Tag: Jonathan Hickman

Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: X-Men – The Krakoa Era; Thunderbolts; Winter Soldier

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel puts the Krakoan age of X-Men on sale, plus Thunderbolts and Winter Soldier.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

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

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

Administrative Note

The holidays are approaching and that means the sales are likely going to get larger and more numerous, which means we’re probably going to be breaking the weeks into multiple posts from time to time. Since we’ve been getting asked about X-Men sales, here’s the full Krakoa sale and the Thunderbolts sale. We’ll be back at the usual time for DC, Star Wars, Old Man Logan and whatever else turns up. (This would be WAY long if we put in one post.)

Ghosts of X-Mas-Men Past

X-Force  Dawn of X  Sins of Sinister

The Marvel X-Men: The Krakoan Age Sale runs through Monday, 11/25.

If you want to call it the Hickman Era or the HoX/PoX Era, don’t let us stand in your way. We find those names valid.

Let’s talk about the overall arcs and “… of X” editions first. These are the collected editions that approximate reading the Hickman era as single issues. Roughly speaking they cycle through X-Men, Wolverine, X-Force, Marauders, etc. etc.

While this effect dissipates after time, we think this is the better way to read the Hickman X-Men titles. Story elements originally floated between books and their sum was greater than their parts. The order does something like this:

Inferno is the last arc for Hickman before leaving and it fits in roughly after The Trial of Magneto ends, so you can read it somewhere between Trials of X V.3-6.

We’re not as adamant about reading this in issue-to-issue format after Hickman leaves… although X-Force and Wolverine are certainly intertwined at times. Through Inferno, though? Yes. If you do jump off at that point, be sure to add Way of X to your individual title list.

The next “act” of the Krakoa age was “Destiny of X,” but that’s apparently only available in this format in French?

Our recommendations for your optimal Destiny of X reading is clustered around two tracts:

Track One: the Axis of Gillen/Spurrier/Ewing – the writers of the three “big concept” X-titles that eventually converge in the truly X-cellent Sins of Sinster Event that we might even put ahead of the also X-cellent X-of Swords.

These books are:

  • Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen / Lucas Werneck; we’d personally consider this the flagship title for the Destiny of X sequence
  • Legion of X by Si Spurrier / Jan Bazaldua / Rafael Pimentel; The explorations of Legion and Nightcrawler’s crews
  • X-Men: Red – Al Ewing / Stefano Caselli / Juann Cabal; Storm’s adventures leading Arakko (Mars) as Ewing keeps a finger in the cosmic side of Marvel

Track two: Ben Percy continues to keep X-Force and Wolverine intertwined in interesting ways, particularly as the long-running saga of Hank McCoy comes to a head.

Pick up X-Force starting with Vol. 5.

Pick up Wolverine starting with Vol. 4.

A mini-series worth mentioning in the “Destiny” period: X-Terminators by Leah Williams / Carlos Gomez manages to be lighthearted with really dark and occasionally off-color humor as Dazzler, Boom Boom, Laura Kinney and Jubilee get mixed up with vampires in the most humiliating ways.

Sabretooth: The Adversary and Sabretooth and the Exiles by Victor LaValle and Leonard Kirk are a pair of horror-edged (see: LaValle, Victor) tales about what Sabretooth was really up to when he was exiled into The Pit, along with the other mutants down there. These took us by surprise and they lead right into the X-Force and especially Wolverine finales.

And for the science fiction fan in your family, New Mutants: Lethal Legion is written by Hugo/Nebula/Locus Award-winner Charlie Jane Anders and drawn by Enid Balám.

Summing this up – while you can definitely go through the sale and pick up the individual titles, we strongly feel there’s an additive effect to reading things in the Dawn/Reign/Trials omnibus format and taking in the universe building. After Hickman exits, that cohesion wanes after a bit and the line isn’t quite as consistent.  And you have to pick up individual titles after the end of “Trials,” regardless. This sale takes you to the end of like for era. There are a few more titles out listed in the sale – the X-line hasn’t been known for brevity in decades – but those are the highlights and the best of the Krakoa era really is top notch.

Thunder. Thunder. Thunderca… Whoops, Wrong Series!

Thunderbolts  Winter Soldier  Taskmaster

The Marvel Thunderbolts Sale runs through Monday, 11/18.

OK, given the upcoming film, this is really a Thunderbolts and Winter Soldier sale. That’s cool. We’ve had a Neapolitan milk stout before.

The Thunderbolts have been through several iterations since they began in ’97, originally having been the Masters of Evil laying the groundwork for nefarious deeds. And yes, there’s a film in the works.

