Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: DC Classics w/ New Teen Titans, What If?, Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook, Peanuts

This week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales include DC “Classics,” which includes the Marv Wolfman/George Perez New Teen Titans run, so we’ll have to agree with the sale’s title. Marvel offers up What If? Fantagraphics discounts Peanuts and Dark Horse celebrates Cullen Bunn & Tyler Crook. We would also remind you that there’s a very cheap Star Wars sale and a Doctor Strange sale that aren’t quite finished yet.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

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

A “Classical” Education

The DC Classics Sale runs through Monday, 5/16

This one is a DEEP dive into the DC backlist. And since the sale prices seem to have normalized, we’re happy to be able to point you to a few title that now have each volume on sale, which wasn’t happening in the last couple months.

Point in case: New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Perez now has the first 10 volumes (coincidentally, the Perez years) for $4.99 each. Previously several volumes would be at those bizarre prices that appeared to be in error. Well, no more of that. New Teen Titans was effectively DC’s answer to X-Men in the early 80s (along with the Levitz/Giffen-era LSH, whose reprinting is more convoluted). It’s supposed to be a “classics” sale and this one is more classic than most.

Fast forward a few years and you get the “Man of Steel” era of Superman. Some people call it the John Byrne era, but this time frame also brings Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway into the fold. $4.99 – $5.99 per volume is also good pricing.

In general, the “Silver Age” collections tend to be a slightly larger page count and good bang for your buck. However, you also might find yourself thinking that DC’s collected editions can be a little spotty and, gosh darn it, sometimes you’d just like to get some $0.99 single issues to fill in those series. You’re in luck, there are a LOT of $0.99 single issues here, although it’s a royal pain to browse in Amazon sub-par user interface. Here’s a cheat sheet for some of the single issues on sale:

Action Comics ’38-’11
Adventure Comics
All-Star Comics
Aquaman ’63-’78
Batman ’40-’11
Brave and the Bold (spotty discounts on this one)
DC Comics Presents
Detective Comics ’37-’11
The Flash ’59-’85
Green Lantern ’60-’86
Superman ’39-’11 (Yes, Amazon files the ’06-’11 series here. Don’t ask us to explain why…)
Superman ’87-06
Wonder Woman ’42 – ’86

If Not, Why Not?

The Marvel What If Sale runs through Monday, 5/16.

The interesting thing about What If is how often the modern age of Marvel has gone back to pilfer from it. What If is where Jane Foster first took up the hammer of Thor. The first place Conan stalked the streets of the present. The first time the Hulk became a barbarian. Apparently, “there’s gold in them there hills!” The larger collections are slightly more bang for your buck, BTW.

The Fantagraphics Peanuts Sale runs through Monday, 5/16.

Yes, the classic Charles Schultz comic strip with Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Fantagraphics is reprinting it from the beginning. Strangely, there’s no series link on Amazon for this.

Tag Team?

The Dark Horse Bunn & Crook Sale runs through Monday, 5/23.

That would be Cullen Bunn & Tyler Crook, who’ve done quite a bit at Dark Horse over the years. Their best known collaboration is probably Harrow County (the omnibus editions are BY FAR the best buy).

If you’d like something a bit more recent, Parasomnia by Bunn and Andrea Mutti was a February release. The Unbelievable Teens (part of the Black Hammer universe) by Jeff Lemire and Crook was released on 4/5… and this is as quickly as we’ve seen a collection go on sale!

Still On Sale

The Marvel Star Wars May the Fourth Sale runs through Monday, 5/16. ($0.99/$1.99 tpbs – definitely check it out if you’re remotely into Star Wars)
The Marvel Doctor Strange Sale runs through Monday, 5/16
The DC Justice League R.I.P. Sale runs through Monday, 5/16
The Image Jeff Lemire Sale runs through Monday, 5/16

Posted on May 13, 2022 by comics_p1pusl

Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Doctor Strange, Justice League, Scarlet Witch, Constantine and Jeff Lemire

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales – Doctor Strange has pretty much his entire run on sale and the Scarlet Witch joins him with a sister sale of sorts. DC celebrates the death of the Justice League with (correct) discounts and Image celebrates the work of Jeff Lemire.

