Carnage, (Solo) X-Men, Justice League, Spawn and Cursed Pirate Girl

This week in Comixology Sales, Marvel discounts Wolverine’s demise and the solo X-Men adventures, DC cuts the Justice League pricing, we have a look at some under-the-radar Image titles in their large Fall sale and… Cursed Pirate Girl!

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

Dead Again

The Marvel  Death of Wolverine Sale runs through Sunday, 10/3.

Spoilers: he gets better.

This sale is pretty straight forward. If you want the full Event experience, Death of Wolverine: The Complete Collection gets you a little more bang for your buck.

Death of Wolverine

Mutants Without Partners

The Marvel X-Men Solo Series Sale runs through Thursday, 10/7.

This would be a collection of some of the mini-series and otherwise short lived titles featuring the various members of the X-family off on their own.

Of the set, Legion (or Legion: Legacy as it’s sometimes referred to) by Si Spurrier and Tan Eng Huat is probably the one with the most lasting influence.  You might also be interested in a bit of Chris Claremont.  Everyone once in a while, Marvel will give him the greenlight and this 2014 Nightcrawler series drawn by Todd Nauck is one of those.

Legion   Nightcrawler

Symbiotes

The Marvel Venom-Carnage Sale runs through Sunday, 12/17.

Gosh, it’s like there was a movie out or something…

The Venom saga starts with this Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection. That puts you in the David Michelinie/Todd McFarlane era of the book.

Maximum Carnage isn’t the first appearance of Carnage, but it’s the BIG story arc where Carnage really gets the spotlight, a few years after Venom debuted.

Amazing Spider-Man - Venom   Maximum Carnage

Justice over the Years

The DC Spotlight: Justice League Sale runs through Monday, 10/4.

This is one of those mezzanine level, 50% off sales that are becoming the norm for DC.  What’s on sale?  A whole bunch of Justice League, naturally.  And the older single issues are $0.99, so make sure it’s not cheaper to get single issues than the collected edition. (It’s usually cheaper to get the collected edition if it’s on sale, but not always.)

The original Justice League of America run is here.  You can get the first 41 issues or so in collected editions and another batch in the #80s-#90s, but this is mostly a single issue affair.  We always thought the Steve Englehart/Dick Dillin era was Peak JLA: #139-146; 149-150. The Gerry Conway/Dick Dillin/George Perez era that followed has it’s fans, too.  Conway was on the title a looooooong time.

For an oddity, long before he was doing Deathstroke and Vampirella, Priest did a run on Justice League Task Force. A title you really don’t hear the name of very often. The cleanest place to start (darn those pesky cross-overs) is probably #17, which Mark Waid writes and Priest pops back in with the next issue.

For pure Bang For The Buck, it’s hard to beat Justice League Quarterly. The ’90-’94 series is eclectic as all get out for creators (see for yourself) and it’s 70+ pages for $0.99/pop.  Definitely cheaper getting the single issues on this one. If you see a creator lineup you like on an issue, it’s cheap!

The more recent material is also available, but we figure you’re already familiar with that.

Justice League of America   Justice League Task Force   Justice League Quarterly

Hidden Treasure From Image

The Image Fall Reading Sale runs through Friday, 10/15.

Normally, we don’t recommend $20+ digital collections… but we’ll make an exception for Spawn Compendium V.1 because it’s a 50 issue collection and that comes out to roughly $0.48/issue, which is as cheap as it comes.  Spawn’s pretty hot right now and this is a good way to see how it started. Todd McFarlane is even penciling Spawn before Greg Capullo and Tony Daniel enter the picture. Plus all those early guest writers like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

Speaking of things that are hot right now, Kyle Higgins seems to have a hit on his hands with Radiant Black, but not that many people remember his previous indie superhero vehicle, C.O.W.L. Co-written by Alec Seigel and drawn by Rod Reis concerns a labor union for superheroes in ’60s Chicago.

Spawn Compendium x C.O.W.L.

The Monolith, written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray and illustrated by Phil Winslade is a comic that was originally published by DC, with the rights having returned to the creators. (Do not say that last part around the Marvel legal offices this week. Someone might get alarmed.) A troubled young woman discovers golem in her basement in this one. A very angry golem who thirsts for revenge. It’s something you may not have heard of and we’re saps for Phil Winslade’s art.