Thunderbolts

The original series was written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Mark Bagley. Eventually Fabian Nicieza tagged in as writer and Patrick Zircher became the lead artist a bit after that. Alas, these volumes jump around a bit after issue #50. The  omnibus editions are more complete, but aren’t on sale right now.

New Thunderbolts was the ’04-’06 relaunch, and yes, it’s included in the third omnibus of the original. Fabian Nicieza/Tom Grummett is the creative team, here.

This then turns back into (no adjective) Thunderbolts for ’06-’12, starting Nicieza/Grummett and then including runs by Warren Ellis / Mike Deodato and Jeff Parker/Kev Walker/Declan Shalvey

Thunderbolts relaunched for ’12-’14 with Daniel Way and then Charles Soule writing it. The artist rotation included Steve Dillon and Phil Noto.

Jim Zub and Jon Malin were behind the ’16-’17 Thunderbolts run.

’20 saw King in Black: Thunderbolts by Matthew Rosenberg/Gerry Duggan/Juan E. Ferreyra/Luke Ross.

’22 saw Thunderbolts: Back on Target by Jim Zub and Sean Izaakse.

The most recent volume in the sale is Thunderbolts: Worldstrike by Colin Kelly / Jackson Lanzing / Geraldo Borges.

With Thunderbolts, we feel pretty strongly you need to read the first sequence or two and get a flavor for the concept before jumping into the later evolutions.

Winter Soldier

The originating storyline runs in the 2004 series of Captain America by Ed Brubaker and a rotating squad of artists including Steve Epting, Michael Lark, Butch Guice and Mike Perkins. There are a couple omnibuses available, but this doesn’t really have a definitive larger collection like, say, the Hickman Avengers era. We’d probably point you to the Captain America Modern Era Epic Collection: The Winter Soldier volume. It’s a couple bucks more, but it gives you #1-19 straight through and that’s a very good run.

For solo series, the first choice is Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker, which is Brubaker and Butch Guice in a spin-off.

Also of possible interest:

And two bonus recommendations:

  • Taskmaster: The Rubicon Trigger – Jed MacKay / Alessandro Vitti; A very funny adventure finds Taskmaster blackmailed into doing a job for Nick Fury. Alternately, the Black Widow will likely hunt him down and kill him.
  • U.S.Agent: American Zealot – Christopher Priest / Georges Jeanty; In something of a deadpan political satire, John Walker develops some issues with his handlers when sent to a small town threatened by a corporate entity… if only the optics matched reality. Smart, but you figured that with Priest involved.

The Marvel “Maybe” Sales

Ghost Rider  Amazing Spider-Man

The trend continues. New releases at lower than expected price points and discounted pre-orders. Is this the new normal? We’re not sure, but let’s run them down.

Dropping This Week

Pre-Order for Next Week

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: X-Men: The Krakoan Age; Power Man and Iron Fist; Civil War; Stephen King’s The Dark Tower; Critical Role

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel waves goodbye to the Krakoa Age of X-Men with a sale… and some discounts on Power Man & Iron Fist and Civil War, too. Plus, an unannounced Critical Role sale from Dark Horse.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

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

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

X-Going-Away-Party

House of X / Powers of X  Dawn of X  Sins of Sinister

The Marvel X-Men: The Krakoan Age Sale runs through Monday, 4/29.

Marvel seems to has settled on “The Kakoan Age” for what we’ve been calling the Hickman Era or the HoX/PoX Era.

As things are winding down, ahead of editor Tom Brevoort leading a line wide reset, theoretically helmed by Gail Simone and/or Jed MacKay, the “Krakoan Age” is on sale. And honestly, it was very good for quite a while and some of it stayed good, too.

Let’s talk about the overall arcs and “… of X” editions first. These are the collected editions that approximate reading the Hickman era as single issues. Roughly speaking they cycle through X-Men, Wolverine, X-Force, Marauders, etc. etc.

While this effect dissipates after time, we think this is the better way to read the Hickman X-Men titles. Story elements originally floated between books and their sum was greater than their parts. The order does something like this:

Inferno is the last arc for Hickman before leaving and it fits in roughly after The Trial of Magneto ends, so you can read it somewhere between Trials of X V.3-6.

We’re not as adamant about reading this in issue-to-issue format after Hickman leaves… although X-Force and Wolverine are certainly intertwined at times. Through Inferno, though? Yes.

The next “act” of the Krakoa age was “Destiny of X,” but that’s apparently only available in this format in French?

