Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Spider-Man, Black Panther and BRZRKR

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Spidey and the Black Panther get discounts. DC… that’s complicated, but BOOM! has a “Best of” sale. And we talk a little about the Comixology layoffs.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

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

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

First we should probably talk a little about what’s been going on at Amazon and Comixology. On Wednesday, we started to find out about some fairly massive layoffs at Comixology. Scott McGovern, a program manager who also worked on the discount sales is essentially the unofficial spokesman for the laid off Comixology workers. Here’s the original “announcement” Twitter thread that’s quoted in most coverage.  Here’s his Friday update threadHe’s vouching for the broad strokes of this investigative piece from The Beat.

The short version: Amazon has eliminated all the Comixology jobs. Around 75% of the workforce is already out the door. There will be more mass exits around June and October. In theory, this is to finish integrating Comixology into Amazon. Something that started… either about a year and a half ago, if you count when Comixology first started giving the heads up that the site was going away or about a year if you want to count it as when the site did finally get shuttered.

What does this mean going forward? We’re not entirely sure and Amazon’s standard policy of silence is really not endearing them to anyone as we’re left to ponder things. If there are staff left transitioning things, that means there is little question that digital comics will still be there through the Fall and why would you spend ~10 months transitioning if you were going to drop a product line?  We find it hard to believe that Amazon would jettison digital comics, though some people are shouting that at the top of their lungs on social media.

Almost certainly the Comixology app is going to be sunsetted sooner than later. Probably by the time the last of the Comixology employees leave the building. Comics will get moved over to the Kindle app, but that’s been happening for some time. Will there be UIX improvements to the Kindle app and the Comixology/comics page on the Amazon website?  We’d sure like to know about that. Both could still use a little work. It sure seems like presentation and curation are not going to be a priority for Amazon if they’re cutting all of Comixology loose, but that’s just our interpretation of what we’ve heard. It might be yours, too?

If guided view is implemented on the Amazon side of the fence, it doesn’t sound like they’re going to be staffed up for that, so we’ll see if that sticks around or they’ve figured out how to let AI handle it.

Are there still going to be “discount sales” as McGovern puts it? We don’t know. There weren’t any updates overnight, but there haven’t been for a few weeks. I guess we’ll find out in a few days? There could be a few weeks worth of sales queued up, but it isn’t clear whether or not this is a priority for the skeleton crew currently working on things. Clearly, at least one person who worked on it is no longer there.

That’s what we know.  There’s one other thing that’s floating around that we don’t think is going to affect the comics situation, but we understand why a few people have asked questions about it.

In mid-December, word leaked out that Amazon was going to discontinuing some digital magazine functions. No more digital subscriptions. Sufficiently large magazines would be invited to join a “Kindle Unlimited for Magazines” program. Here’s the original Twitter thread from Clarkesworld. We’ve since heard a few different versions, including that not only would subscriptions be done away with, there would be no more single issue purchases. Something is happening, but past the subscriptions going away, it’s not clear that there’s a public consensus on exactly how many things are changing. It’s been suggested in at least one place that a formal announcement would happen in March.

We can see no way this should affect collected editions. The question being asked is whether someone higher up at Amazon wants to lump comics into the magazines bucket? Seems silly to us, but given that this magazine venture is supposedly going live on September 1st, the timing makes it reasonable for someone to ask for a little clarification.

Now you know what we know about what’s been happening at Amazon and Comixology. Unless there’s a change in service imminent, we wouldn’t expect Amazon to make any formal, clarifying statements. That’s not usually how they roll at the corporate level.

The Panther’s Visitations

The Marvel Black Panther and the Marvel Universe Sale runs through Monday, 1/30.

This sale is mostly  about books the Black Panther was guest starring in, as opposed to headlining.

The exception being the current Black Panther by John Ridley and Juann Cabal. The first arc is about a conspiracy inside the Wakanda government and the death of T’Challa’s sleeper agents. We’ve been liking it.

In generally, we usually like the value of Epic Collections when they’re on sale and there are two here that particularly catch our eye.

Fantastic Four: The Mystery of the Black Panther includes the Panther’s first appearance, in the midst of the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby Fantastic Four run, which means you get some Silver Surfer, Doctor Doom and Supreme Intelligence along with the package.