Another lesser-known series by a now more prominent creator is twenty-seven by Charles Soule and Renzo Podestá.  Yes, Soule is on the prolific side. This one explores why all those famous musicians die at the age of 27. An occult conspiracy?  That would be telling.

The Monolith   27

Curses!

The BOOM! YA All Day Sale runs through Friday 10/1.

We would draw your eye to a wonderfully idiosyncratic comic: Jeremy Bastian’s Cursed Pirate Girl. We’re not sure we’d necessarily call it YA, so much as living in it’s own space in sort of an surreal Alice in Wonderland kind of way… but with pirates and ghosts.  Such a unique work!

Cursed Pirate Girl

Still on Sale

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Comixology Sales: Marvel Buy One, Get One Free adds a Deadpool Sale

The Marvel Buy One, Get One Free sale at Comixology adds Deadpool to the extra discount lineup.

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

BOGO!

We’re in the home stretch of the Marvel Buy One, Get One Free is back. Click that link, get that code and stack the BOGO on top of the current sales.  The sale ends on Monday, 9/27 at 11PM ET.  Fine print says the offer is no good on comics that came out after 8/25/21, pre-orders or Max titles, among other things.

The absolute best deals on with a Marvel BOGO sale are when you put a couple a books that are already on sale into your shopping cart and then add that BOGO code.  You effectively get another 1/2 off the sale price and you enter the real of EXTRA CHEAP

The Discounts with The Mouth

And Marvel has added a new sale to  the lineup. The Marvel Deadpool Vs. Sale runs through Thursday, 9/30.

What’s “Vs.” mean? It’s a Deadpool Team-up sale, with titles like Deadpool Team-Up, Deadpool vs. X-Force (featuring early Pepe Larraz art) and the Cullen Bunn / Dalibor Talajic  classic of milieu, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe.

Deadpool Team-Up   Deadpool vs. X-Force   Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe

And if you head back to our last installment, we’ll give you the scoop on stacking the BOGO discounts on top of the Doctor Strange and X-Men: Inferno sales.

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Comixology Sales: Black Panther, Punisher, What If…, Captain Britain, Miracleman, Astro City and Cullen Bunn

Highlights from this week’s Comixology sales include just about all the Black Panther material, What If, Marvel Max selections including The Punisher and Miracleman, Captain Britain, Astro City and Cullen Bunn’s Dark Horse work.

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

T’Challa Gets Cheap

The Marvel Black Panther Sale runs through Sunday, 8/8.

The Don McGregor material is now in “print” and on sale. It’s also a little goofy to follow, the way it’s arranged. The Epic Collections and Masterworks are not all on the same page outside the sale, so let’s give you the (cheap) cheat sheet.

You can pick up the Jungle Action run for four bucks less in the Black Panther Masterworks V. 1.  That McGregor with Billy Graham, Rich Buckler and Gil Kane.  While there’s nothing wrong with the Kirby run, which is the next volume for both the Masterworks and Epic Collections, we’d probably have you skip ahead to the Panther’s Prey Epic Collection. This one collects McGregor’s return to the character with the much more grounded Marvel Comics Presents serial drawn by Gene Colan and the Panther’s Prey mini-series (prestige format, back in the day) painted by Dwayne Turner.

You can then proceed to Black Panther by Christoper Priest: The Complete Collection, the Marvel Knight era series that’s truly excellent and builds directly on that original Jungle Action run.

Black Panther Masterworks   Black Panther Panther's Prey   Black Panther by Priest

If Not, Why Not?

The  Marvel What If Sale runs through Thursday, 8/12.

Gosh, it’s like there’s a new TV show coming out or something…

Anyway, here’s the deal – there’s no significant price difference between the larger “Complete Collection” versions and the What If Classic volumes.  2 Classics = 1 volume of Complete.  Since it’s an anthology, we’re going to list some notable issues of the original series and let you figure out what you’re most interested in and which format to go for. Some of these are going to sound awfully darn familiar, too.  What If seems like a gold mine for pitching your editor!

  • #1 – What If Spider-Man Joined the Fantastic Four?
  • #2 – What If The Hulk Had the Brain of Bruce Banner?
  • #10 – What If Jane Foster Had Found the Hammer of Thor?
  • #12 – What If Rick Jones Had Become The Hulk?
  • #13 – What If Conan the Barbarian Walked the Earth Today?
  • #23 – What If The Hulk Had Become a Barbarian?
  • #30 – What If Spider-Man’s Clone Had Lived?
  • #35 – What If Elektra Had Lived?
  • #37 – What If The Beast and The Thing Continued to Mutate?
  • #43 – What If Conan Were Stranded in the 20th Century?