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

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

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

Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo

The Marvel Doctor Strange Sale runs through Sunday, 5/16.

And it’s most of the Doctor Strange material that’s been collected in book form. You’d almost think there was a movie out or something.

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.)
Strange Tales ’87-’88 – The Peter B. Gillis / Chris Warner era was back in Strange Tales in between the two “regular” Doctor Strange titles.
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, so far for real.) A clever series that delivers its titular promise in unexpected ways.
Strange (’22-?) – get the first couple issues of the new Sorcerer Supreme for $0.99

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 (as you’d expect with these creators) excellent Doctor Strange: The Oath by Brian K, Vaughan and Marcos Martin. The final Waid/Walker run is also a lot more under the radar than it should be.

Mutant Sorcery

The Marvel Scarlet Witch Sale runs through Sunday, 5/9.

The value buy here is Vision & The Scarlet Witch: The Saga of Wanda and Vision. It’s a sort of faux-Epic Edition, clocking in at 467 pages and including the wedding of Wanda and Vision from Giant-Size Avengers #4, the ’82 Bill Mantlo/Rick Leonardi mini-series and the ’85 Steve Englehart/Richard Howell 12-parter.

There’s a lot of West Coast Avengers in this sale, largely for Wanda’s heel-turn in the John Byrne Vision Quest/Darker than Scarlet era — the Epic Collections are the better buys here.

House of M by Brian Bendis and Olivier Coipel might be a little over-hyped at this point, but it’s the tent-pole “Wanda rewrites reality” story that’s central to the TV adaptation.

Dead Again

The DC Justice League R.I.P. Sale runs through Monday, 5/16.

We’re actually not seeing the goofy $9.32 type prices on this sale that we’ve been seeing on other DC sales for the last couple months. Could the bug be fixed? That’s probably too much to ask for, but we’ll see what happens next week. In the meantime, some of these prices are a little higher than we’d like to see on a sale (part of that being the absurd practice of putting a hard cover list price on eBooks), but they seem like the intended sale prices for a change.

Anyway, this is DC’s celebrating killing off the Justice League as a lead-in to their next crossover event. Let’s break down some of the major series here:

Justice League of America ’60-’87 – The original
Justice League of America ’87-’96 – This is, at least initially, the Justice League International / Justice League Europe run with Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis / Kevin Maguire. BWA HA HA HA HA HA
JLA ’97-’06 – Best known for launching with the the Grant Morrison / Howard Porter run
Justice League of America ’06-11 – Initially launched as Brad Meltzer / Ed Benes and eventually got Dwayne McDuffie (who was undercut by editorial)
Justice League ’11-’16 – The New 52 Geoff Johns era, initially with Jim Lee art.
Justice League ’16 – ’18 – The Bryan Hitch (as writer) era with rotating artists
Justice League ’18-22 – It’s probably easiest to call the most recent incarnation the Scott Snyder era, as he launched the volume. So many rotating artists here.

That the timeline of the main series. There are plenty of mini’s and spin-off series in there for your browsing. If you’d like some $0.99 single issues (you are heard), if you sort by lowest price, you’ll see them quickly. Yes, even JLA: Classified.

Best bets? For pure bang for your buck, head to the original Justice League of America run and pick up the first two “Silver Age” collections. ~300 pages for $4.99.

The Morrison/Porter JLA run isn’t nearly the price per page value, but there’s a reason everyone comes back to it. The Waid/Hitch bits aren’t bad, either.

Under the radar? The Christopher Priest / Pete Woods arc from ~3 years back. It’s just good comics without silly crossovers.

Unadvertised Sale

We have an overlooked gem for you this week. John Constantine, Hellblazer by Si Spurrier, Aaron Campbell and Matias Bergara. It’s not clear to us if these are random discounts or it’s just the wacky “Epic” sale discounts getting fixed on this one. Either way, this is one of the best comics we’ve read in the last year.