Avengers: This Beachhead Earth contains the origin of the Black Panther. It also contains a Harlan Ellison co-written crossover with the Hulk and the Kree-Skrull War. Roy Thomas does most of the writing and artist rotation includes John Buscema, Sal Buscema and Neal Adams.

Black Panther   Fantastic Four   Avengers

Littering His Web

The  Marvel Spider-Man’s Greatest Villains Sale runs through Monday, 1/23.

Why yes, Spidey _does_ have a rogues gallery.

You know our preference for Epic Collections so pointing out Amazing Spider-Man: The Goblin Lives shouldn’t surprise you. You get some Green Goblin and Doc Ock from the classic Stan Lee / John Romita, Sr. run.

While we may be in the minority for this one, we loved the Gerry Conway / Mike Perkins run of Carnage. The setup here was reminiscent of Tomb of Dracula. Carnage is after the Book of Darkhold and a ragtag team including John Jameson/Man-Wolf and Eddie Brock/Toxin are trying to stop him from getting the book and ascending. Yes, Carnage as occult horror.

And for something even more out of left field, do you remember when Brian K. Vaughan wrote for Marvel? Yes, it’s been a minute. Vaughan and Staz Johnson did Spider-Man / Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure all the way back in ’03.

Amazing Spider-Man   Carnage   Spider-Man / Doctor Octopus

Beware the DC Sale

The DC Start Here Sale theoretically runs through Monday, 1/23.  Except we’re not entirely sure it’s started.

You will recall that ever since Comixology moved over to the Amazon platform, some of the sale prices have been slow to show up? Especially DC sales? Well, it’s not clear that the sale prices are in place for most of this sale. As we type this on Friday afternoon, the single issues certainly are not.

The first volume of Tynion’s Batman is likely on sale.  The first volume of Williamson’s Batman is probably on sale. This Firestorm  collection  has a sale price. It’s really hit and miss, so pay attention if you browse it.

Normally, the sale prices have shown up by Friday, but with the layoffs, we’re not hopeful it gets fixed before it ends on Monday.

Boom’s Best of 2020 2022

The  Best of BOOM! Sale runs through Monday, 1/30.

It’s no surprise that BOOM!’s listing BRZRKR up front for a best of list. It’s been selling crazy numbers for them and, you know what? We’ve enjoyed this bloody science fantasy about an immortal warrior who’s ready to shed his immortality by Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt and Ron Garney. We also don’t remember V.2 being in the holiday sale, so this might be the first time it’s gotten the discount treatment.  The single issues are also $0.99 through #10 and guess what? The single issues are CHEAPER than the collected editions.

Once & Future by Kieron Gillen & Dan Mora recently wrapped up and it’s a good one about monster hunters and the power of stories and myth. 4 out of 5 collected editions are on sale. All the but the last single issue are $0.99. And… what’s that?  Yes, once again, the single issues are CHEAPER than the collected editions. 

BRZRKR   Once & Future

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Holiday Sales From DC (More $1.99 Collections), Archie, BOOM! and IDW

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, holiday sales from DC (it’s a doozy), IDW, Archie and BOOM!.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

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

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

A clerical note before we jump into things. Comics.Cheap will probably be on a strange holiday schedule, like everyone else. We’re not sure if we’ll be putting out the usual Friday round-up this week.  That will be determined largely by whether any more notable sales dropping between now and then. (There’s an Image sale listed, but as we’re typing this, it sure doesn’t look like the sale prices are appearing yet… but if it’s not more than 50% off, we’ll wait for next week.)  Next week, we’ll have a closer look at the BEST of the Marvel Masterworks sale and catch up on any interesting sales dropping between now and then.

DC’s Insane Holiday Sale

The DC Holiday Sale runs through Monday, 1/2.

WOW. This is like the last few DC sales, only more of it. And with over 3K items this is approaching a line-wide sale. Not quite, but getting there. If you scroll back to the last few $1.99/$2.99 sales between Black Friday and now, we think most of that material is back on sale, so we’ll focus on things that caught our eye this time around that maybe weren’t previously on sale. Yes, some of these items are giving the Marvel Masterpieces sale a run for your money.