Gosh, we’re sure NOBODY ever picked up those topics a decade or four later…

What If

Marvel For the Mature

The Marvel Max Sale runs through Thursday, 8/12. This would be Marvel’s mature reader line.

The flagship title here is probably The Punisher: The Complete Collection, which is Garth Ennis returning to write non-satirical tales of Frank Castle with artists like Darick Robertson, Leandro Fernandez, Doug Braithwaite and Goran Parlov. (The Ennis run goes through V. 4.)

And yes, tucked in amongst a pretty eclectic set of comics is Miracleman.  Don’t let the credits fool you, this is Alan Moore’s run, along with Garry Leach, Alan Davis, Rick Veitch and John Totleben (among others). A man remembers his magic word and transforms into a superhero, only to start unravelling the conspiracy that created it him, which was certainly not magical. A landmark tale that’s lost some of its place in history because of the lawsuits and being buried for so long.

Punisher   Miracleman

UK Officer Material

The Marvel Captain Britain Sale runs through Sunday, 8/8.

And a strange tale this is.  The best Captain Britain is still the Alan Moore/Alan Davis serial through Alan Davis’ solo run on the Captain Britain magazine. There’s a sampler collection here, but not the full run.  As such, we’re going to have to fall back to Excalibur.What you want here are the Alan Davis issues, we like it a bit better when he returned to writing and drawing the series, but the initial run with Chris Claremont is also quite good.  The Epic Editions are the best buys, but you need to finish up the second run with the Visionary editions.

Excalibur

Astro City Returns to Image

The Image Astro City Sale runs through Tuesday, 8/17.

As you may recall, Astro City said farewell to DC awhile back and the title disappeared from digital. It’s now gone full circle. Astro City started out at the Homage imprint under Wildstorm at Image and moved over to DC when Jim Lee sold Wildstorm to them.  Astro City is back at Image and the whole lot is on sale.  Amazingly, Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross have been in this one for the long haul and we look forward to new material soon-ish.

While Astro City is written such than you can drop in just about anywhere in the run (with the exception of The Dark Ages spanning 2 volumes), we’d still recommend starting at the beginning a letting the scope of the worldbuilding grow as you read along.  Astro City is the perfect antidote for when your favorite DC or Marvel title gets into a rut. It’s everything that’s good about the super hero format.

Astro City

Horse on a Bunn

The Dark Horse Cullen Bunn Sale runs through Monday, 8/9.

Prolific dark fantasy/horror writer Cullen Bunn’s major Dark Horse work is Harrow County. This Tyler Crook (yes, we were talking about his Petrograd last week) drawn series about witches and demons with a long and contentious history is starting to be available in multiple formats.  As of right now, the cheapest method of consumption would be to grab the Omnibus Editions.  V. 1 is half off and V.2 is the same price as getting the 2 Library Editions it collects on sale (which is still cheaper than getting the regular collected editions).

Harrow County Omnibus 1   Harrow County Omnibus 2

Still on Sale:

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Comixology Sales: Rocket Raccoon and Groot, Suicide Squad, Groo, Whiteout, Kaijumax and a whole bunch of Oni GNs

This week in Comixology Sales, Marvel serves up Rocket & Groot; DC slashes the Suicide Squad (you’d think there was a movie coming out…); Sergio pops up with a Groo sale; and Oni has a very nearly line-wide graphic novel sale.

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

Like Moose & Squirrel… but with Tree

The  Marvel Rocket Raccoon & Groot Sale runs through Sunday, 8/1.

We’d say the Rocket Raccoon & Groot Complete Collection (Comixology says Ultimate Collection, but we’re going with what’s on the cover) is the place to start for the original appearances and some Annihilation-related material.  Then it’s time for that rascal Skottie Young’s Rocket Raccoon run.

Rocket Raccoon & Groot Complete Collection   Rocket Raccoon

Suicide Sale

The DC Suicide Squad Sale runs through Monday, 8/9.

DC didn’t exactly make it easy on the recommendations here. Our favorite runs are the original John Ostrander/Luke McDonnell and the recent Tom Taylor/Bruno Redondo runs. The Taylor/Redondo run is too recent to be on sale and DC just reissued V.1 of the Ostrander run, so this is an imperfect sale.