This is a really an extended 12-issues arc, so you’re going to want both volumes. It starts at the end of the world and follows Constantine through a series of gangland skirmishes as he tries to perceive who or what is the strangely familiar entity pulling the strings. Sometimes straight horror, sometimes comedy (Constantine vs. the sensitive new age magician is priceless), this is quite possibly the best work of all the creators involved.

Jeff Who?

The Image Jeff Lemire Sale runs through Monday, 5/16.

Yes, we’ll go ahead and say it: we think Jeff Lemire is at his best when he’s working on his own projects and Image has a few of them on sale. Of possible note and interest:

Gideon Falls with Andrea Sorrentino – A sort of horror/science fiction mashup that starts out rural and claustrophobic and then unfurls across a fairly epic canvas and multiple landscapes… while still managing to have that feeling of claustrophobic terror being ready to swallow up the heroes at any moment. Rock solid dark adventure.

Descender with Dustin Nguyen is a science fiction epic about a little boy who happens to be a robot who’s looking for his family and falls into the middle of a robot rebellion. A beautiful book.

Ascender is the sequel as Lemire and Nguyen pivot for a space adventure with magic and vampires… and at least one killer robot. 😉

Still On Sale

The Marvel Star Wars May the Fourth Sale runs through Monday, 5/16. ($0.99/$1.99 tpbs – definitely check it out if you’re remotely into Star Wars)
The DC Epic eBooks Sale runs through Monday, 5/9.
The IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sale runs through Monday, 5/9.
The Marvel America Chavez Sale runs through Thursday, 5/12.

Posted on May 6, 2022May 6, 2022 by comics_p1pusl

Comixology Sales: Holiday Sale Roundup Part 2 – DC, Image, IDW and BOOM!

This week in Comixology, it’s all holiday sale, all the time with everything lasting into the new year. In Part 2 of the Holiday roundup, we’re adding DC, Image, IDW and BOOM! into the discount vortex.

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

Pretty much every sale that’s dropped since our last installment is at 50% discount, so we would highly recommend you also click here and have a gander at all the $0.99/$1.99 graphic novels on sale, include Marvel Masterworks.

And now… the rest of the holiday sale highlights.

DC’s Discount Presents

The DC Holiday eBook Sale runs through Monday, 1/3. It comes in two parts: Part 1 (100 Bullets through Nightwing) and Part 2 (Nightwing through Zero Hour). (Amazon link)

There are a little less than 2500 DC graphic novels on sale. Basically, the whole digital catalog (save for the books too new to get discounted). If there’s a title you’re looking for, it’s likely there, so go have a browse. The vast majority of books are around 50% off.

A handful of good reads that are perhaps a little better value? Sure. We have some likely candidate for you.

Like most of the comics community, we’ve been alarmed at George Perez’s cancer diagnosis. George’s landmark, mythology-forward Wonder Woman series is on sale and Wonder Woman by George Perez V. 1 is a larger than average page count make it a good value on top of a good comic. It’s one of George’s signature pieces. If you want to move forward, for reasons known only to DC, V.5 is in the “collected editions” section of the series page, not the “ominbuses” section. It’s also not on sale. There’s a V. 6, but you’re better off getting the War of the Gods collection in the omnibuses section that collects the same material and is actually on sale.

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Book 1 is also a pretty good value. It’s 375 pages and includes the opening arc of the Dave Gibbons/Patrick Gleason Green Lantern Corps title. We think pretty highly of the original Johns GL run through Blackest Night, but be warned – subsequent volumes in this format have premium HC pricing for digital files. Just say no to HC pricing whenever possible. It’s also 53% off instead of 50%. (Missed it by that much!(

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse is the post-Great Darkness Saga LSH run by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen. A classic of the era, and a volume we enjoyed revisiting awhile back. While Great Darkness is absolutely worth your time, this massive 544 page volume is the slightly better value by (its considerable) volume.

The Cheaper Image

The Image Recent Hits Sale runs through Monday, 1/3. (Amazon link)

We’re still looking at 50% off here (plus some 99-cent single issues), but Image is running a much smaller sale centered around what’s been hot for them lately. And we can absolutely vouch for some them.

