In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, the Halloween sales have begun and we’ll start out look at DC, Marvel, Archie, BOOM! and a bit of Star Wars on the side.
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):
Marvel Says Boo!
The Marvel Monthly Sale – Halloween runs through Monday, 10/31.
When it comes to Marvel horror, ’70s Marvel horror is where it’s at. Two of the best things Marvel did in the ’70s were horror.
Man-Thing by Steve Gerber: The Complete Collection follows the Man-Thing across Adventure Into Fear, through Man-Thing and Giant-Size Man-Thing, and eventually even collects 2012’s posthumous Infernal Man-Thing. Gerber writes almost all of it and the selection of artists includes Mike Ploog, Tom Sutton, John Buscema, Sal Buscema and Kevin Nowlan. Some say this was Gerber’s crowning achievement, others say Howard the Duck. Either way, it’s a classic.
Tomb of Dracula: The Complete Collection is a 5 volume set that collects the Marv Wolfman/Gene Colan horror classic, with the magazine version of Dracula thrown in. The comics the bigger draw here. You need to give a few issues for Wolfman to arrive and get his feet under him, but one Wolfman & Colan gel, it’s quite a ride. A celebrated run.
Plenty more ’70s horror here and all kinds of Ghost Rider, too.
DC Says Boo!
The DC Frights & Fights Sale runs through Monday, 10/31.
Yes, more horror for the holiday. Some Vertigo, some old school DC, some new. This is another fairly deep one with 562 items.
We think it’s safe to call Nice House on the Lake by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno DC’s premiere horror title right now. And it’s an extremely well-crafted comic, too. $4.99 for that? A very good deal.
We can’t very well mention Man-Thing without giving Swamp Thing equal time, can we? Yes, both DC and Marvel had a world class swamp monster horror comic in the ’70s. Go figure. The first volume is the famous Lein Wein / Bernie Wrightson run. (No hype, just quality.)
Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon is Vertigo-era horror with a twisted sense of humor (ah, the vampires of New Orleans…). You’ve probably seen the TV adaption. $4.99 for ~12-issue volumes qualifies as a good deal.
Now, since the DC sale has a moderate amount of superhero material in it, let’s go there.
Batman: Haunted Knight is a collection of the Halloween Bat-tales that Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale did prior to landing The Long Halloween. They’re striking and were a borderline shock to see when they appeared on the shelf. It’s certainly the season for it.
DCeased is sort of the DC version of Marvel Zombies. Darkseid unleashes the Anti-Life Equation. Come to find out it’s transmitted by technology (and bites) and it creates a sort of techno-zombie. The survivors gather in groups and try to ward off the “Anti-Living” who are coming after them – including a lot of super powered non-living interlopers – while they try to figure away out of this mess. Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine helm this first installment and subsequent installments are also on sale. A highly enjoyable ride.
There are also a bunch of $0.99 single issues towards the bottom of the page if you keep clicking through, much of it ’70s horror. Here are some direct links to save you time and sanity, though not EVERY series.
- The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love / Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion
- Elvira’s House of Mystery
- The Horrorist – Hellblazer by Jamie Delano and David Lloyd
- House of Secrets
- House of Mystery
- The Phantom Stranger (’69-’76)
- Weird Mystery Tales
- The Witching Hour
And for $1.99 an issue
Archie Says Boo!
The Archie Horror Sale runs through Monday, 10/31.
Yes, Archie does horror. And two things stand above the rest (we hope they do some more of them, too).
Afterlife With Archie by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla is a shocking thing, especially the first time you behold it. You might think the elevator pitch “Night of the Living Dead in Riverdale” sounds silly… except this really is a horror comic. Archie and the survivors flee for their lives as part of the cast stalk after them. It’s serious, hits a poignant note or two and, above all, is extremely well done! The second arc is only in single issues (#6-10).
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Robert Hack is what was adapted for the Netflix show. It’s a very 70s horror movie take on Sabrina, for whom her sixteen birthday presents a choice between the world of mortals and her witch heritage and an ominous destiny that seems to come with it. The cheapest way for this comic is to get the collected edition of the #1-6 and then hit the single issues.
BOOM! Says Boo!
The BOOM! Spooky Season Sale runs through Monday, 10/31.
Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion and Werther Dell’Edera is probably BOOM!’s flagship horror book right now. We’d probably call it a horror-adventure romp. Sure enough, something IS killing the children. A monster hunter shows up to stop it and her… organization then shows up to complicate matters. This one is fun horror.
But let’s get a bit further off the beaten path here:
Bone Parish by Cullen Bunn and Jonas Scharf is an odd little genre bender we enjoyed. “Ash” is the new drug that’s hit New Orleans. Consuming it you experience the life of another person… the person who’s ashes where used to make the drug. One part horror for the production of the magical drug, one part crime/gang story. A pulp page-turner.
And going back a few more years, we also enjoyed Dracula: The Company of Monsters by Kurt Busiek, Daryl Gregory and Scott Godlewski. What happens when a corporation gets their hands on Dracula? Why, resurrect him and exploit him like the asset he is, naturally. Of course, Dracula’s probably used to being the one doing the exploiting. It’s a different kind of corporate warfare.
Star Wars… is more like Trick or Treat
The Marvel Star Wars High Republic Sale runs through Monday, 10/10.
The meat of this would be the collected editions of the Star Wars: The High Republic series by Cavan Scott, Ario Anindito and Georges Jeanty. And $2.99 for recent release tpbs does indeed qualify as cheap!
If you’re into $0.99 single issues:
- Star Wars: The High Republic (these are cheaper in the collected editions above)
- Star Wars: The High Republic – Eye Of The Storm
- Star Wars: The High Republic – Trail of Shadows
There’s a lot more Halloween material on sale, so we’ll probably be back with another batch of that on Monday or Tuesday.
Still On Sale
- The Sandman Universe DC Black Label Sale runs through Monday, 10/17
- The Umbrella Academy Sale runs through Monday, 10/17
- The Image Crime Sale runs through Monday, 10/17