So here’s the Ostrander/McDonnell work around: go to the series page for their Suicide Squad run, get the $0.99 single issues for #1-8 and then proceed to the collected editions.  As we said, imperfect sale.  Good comics, though.  (We’ll ignore the comedy of putting the movie cast on the new cover for V.1 for the moment.  Might not be consistent with the contents.)

Suicide Squad

Groo is Getting OLD

The Dark Horse Feeling Groovy Sale runs through Monday, 8/2.

The title is a bit of a pun, since the object of the sale is Groo the Wander. How long have Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier been telling tales of the none-too-swift barbarian? It’ll be 40 years in 2022!  (And we have that issue of Destroyer Duck around here someplace.) This sale is for the Dark Horse material.  Groo is pretty darn portable, but if you want to start at the beginning of the Dark Horse run, then go with Sergio Aragones’ Groo: The Most Intelligent Man in the World. That’s where the Dark Horse era begins. The bottom line here: it’s Sergio and if you don’t love Sergio, we can’t help you.

Groo

Oni Opens the Vault

The  Oni Graphic Novel Sale runs through Monday, 8/9.

There’s a lot of territory to cover here and we’re going to assume you already know what a Scott Pilgrim is.  And we’ll go a little deeper here because the full monty seems to be on sale.

The Rucka Trilogy

Greg Rucka’s had a good run with Oni over the years. It starts with Whiteout with Steve Lieber, a outright classic about a murder at Antarctica. Yes, there was a film, but we don’t talk about that. The next title was a sidestep towards espionage with the long-running Queen & Country. Possibly the best spy comic of them all, this one rotates artists with each arc and you see everyone from Chris Samnee to Jason Shawn Alexander to Carla Speed McNeil. Q&C channels a cult UK spy show called The Sandbaggers, which is also worth your time. More recently, Rucka teamed with Matthew Southland and later Justin Greenwood for Stumptown, a Rockford Files-esque PI show set in Portland that has a TV adaptation. (We might like V.4’s stolen exotic coffee beans plot the best.)

Whiteout   Queen & Country   Stumptown

Normally, we’d be pushing The Sixth Guy, but Oni’s being a jerk about it with this sale. The “Deluxe” editions are on sale — as in hardcover pricing for digital.  The regular collected editions mostly aren’t on sale — and they’re still cheaper than the Deluxe sales price.  Great series, but this sale is not the one.

There’s a similar situation with Kaijumax by Zander Cannon. In this case, the regular collected editions are on sale, so avoid the Deluxe version in the Omnibus window and their HC pricing and stick with the normal ones.  So what is Kaijumax?  A criminally overlooked delight.  Oh, yes… it looks like a funny animal book, but it’s a DARK tale about an island that’s a supermax prison for giant monsters.  Think Godzilla goes to jail and you’re not far off. Prison gangs, contraband and breakout attempts. Cannon plays this one straight and the contrast between the art style and the subject matter is part of the fun. Seriously, your jaw will drop as you get used to the format.

And for something in a different direction, there’s Petrograd, Phillip Gelatt’s and Tyler Crook’s tale of a British spy sent to arrange Rasputin’s demise.

Kaijumax   Petrograd

Still on Sale:

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Comixology Sales: Marvel Buy One Get One Free; DC’s Black Label; 50% off BOOM!, Dark Horse, Dynamite, Fantagraphics, Harlequin, Humanoids, Lion Forge, IDW, Kodansha and Oni

This week in Comixology Sales: Marvel’s still running a BOGO with two sales you can stack discounts on; DC slashes prices on Black Label titles and subscribers get 50% off a bunch of indie publishers.

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

Half Price Marvel

As you may have heard, Marvel has one of their mostly line wide Buy One Get One Free sales going on. Click here for the codes. (Type it in with ALL CAPS) The sale runs through 11PM ET on Sunday, 7/11. The sale is on material released prior to 6/4/21. No bundles, etc.  You know the drill by now.  HOWEVER, since these discounts stack, let us point out:

The Black Widow Sale (with strange Epic Collections)  that runs through Sunday, 7/18.

What’s good for Black Widow?  We always liked the Richard K. Morgan (yes, as in Altered Carbon)/Goran Parlov/Sean Phillips/Bill Sienkiewicz run that’s collected in Welcome to the Game.