Reckless by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is a very pulpy series of graphic novels about an off-the-bookers “fixer” in ’80s. LA. “If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them….maybe you can hire” sorry… wrong 80s LA fixers. Reckless is much darker and deals with things like fallout from Cointel Pro, the Satanic Panic and shady real estate deals. Two of the three are on sale and we like the set, but maybe like the opening installment best.

Killadelphia is a genre bending tale of police detectives trying to head off a vampire uprising in Philly. A little bit of horror, a little bit of neo noir, a sinister sense of history and a strong streak of gallows humor. We’ve been all-in for this one since we tried it. Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander run the blood bank for this one.

Department of Truth is incrementally the youngest book of the set. This would be James Tynion, IV and Martin Simmonds telling a tale of the power of belief causing conspiracy to burst into reality and a shadowy government agency trying to reign this in. There’s an X-Files vibe to it, but Department of Truth is really it’s own thing… and a good thing at that.

Note: $3.99 for the first volumes in this sale is a genuinely good deal.

Holiday Theft

The IDW Holiday Mega Sale runs through Wednesday 1/5.

That’s pretty much the whole catalog 50% off here. Highlights?

If you want to talk masterpiece, there’s Richard Stark’s Parker by Darwyn Cooke. Cooke does jaw dropping adaptions of Donald Westlake’s (Stark was a pen name) classic novels about a vengeance-minded professional thief. If you like crime comics, you don’t find much better than this.

Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez has become a standard bearer for IDW, but let’s ignore the TV adaptation thing – it was a good comic before any of that came to fruition. A creepy tell of a magical keys and generational horror stalking a family.

Discount Go Boom!

The BOOM! Holiday Sale runs through Thursday, 1/6.

Again, it sure looks like most of the catalog is half off, so if you had something on your wish list, it’s probably here. Highlights?

We absolutely loved the first volume of We Only Find Them When They’re Dead by Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo. What’s it about? Skullduggery surrounding salvaging flesh and organs from the corpse of alien gods found floating in space. A twisted high concept science fiction series and we’re slightly impatient for V. 2.

We also haven’t heard anyone mention Mouse Guard in a spell. This David Peterson series is an Eisner-winner and is absolutely gorgeous to behold and his art is as good at creating mood as it is pretty. Its a medieval tale of the “Mouse Guard” (think an order like the Three Musketeers) as they investigate a conspiracy and try to keep the common mice safe. Fall: 1152 is the first book in the series.

We also haven’t heard Irredeemable mentioned lately. This Mark Waid/Peter Krause/Diego Barreto tale could be described as “what if Superman had a psychotic break?” It’s a bit deeper than that and it develops it’s own little superhero universe and cast as it explores what happens when the nicest, most powerful hero finally snaps and decides to kill everyone and take over.

Posted on December 23, 2021December 28, 2021 by comics_p1pusl

Comixology Sales: Daredevil, Hawkeye, DC Annuals and Beasts of Burden

This week’s Comixology Sales include a big Daredevil sale from Marvel (and their Black Friday steals are still going), DC’s annuals through the years and Beasts of Burden.

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

Hornhead

The Marvel Daredevil Legacy Sale runs through Thursday, 12/9. (Amazon link)

Let’s start this with a stern warning: most of the original Daredevil run is available in Epic Editions and those are on sale for $3.99 each through Sunday. The notable exceptions being the Frank Miller era (and the interim Denny O’Neil run that’s mostly out of print). Do that instead for the older material!

So, in terms of ‘ole hornhead in the Marvel Knights era to present… honestly, it’s mostly been pretty good.

Marvel Knights Daredevil is collected oddly. In the Omnibuses section of the page, you start with Daredevil Marvel Knights Vol.1, which gives you the initial Kevin Smith/Joe Quesada arc and the David Mack arc that introduces Echo. Then you can switch to the Bendis and Brubaker collections. The Bendis and Brubaker runs being what most people think of for the Marvel Knight years. (And they’re GOOD.) This is Daredevil as a crime book.

But what about the Bob Gale/Phil Winslade run? That is an EXCELLENT question. And the answer is drop down to the collected editions section for Marvel Knights Daredevil: Unusual Suspects which collects that and some related mini’s.

