Comixology (At Amazon) Sales: $0.99 / $1.99 Marvel Masterworks (Cheap)

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, the Marvel holiday sales have arrived and by that, we mean the annual Marvel Masterworks sale.

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):

Our Favorite Sale of the Year

The Marvel Masterworks Sale runs through Monday, 1/2.

Yes, this is what we consider the finest sale of the year – the Marvel Masterworks Sale. This year, the first volume in a series is $0.99 and the rest in the series are $1.99. Masterworks are usually contain at least 10-12 issues and some of the later volumes can push 500 pages, so there are excellent values to be had. Volume one is, generally speaking, where the character’s appearances begin. These let you get a complete run of a character/title and the flagship titles are now getting into 80s material.

Also, if you want to read the Don McGregor (or Jack Kirby) Black Panther runs, this is when you get them: Volume 1 – $0.99; Volume 2 – $1.99; Volume 3 – $1.99

We’ll come back before the sale is over and highlight what we think the best buys are in the Masterworks catalog, but right now let’s talk about what’s new to the sale this year. We think this is what’s new – or newly on sale – since last December’s sale dropped. If you gorge on the sale each year, it’ll probably save you some time. That said, always remember to check these against your library!

What’s particularly interesting here? A few things. Reading down the list, Captain America has the entirely too short Roger Stern/John Byrne run. Daredevil is from the Frank Miller run and this volume culminates in the death of Elektra. Doctor Strange has the under-rated Roger Stern/Paul Smith run. Fantastic Four is the middle of John Byrne’s run. Iron Man is part of the first David Michelinie/Bob Layton run (with John Romita, Jr. pencils) and just after the “Demon in a Bottle” arc. Marvel Two-In-One is part of the under-rated Mark Gruenwald/Ralph Machio era with some Jerry Bingham, George Perez and Ron Wilson art. Arcs include “The Serpent Crown Affair” and a Starhawk/Moondragon/Adam Warlock 3-parter.

These Masterworks sales are always a grand time!

Is It Secret If Everyone Knows?

The Marvel Secret Wars Sale runs through Monday, 1/2.

So many tie-ins with the sale, but here’s the rule of thumb breakdown:

Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars is the original 12 part series by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck wherein The Beyonder does a bit of kidnapping and lots of fights ensue. (And a symbiote turns up.)

Secret Wars by Jonathan Hick and Esad Ribic is the endcap to Hickman’s Fantastic Four and Avengers runs about what Douglas Adams might have called the world at the end of the universe.

Beyond! is your hidden gem here. We’d almost forgotten about it. A Dwayne McDuffie/Scott Kollins tales you might well call “What If… Dwayne McDuffie Wrote Secret Wars?”

Surf’s Up

The Marvel Silver Surfer Sale runs through Monday, 12/19.

This is a much smaller sale, focused a bit more on the more recent Surfer titles.

If you want old school Silver Surfer, there’s the Stan Lee / Moebius Parable, which was originally put out under the old Epic imprint. It also has the Enslavers OGN by Stan and Keith Pollard. You don’t get much more old school than Stan on one of his favorite characters.

The most impactful of the selections here is probably Silver Surfer: The Rebirth of Thanos by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim. This contains the Surfer arc where Starlin returns to the big bad of his 70s cosmic work and also Thanos Quest. This is the lead-in to Infinity Gauntlet and the beginning of a very fruitful collaboration between Starlin and Lim.

And for the longest running incarnation of the Surfer since that 80/90s run, there’s the Dan Slott/Mike Allred. Technically, speaking this is the ’14-’15 series and the ’16-’17 series. Is it two volumes? Yes. Are we going to count it as one run for our purposes? Yes, again.