You also can’t go wrong with the Mark Waid/Chris Samnee run, that’s also conveniently collected in a single volume.

Black Widow - Welcome to the Game   Black Widow by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee

And coming in fresh is the Exiles Sale. This title was an X-Men / Age of Apocalypse spin-off of sorts with a team of mutants drawn from various realities dimension hopping and trying to fix the time stream. The original version had a healthy 100 issue run.

Exiles

Someone at DC likes Johnnie Walker?

Hmmm… we wonder what DC likes to drink? At any rate, DC has a Black Label sale on through Monday, 7/12.  Black Label being sorta/kinda the new Vertigo imprint, but with a little more emphasis on alternate versions of their superhero lineup, not just horror and genre material. And the discounts aren’t as punk as in recent weeks. Collected editions are all over 50% for a change, about half are 60%+.  Single issues are 50-60% off, depending on title.  None of this miserly 45% off business this time out.

Our highest possible recommendation goes to John Constatine, Hellblazer by Si Spurrier / Aaron Campbell / Matias Bergara. It’s horror. It’s occasionally laugh out loud hilarious. It’s insideous and sneaky. Join us is being angry there were only 12 issues. One of the best Hellblazer runs in years and some of DC’s best recent work.

An excellent example of Black Label’s alternate takes on superheroes is Daniel Warren Johnson’s Wonder Woman: Dead Earth.  Yes, “hero in a post-apocalyptical wasteland” is a subgenre at this point, HOWEVER… this is one of the better examples because of just how gosh darn kinetic and fun Johnson’s art is.  There’s mayhem aplenty and we can confirm that his work is just about as “metal” as it gets.  Excellence of execution!

There’s more to browse in the single issues here, as DC hasn’t put all the collected editions on sale yet. Please note, some of these titles are Euro-style albums in single issue format.

Hellblazer   Wonder Woman: Dead Earth

50% off all sorts of Indies for Unlimited Subscribers.

So the holiday sale comes after the holiday?  It’s another blow out for Comixology Unlimited subscribers, with 50% off BOOM!, Dark Horse, Dynamite, Fantagraphics, Harlequin, Humanoids, Lion Forge, IDW, Kodansha and Oni. All through Monday, 7/12. Details here.

Now remember – the discounts stack, so if you’re a CU member, prices just got a lot more interesting for the following sales:

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Comixology Sales – Jason Aaron gets the discount spotlight from Marvel, plus Black Hammer

This week’s Comixology sale highlights include Marvel putting the spotlight on Jason Aaron, plus Jeff Lemire’s and Dean Ormston’s Black Hammer.

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

Jason Aaron’s Spotlight Begins

The Marvel Jason Aaron Sale runs through Thursday, 7/1.

Perhaps best described as the regular Marvel U Jason Aaron, this covers a lot of territory.

If you want a value buy, there’s the nice thick volumes of Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection, which starts with the “God Butcher” material and features art by the likes of Nic Klein, Ron Garney, Esad Ribic and Russell Dauterman (among others) as the saga unfolds and Jane Foster moves to center stage.

There’s also the entire “Life and Death of Conan” run by Aaron and Mahmud Arsar from Conan the Barbarian, now in one volume.

And quite a bit more, since Aaron’s had a long run at Marvel.

Thor by Jason Aaron   Conan the Barbarian

Ultimate Aarons?

The Marvel Ultimate Universe  Sale runs through Sunday, 6/27.

You already know about the original flagship titles of the Ultimate run, so let’s look at a couple things from a bit later in the universe from names you might just find familiar.

How about Ultimate Captain America by Jason Aaron (him again?) and Ron Garney, which we enjoyed back in the day.

And before was the X-Men showrunner, Jonathan Hickman had a run on Ultimate Comics – The Ultimates with Esad Ribic as the primary artist. Most people would consider that an interesting creative pair, we think.

Ultimate Captain America   Ultimate Comics - The Ultimates

Getting Hammered

The  Dark Horse Black Hammer Sale runs through Monday, 6/28.

This critical darling by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston is very much a world building experience.  Start with the core series and then branch to the spin-offs as the spotlighted characters catch your fancy.  There’s plenty of imagination to go around.

Black Hammer

Still on Sale

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Comixology Sales: Hulk, Secret Invasion, Spotlight on James Tynion IV, Image Graphic Novels

Highlights of this week’s Comixology Sales include Hulk smashing prices, Secret Invasion, a James Tynion IV spotlight and Image’s OGN line.