After Marvel Knights folded up the DD tent, the Mark Waid era began. Another excellent era, which has its own set of omnibuses to simplify explaining things. (So many new #1s…) This starts out as an attempt to lighten things up a bit, but darkens up pretty quickly. It’s a return to more of a superhero flavor. Among other things, Daredevil moves back to San Francisco, tangles with Mr. Fear and the Purple Man and eventually deals with the problem of his public identity from the Bendis/Brubaker era. Waid’s run is also has an embarrassment of riches on the art side: Paolo Rivera, Marcos Martin and Khoi Pham all passed through before Chris Samnee settled in.

After Waid, is the Charles Soule/Ron Garney era. This one is a very pulpy take on Daredevil with the hand, a serial killer who makes “art” and Mayor Fisk.

The current run is by Chip Zdarsky with Marco Checchetto as the lead artist. This run is more focused on character development, politics and use the power. Zdarsky picks up the Mayor Fisk threads from Soule and goes in darker places with them.

There not a bad run in the lot (with the exception of the Shadowland crossover at the end of Marvel Knights). It’s just about what flavor you’re looking for.

Marvel’s Better Deals

Still running through Sunday (12/5) are the best deals Marvel’s had so far in ’21:

$3.99 Epic Collections, which is to say, roughly 20 issues for the price a new comic. Again, get your older DD in this sale. (Amazon link)
$0.99 / $1.99 Hawkeye collections. (Amazon link)

Once A Year

The DC Annuals Sale runs through Monday, 12/6. (Amazon link)

This is something of an odd sale. DC has traditionally been less active with annuals than Marvel. They also have a tendency to be part of crossover stories or the finale to a longer storyline. [Warning – beware the Detective / Green Arrow / Question crossover where the Green Arrow Annual isn’t available.]

So here are some ideas of annuals that are a little more self-contained. 99 cents for an extra long issue is not a bad thing, after all.

Superman Annual #11 might be the pinnacle of DC annuals. This is the famous “For the Man Who Has Everything” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, wherein Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin arrive at the Fortress of Solitude for Superman’s birthday party, only to discover Mongul has ambushed the Man of Steel and trapped his mind in a fantasy world. An excellent tale that’s reprint a few places and has been adapted for TV.

Justice League International Annual 2 finds the Joker entering into a bargain with the Dictator of Bialya. He’ll kill the members of the JLI and Bialya security forces will go through Max Lord’s rolodex and figure out Batman’s secret identity. What could possibly go wrong? Written by the usual 80s Justice League team of Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, drawn by Bill Willingham and Joe Rubenstein. Yes, Bill Willingham was a sought after penciller earlier in his career. Check out The Elementals in the back issue bins for his breakthrough writer/artist series.

And for something a little offbeat, there’s DC Comics Presents Annual #3 (Superman & Shazam), wherein Doctor Sivana has stolen the power of the gods from Captain Marvel. Roy Thomas and Joey Cavelieri have the writing chores, but the biggest draw here is Gil Kane strutting his stuff on the Big Red Cheese.

Paranormal Pets

The Dark Horse Beasts of Burden Sale runs through Monday, 12/6 (Amazon link)

This multi-Eisner Award winning series by Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson and Benjamin Dewey concerns a group of dogs (and a cat) who confront supernatural threats. This sale is pretty straightforward, but it might help to know the reading order:

Animal Rites
Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men
Neighborhood Watch

Followed in single issues by Occupied Territory.

Still on Sale

The Best of Oni & Lion Forge Sale runs through Friday, 12/3 (Amazon link)

Posted on December 2, 2021December 3, 2021 by comics_p1pusl

Comixology Sales: The Final Black Friday Deals Roundup and Recommendations

It’s Black Friday time at Comixology, so we’re pulling all of the week’s posts into this master list, so you can have all the recommendations in one place. Since Comixology keeps threatening to merge their site into Amazon, we’ll toss in an Amazon link for the sales that Amazon has provided one. Amazon is not good about linking to individual sales.