This is 3600+ items, so remember – when browsing the main sale link, right click on comics and open them in a new window or you’ll lose your place and have to start over at the top!

Here’s an extended list of what caught our eye:

$1.99 Collected Editions

$2.99 Collected Editions

Over $3

  • Bizarro Comics – Matt Groening / Kyle Baker / Harvey Pekar and bunch more
  • Marshal Law – Pat Mills / Kevin O’Neill
  • Mister Miracle – The second series with Steve Englehart / Marshall Rogers and then Steve Gerber / Michael Golden / Russ Heath – that’s right, Heath inking Golden!
  • Night Force – The first Marv Wolfman / Gene Colan run (Marv’s favorite series)

What’s the cream of the crop? More so than most weeks, it depends on your individual tastes.  We will definitely say that the double volume editions of Gotham Central for $1.99 seems like an absolute steal.  We might slightly favor Jimmy Olsen (essentially, Kirby’s Superman title), but all of those 70’s Jack Kirby books for $2.99 are great deals. And we’re leaning toward Justice League International for the third slot because it’s just never this cheap.

Gotham Central   Jimmy Olsen by Jack Kirby   Justice League International

What’s that? You say you’d rather have single issues? Preferably for $0.99? It seems DC would like to placate your tastes. Note: these are fairly recent issues being discounted, so on longer running titles, you’ll need to scroll down a bit to see the 99 cent issues.  There’s a lot more than list here, but you’ll need to get below the collected editions on the main page.

Holidays go BOOM!

The BOOM! Holidays Graphic Novel Sale runs through Monday, 1/2.

This looks to be a line-wide 50% off sale, so let’s look at some things might be slightly below the radar.

Steed & Mrs. Peel is an adaption of the British TV Avengers, the often absurdist spy-fi show. This is a relatively early Grant Morrison script and drawn by Ian Gibson, who’s best known for his 2000 AD work on Robo-Hunter and Judge Dredd.

Is this the first time BRZRKR has been discounted? This one made a big splash on Kickstarter and variant covers, but you know what? Despite all the hype that wasn’t about the interior pages, this is actually a very enjoyable action/SF/dark fantasy comic. It’s written by Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt with art by Ron Garney and concerns a seemingly immortal warrior from centuries past who’s ready to leave immortality behind. It’s bloody as all get out, but alternates the violence with character work.

And for something completely different: Jeremy Bastian’s Cursed Pirate Girl. You need to see the art in this fantasy tale for yourself. A delightfully unique experience.

Steed and Mrs. Peel   BRZRKR   Cursed Pirate Girl

A Different Side of Riverdale

The Archie Holiday Graphic Novel Sale runs through Monday, 1/2.

Since this looks line wide, we’ll draw your attention to something well off the beaten path:

The Black Hood by Duane Swierczynski / Michael Gaydos / Howard Chaykin / Greg Scott is more a crime book than a superhero caper. Vigilante if you must. In the wake of a shooting, involving a vigilante called The Black Hood, an injured cop develops a pain killer addiction, dons the Black Hood’s mask for less than puritanical reasons and finds himself in over his head in a world of vendettas. Very dark, very good. For some reason V. 3 is listed separately.

Black Hood   Black Hood

IDW Does the Holidays

The IDW Holidays Sale runs through Monday, 1/2.

Much like with BOOM!, this looks to be a near line wide sales at 50%-ish off, so we’ll highlight some under the radar books. If you’ve had your eye on something specific, have a browse and you’ll likely find it.

Popeye by Roger Langridge and Bruce Ozella is just straight up fun. A satisfying and amusing entry in the Popeye library.

The One by Rick Veitch is very dark superhero satire steeped in cold war politics. It’s effectively the younger sibling of Brat Pack and one of the earlier deconstructionist superhero comics (After Marvelman/Miracleman’s run in Warrior, but before Watchmen).

Sachs and Violens by Peter David and George Perez was originally a mini-series for Marvel’s Epic imprint, near the end of Epic’s original run. It’s a lighthearted adventure contrasted with heavy material (snuff films) as a model and photographer mete out street justice. Oddly, David later included the characters in his Fallen Angel series.

Popeye   The One   Sachs & Violens

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