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

Hulk Smash Prices

The Marvel Hulk: Incredible Legacy Sale runs through Sunday, 6/20.

Here are the Tower of Cheap, we’re huge fans of the Al Ewing / (mostly) Joe Bennett Immortal Hulk run. It’s a horror-flavored Hulk that takes the multiple personality disorder version of the character to new depths and it really works.  The first 8 collected editions are on sale for $2.99. Highly recommended.

There’s a lot on sale for the original Incredible Hulk series (Comixology lumps the real original series with the second series). Pick your poison between Masterworks editions or Epic Collections (Epic is a better value, but those jump around a little).  If you’re interested in the Peter David run, this is how it works right now.  There’s an Epic Collection that collects the Byrne run and the Al Milgrom run that leads up to PAD’s run. There are 8 volumes of the Peter David “Visionaries” series and then it switches over to Epic Collections for #397 on.  No overlap, they just haven’t converted the Visionaries to Epic Collections yet. (One presumes this will eventually happen, but it is what it is.)  The 3 volumes of Bill Mantlo Hulk are in between Masterworks and Epic, in terms of page count.

Plenty to browse for this one.

Immortal Hulk   Hulk

Not So Secret Now…

The Marvel Secret Invasion Sale runs through Thursday, 6/24.

Secret Invasion is a challenging story to read in collected editions. Parts of it are told in  flashbacks. It jumps from title to title. Marvel hasn’t always been consistent about a recommended reading order, either.  The Secret Invasion mini-series is the spine. If you want the full story, pretty much anything with Avengers in the title, especially written by Bendis, will be key. The Captain Marvel collection is also relevant in ways that are not immediate apparent.

Secret Invasion

And By “Something,” We Mean Monsters…

The BOOM! Creator Spotlight: James Tynion IV sale runs through Thursday, 7/1.

Yes, Tynion seems to be having himself a moment. His BOOM! backlist is on sale here. We can happily recommend Something Is Killing the Children by Tynion and Werther Dell’Edera, an urban fantasy monster hunter tale. It’s getting to be a bit of a bandwagon with the speculators jumping on the print issues, but everyone once in a while, the bandwagon is for a good title.

Something is Killing the Children

So Much For Serialization

The Image Original Graphic Novel Sale runs through Thursday, 7/1.

Yes, Image has been doing more OGNs in recent years and this is well worth a browse. Highlights?  Not a problem.

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are a pretty darn reliable pairing, but Pulp is a high water mark for them. A writer of pulp westerns in ’30s NYC finds himself with declining prospects, a nest of Nazi spies and the ghosts of the past. Oh, it’s a crime thriller, but it’s a very philosophical one where the meditations only serve to enhance the mayhem.

Dracula, Motherf**ker! by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson is an absolute delight. It’s a 70s exploitation style take on the Dracula mythos. It’s 1974 Los Angeles and Dracula’s brides are out for revenge, following the tropes of that sort of film. Henderson shows us a KILLER new side and it’s a true showcase for her. We just wish there was more of it, the pace accelerates a quick read.  A really fun book for horror fans who crossover with 70s cinema and/or Tarantino.

And for something clear out of left field, Last of the Independents has returned. This Matt Fraction/Kieron Dwyer crime story actually predates Criminal and we were pleasantly surprised that it returned to print (or digital in this case). Keeping in the theme here, this is also a love letter to 70s cinema, but more crime flicks than the exploitation/revenge genres. A bank heist goes terribly wrong and our antiheroes find that someone’s come looking for them. It’s all in the execution.

Pulp   Dracula, Motherf**cker!   Last of the Independents

Another Generic DC Sale

You know how DC keeps running the same sale with the same copious sub-50% discounts?  It’s back. This time they’re calling it the “DC June Start of Summer Sale.” It runs through Monday, 6/28 in Part 1 and Part 2.

There are much better discounts to be found in  DC’s Pride Sale.

Still on Sale

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Comixology Sales: Loki; Great Discounts on Green Arrow; Luke Cage; Marvel Infinity Events; Frank Miller, Dave Gibbons and Bryan Talbot

This week’s Comixology Sales include DC finally returning to GOOD discounts with a Green Arrow sale; Marvel offers up Loki, Luke Cage and Infinity Events; and Dark Horse has a most singular history sale.