Yes, there’s a lot of things to look at… as you’d expect on Black Friday.

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

Marvel Has the Best Deals

The Marvel Epic Collection Sale runs through Sunday, 12/05. (Amazon link for the sale)

$3.99 Epic Collections. Figure all of them that are older than ~6 months from debut. Since most of those collect around 20 issues, we’re serious about that 20 issues for the price of 1 headline. ~80%-89% off, depending on list price. If you like Marvel, this is a SPLENDID time to fill in the holes in your collection, so do some browsing.

Some suggestions?

Conan is on sale less often than other Marvel titles, so if you like the Cimmerian, you might want to grab these first. Two runs are here: The Conan Chronicles is the title for the collections of Dark Horse material. That starts out with a very strong Kurt Busiek/Cary Nord run, followed by Tim Truman tagging in as writer and adding Paul Lee and a few other to the artist rotation. Recommended for barbarian fans! Conan the Barbarian is the classic Marvel run. Scroll down to the Collected editions on the series page for the Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor-Smith/John Buscema/Gil Kane/Neal Adams classic. This one needs no introduction.

Seriously, take a good browse through this sale. It’s hard to go wrong with ~400-500 pages for $3.99. We will make one small suggestion: you can get the widely-loved, yet under-hyped Ann Nocenti/John Romita, Jr./Al Williamson Daredevil run across three volumes and that’s sure worth a look. (This is where Typhoid Mary debuts, among other things.

Slings and Arrows…

The Marvel Hawkeye Sale also runs through Sunday, 12/5. (Amazon link for the sale)

This one is of a similar flavor to the Epic sale. You remember the Matt Fraction/David Aja (with special guest appearance by Steve Lieber) Hawkeye series that was all the rage a few years back an inspired the Disney+ series that’s about to debut? $0.99 for the first collection, $1.99 each for the rest. It’s good AND it’s cheap. What more do you want?

We also particularly recommend the Steve Englehart Avengers West Coast run, but you’re better off with the Epic Collections with those (and the rest of the run, where available.)

Marvel has two other sales that fall into the more common ~60-67% off range, Both running through Sunday, 11/18. We’d say hit the Epics and Hawkeye before you venture further — those are the holiday discounts!

The Marvel Latest and Greatest Sale (Amazon link)is an eclectic set of releases. There is a little bit of Conan – old and current – sprinkled in at random, if you’re seeking that.
The Champions Sale is for both the 70s and current incarnations of Champions. To illustrate our point about where the deals lie this week, The Champions Classic: The Complete Collection is the same size as an Epic Collection, but will run you $3 more.

Lowest Prices for Indie Comics ($0.99 Collected Editions)

Yes, comics reader – we know you love the race to the bottom when it comes to sale prices and there are some publishers that are catering to that love for $0.99 digital trade paperback collections. Those same publishers are offering the next few volumes in a series for $1.99 each. That’s a really good, coming close to the Marvel Epic deal. We even have some favorites to look for as we wade through this.

Hasbro and Friends

The IDW Best of Sale (Amazon version) runs through Monday, 11/29 and features some of the usual suspects (Dungeons & Dragons, GI Joe, Transformers, My Little Pony, Sonic the Hedgehog and Star Wars) at $0.99 for the first Volume and $1.99 for subsequent volumes.

Spies & Monsters

The Best of Oni & Lion Forge Sale follows the same pricing formula and runs through 12/3. Among the handful of feature titles are some that we hold in very high regard at The Tower of Cheap. (Amazon link)

Queen & Country by Greg Rucka and a new artist every storyline is probably the best American spy comic… even if it’s set in the UK and is an homage of sorts to an old UK TV show called “The Sandbaggers.” Highly Recommended

Kaijumax by Zander Cannon is a tale about a supermax prison for giant monsters. Think Godzilla and his foes. Does this sound cute and campy? It’s actually quite the opposite. It’s gritty with prison gangs, smuggled drugs and assassination attempts… with giant monsters. A unique comic that’s also Highly Recommended.

We wouldn’t sleep on Stumptown or Letter 44 either.

Prices Go BOOM!

The Best of BOOM! Sale runs through Thursday, 12/2.

We’re big fans of Once and Future, a paradoxically light and breezy horror/dark fantasy adventure by Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora wherein old myths and legends are arising to herald the return of Arthur… who’s not a fan of all the foreign blood floating around modern Britain. It’s hard to make such a dark premise fun-first, but Gillen and Mora do it with aplomb.

Dune: House Atreides has seen a bump with the movie release. This is Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson adapting their prequel novel with Dev Parmanik on the art. This would be the tale of young Leto Atreides and the secret origin of Duncan Idaho.

A Universe

The Best of Valiant Sale runs through Thursday, 12/2 and – that’s right – $0.99 for V.1 and $1.99 for the rest. (Amazon link)

This is also a bit of a starter sale as the early years are highlighted here. Lucky you, these are all solid SF/F adventure comics with superhero trappings. Harbinger is very similar to X-Men with a teens on the run twist… but much darker. We’d probably call it the center of the Valiant Universe’s beginnings. X-O Manowar‘s elevator pitch is “what if Conan was abducted by aliens, stole Iron Man’s armor and then returned to Earth in modern times?” It’s the flagship book and fun.

The Rest of the Rock Bottom Pricing Club

The Dynamite Artbook Sale runs through Thursday, 12/2 and is $0.99/per book. These usually go for $25 or so. (Amazon link)

The Best of Mad Cave Studios sale runs through Monday, 12/29. We really aren’t familiar with Mad Cave, but $0.99 collected editions is a great way to get our attention. We can’t recommend anything specifically, though.

I See a Friday and I Want It Painted Black

The DC Black Friday Sale runs through Monday, 11/29.
(Amazon link if you prefer that)

Glancing through this sale, which is a smaller set of books than others, we’re seeing a discount range of 69%-75%, which is definitely on the high side for DC. Not quite up to the Marvel standard or independent $0.99/$1.99 scheme, but up there for what they’re offering.

A lot of the usual suspects are on sale, but for some suggestions:

We always through Sinestro Corps War was the peak of the Geoff Johns era of Green Lantern.

Longtime readers know that we appreciate Tom Taylor around these parts. One of the first times he made us raise an eyebrow and say “this shouldn’t work as well it does — how did he do that?!?” was the video game adaption of Injustice: Gods Among Us. We especially like his Green Arrow. Mike S. Miller & Jheremy Raapack provide the art and later Bruno Redondo… yes, the same fellow on Nightwing with Taylor. Comics work like that sometimes.

And finally, we’re a bit after that holiday, be Batman: The Long Halloween is still our favorite of the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale collaborations. For those new to the series, it has Batman chasing a serial killer who strikes each month on a holiday, as DA Harvey Dent starts to spiral…

Image Organizes a Sale

The Image Graphic Novel Sale runs through Monday, 11/29.

This is pretty much their full digital catalog at half-off. If you’ve been meaning to try something and the tpb is at least a few months old, go digging for it.

Some recommendations? Sure!

Fatale was the comic that brought Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips to Image. When it blew up, those two had a new trajectory. It was an important book for both the publisher and the creator. More importantly, it’s a good comic. A bit of a genre-bender adding horror to the noir formula as a reporter stumbles into a feud between immortals: a mysterious beauty who leaves a trail of dead suiters and mobster whose humanity is very much in question.

Another Image title we’d consider complimentary to Fatale is Ghosted by a pre-DC stardom Josh Williamson, Goran Sudzuka and Miroslav Mrva. Its first arc was promoted as “Ocean’s 11 meets The Shining,” with a team of thieves hired to steal a ghost from a haunted house. While the criminal element stays for the long haul (pun intended), this one dives into some deeper occult horror after the first volume and is a nice little package. We also like that the volumes of this one are a little cheaper than some of the current offerings.