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

The Emerald Archer – On the Cheap

The DC Green Arrow Sale runs through Monday, 6/14 and this time DC is being a bit more generous with the discounts.  $1.99 collected editions.  80% off and up.  CHEAP.

Once ejected from Green Lantern, Green Arrow was floating around as a backup feature in World’s Finest and Detective Comics. It was Mike Grell who created the breakout for the character, first with The Longbow Hunters prestige mini-series and then the long-running Green Arrow solo title with Ed Hannigan, Dan Jurgens and Rick Hoberg taking turns on the art for the regular series.

Jump ahead to 2001 and there’s another major relaunch. Kevin Smith (yes, ‘ole snootchie bootchies himself) wrote the first two arcs with Phil Hester and Ande Parks on art, with novelist Brad Meltzer and Judd Winnick following as writers.  The Green Arrow by Kevin Smith omnibus is a pretty good buy here, collecting both the Quiver and Sounds of Violence books.

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters   Green Arrow   Green Arrow by Kevin Smith

The Prince of Lies

The Marvel Loki Sale runs through Sunday, 6/20. (You’d think there was a TV show or something?)

The obvious things people are talking about with Loki are the Al Ewing / Lee Garbett Loki: Agent of Asgard and the Kieron Gillen/Doug Braithwaite Journey Into Mystery.

A deep cut that not enough people know about?  Thor: The Might Avenger by Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee is a really strong take on the Thor mythos with a Silver Age flavor to it.  This came out before many people knew who Samnee was and we’re not sure Langridge has ever quite gotten his due. This is an under the radar gem.

If you’re looking to add to your set of Epic Collections, there are several Thor editions on the second page of the sale.

Loki: Agent of Asgard   Journey Into Mystery   Thor: The Mighty Avenger

To Infinity and Beyond

The Marvel Infinity Sale runs through Thursday, 6/17.

While the Hickman Infinity event is a good one, we still maintain that Hickman’s Avengers is one loooooong story and trying to cherry pick the middle is a futile exercise. By all means, read the _whole_ thing. Just don’t start in the middle.

The original Infinity trilogy, that’s another story.  Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin, George Perez and Ron Lim? A classic that’s spawned a LOT of stuff. Infinity War is the next volume by Starlin & Lim, with additional art by Tom Raney, Angel Medina and Shawn McManus.  Infinity Crusade, again written by Starlin with art (primarily) by Lim and Raney wraps up the original trilogy.

We haven’t read the “Aftermath” volumes as books, but our recollection is they have some relevance to the overall saga, particularly the Starlin-written issues. Probably more for completists, but not pure cashgrabs.

Infinity Gauntlet  Infinity War  Infinity Crusade

Sweet Christmas

The Marvel Luke Cage Sale runs through Sunday, 6/13.

If we’re honest, our favorite Luke Cage run is the Power Man & Iron Fist era of “Heroes for Hire.” It’s quirky and you get quite the parade of talent on this across the Epic Collections on sale.  You get a little Claremont & Byrne as it kicks off.   Mary Jo Duffy, Denny O’Neil, Archie Goodwin, Steven Grant and some early Kurt Busiek is a pretty solid range of writers. Artists include Kerry Gammill, Denys Cowan, Keith Pollard and Ernie Chan.  Solid packages, plus the value of Epic Collections.

For something more off the beaten path (and yet more mainstream in that way peculiar to superhero comics), there’s always Cage by Genndy Tartakovsky.  You know, the guy behind Samauri Jack, Clone Wars and Hotel Transylvania? 

Power Man and Iron Fist   Cage!

But then our history was never quite like this…

The Dark Horse History Sale runs through Monday, 6/14… although some of our favorite collections from the sale require a very open-minded definition of “history.”

Grandville by the illustrious and illustrative Bryan Talbot is an anthropomorphic steampunk series in a world where France won the Napoleonic Wars. An inspector from Scotland Yard faces all manner retro pulp-ish foes. It’s a very good sequence of graphic novels.

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anyone mention Give Me Liberty  or Martha Washington. The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century (Second Edition) by Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons collects the entire Martha Washington sequence by two comics legends – Miller writing and Gibbons on the art. A near future science fiction tale when released in the ’90s, it follows the life of Martha Washington who escapes a detention-facility version of Chicago’s Cabrini Green housing projects, joins the army and eventually makes it to space.  A pretty notable series in it’s day.

Grandville   Martha Washington

Still on Sale

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