Saga is due back soon and it occurs to us that it’s been on hiatus long enough, not everybody has read it. If you haven’t yet, it’s probably time to get caught up. This Brian K. Vaughan / Fiona Staple title is a masterclass in worldbuilding. Let’s be clear – Staple’s design sense is a BIG part of how immerse Saga can be. The tale itself is not complex: star-crossed lovers of warring races have a child and go on the run, as both sides would like to destroy the evidence of what’s happened. It’s cast of characters that makes the book. Scientists, magicians and a lot of bounty hunters. The unusual… appetites of Prince Robot IV. A ghost. Spaceships that grow like trees. Saga is its own beast and well worth your time.

And finally, one of Image’s recent hits. $3.99 for the first volume of The Department of Truth is worth taking a flier on if you haven’t already. James Tynion IV (no relation to Prince Robot IV) and Martin Simmonds spin an X-Files-ish tale about willing conspiracies into reality through the power of belief. Creepy and oddly current… but with historical through-lines.

Is It a Turkey?

The “Dark Horse Turkey Five Sale” runs through Monday, 11/29 and comes in three parts: 1 ( graphic novels, 300 – The Last of Us), 2 (graphic novels The Legend of Korra – Zombie World; single issues 47 Ronin – Hellboy) and 3 (single issues, Hellboy – Zodiac Starforce).

Graphic novels are 50% and single issues are $0.99.

What’s interesting? Let’s avoid the usual suspects this time.

Dark Horse has always been good at anthologies and Dark Horse Presents gets a lot more interesting when it’s $0.99 per issue. Good creators, real variety and those early issues are 80+ pages, so good value. We just wish we could figure out where they put the first issue!

If you want to go old school, there’s always The Complete Elfquest by Richard and Wendy Pini. One of the original Direct Market titles, it’s an acknowledged classic. The elves are burned out of their home by the humans and so begins the quest. (Which is to say nothing of the trolls.)

Finder by Carla Speed McNeil has been running under the radar for ~20 years, but the most recent graphic novel, Chase the Lady, came out in June. This is a very anthropological science fiction series where cultures play a central role. The lead character for most of the journey is Jeager, a sin eater and “Finder” whose abilities to track things and appear anywhere are almost as mysterious as the past he can’t remember. It’s been around 20+ years for a reason and is worth a look.

Nexus by Mike Baron and (mostly) Steve Rude is a science fiction adventure with superhero trappings that dates back to the 80s, but still pops up once in awhile. The omnibus editions go back to the beginning and are definitely where you should start. Horation Hellpop dreams of murders and the nightmares won’t stop until he’s murdered the murderers. The alien Merk has granted him cosmic powers and the title of Nexus. This is set against a political backdrop as the independent planetoid where Hellpop lives struggles to remain free of the Sov Empire, the religious fanatics of the Elvonic Brotherhood and slave traders. Plus… Judah the Hammer.

Also Worth Noting

The Archie 1000 Page Graphic Novel Sale runs through Monday, 11/29 (1000 pages for $1.99) – Amazon link
The Dynamite Graphic Novel Sale runs through Monday, 11/29 – Amazon link

Posted on November 25, 2021November 26, 2021 by comics_p1pusl

Comixology Sales: DC’s Black Friday Sale and Independent Graphic Novels for $0.99 (Cheap!)

Yes, the spirit of Black Friday is alive and well in the world of Comixology Sales. DC’s discounts are up and we take a look at a batch of independent publishers offering $0.99 / $1.99 collected editions. It’s a thing!

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

I See a Friday and I Want It Painted Black

The DC Black Friday Sale runs through Monday, 11/29.
(Amazon link if you prefer that)

Glancing through this sale, which is a smaller set of books than others, we’re seeing a discount range of 69%-75%, which is definitely on the high side for DC. A lot of the usual suspects are on sale, but for some suggestions:

We always through Sinestro Corps War was the peak of the Geoff Johns era of Green Lantern.

Meanwhile, on the East Coast

We looked at the first round of Marvel’s Black Friday offerings yesterday and between the $3.99 Epic Collections and the $0.99-$1.99 Hawkeye collections, those still might be the deals to beat.

Lowest Prices for Indie Comics ($0.99 Collected Editions)

Yes, comics reader – we know you love the race to the bottom when it comes to sale prices and there are some publishers that are catering to that love for $0.99 digital trade paperback collections.