Our recommendations for your optimal Destiny of X reading is clustered around two tracts:

Track One: the Axis of Gillen/Spurrier/Ewing – the writers of the three “big concept” X-titles that eventually converge in the truly X-cellent Sins of Sinster Event that we might even put ahead of the also X-cellent X-of Swords.

These books are:

  • Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen / Lucas Werneck; we’d personally consider this the flagship title for the Destiny of X sequence
  • Legion of X by Si Spurrier / Jan Bazaldua / Rafael Pimentel; The explorations of Legion and Nightcrawler’s crews
  • X-Men: Red – Al Ewing / Stefano Caselli / Juann Cabal; Storm’s adventures leading Arakko (Mars) as Ewing keeps a finger in the cosmic side of Marvel

Track two: Ben Percy continues to keep X-Force and Wolverine intertwined in interesting ways, particularly as the long-running saga of Hank McCoy comes to a head.

Pick up X-Force starting with Vol. 5.

Pick up Wolverine starting with Vol. 4.

A mini-series worth mentioning in the “Destiny” period: X-Terminators by Leah Williams / Carlos Gomez manages to be lighthearted with really dark and occasionally off-color humor as Dazzler, Boom Boom, Laura Kinney and Jubilee get mixed up with vampires in the most humiliating ways.

Now, there’s more to the sale and you can always pull them by individual title… but we really think the “of X” format is additive for the world building while Hickman is running the show.

Sweet Christmas!

Iron Fist  Power Man and Iron Fist  Immortal Iron Fist

The Marvel Luke Cage and Iron Fist Sale runs through Monday, 4/8.

Once upon a time there were two series: Luke Cage, Hero for Hire / Power Man and Iron Fist.

You can get the first 23 issues of Hero for Hire/Power Man in an Epic Collection.  There were several creators involved, including Archie Goodwin, Steve Englehart, Tony Isabella, George Tuska and Billy Graham. There’s a certain amount of camp to it, but the early tale of Doctor Doom trying to skip out on his bill is what we’d call a heart-warming favorite.

Iron Fist had a shorter run and you can get the entire solo series (Marvel Premiere and Iron Fist) in an Epic Collection. The run is most associated with the team it finished with: an early pairing of Chris Claremont and John Byrne. You may have heard of them.

The two books then merged into the longer-running Power Man & Iron Fist. Now here’s something we don’t always say: this one’s in Epic Collections, but not Masterworks format. Claremont & Byrne left shortly thereafter, paving the way for Jo Duffy, who might be most associated with it. Among the creators working on it were Duffy, Denny O’Neil, (a very young) Kurt Busiek, Christopher Priest, Kerry Gammil, Denys Cowan, Greg Larocque and Mark Bright. A stronger lineup than you might have guessed and a comic that remembered to be goofy at times.

It was revived as Heroes for Hire by John Ostrander and Pasqual Ferry in ’97. We also have a soft spot for the David Walker / Sanford Greene Power Man & Iron Fist in ’16.

But the best of the bunch? The Immortal Iron Fist. People are most familiar with the first half of the series, with the celebrated team of Ed Brubaker/Matt Fraction/David Aja. We’re here to tell you that the back half by Duane Swierczynski/Travel Foreman is also pretty darn good. Plus, more Fat Cobra! Don’t sleep on the back half. Good value with those collected editions, too!

A Polite Disagreement Among Capes

Civil War  Civil War: Front Line V. 1  Civil War: Wolverine

The Marvel Civil War Sale runs through Monday, 4/8.

One of these days, Marvel is going to quit leaving money on the table and give Civil War the treatment it gives something like Hickman’s Avengers saga or Aaron’s Thor saga: an edition (or series of additions) that integrate the main parts in reading order. After all these years, it’s still piecemeal.

So here’s our take on it:

Civil War the main mini-series by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven – is the action movie version of the story.

Civil War: Front Line – written by Paul Jenkins with art by Ramon Bachs, Steve Lieber and Lee Weeks – is about WHY the Civil War is happening as Ben Urich tries to get to the bottom of things. This title is much more of the Event’s actual plot and motivations than the more famous flagship series and Marvel really need to have a collection that integrates the two.

There are obviously a lot of tie-in books here. You can dip in where you feel like, but Civil War: Wolverine by Marc Guggenheim and Humberto Ramos is a little more relevant than most and has Logan (hellbent on vengeance) tracking down the people responsible for the Stamford incident.

Yes, there is a lot more to the story than the main Millar/McNiven book, it’s just not really emphasized.

Always Specify .22 or .38
Deadworld   The Realm    Jazz Age Chronicles

The Caliber Comics Library Spring Sale runs through Tuesday, 4/30.

There are a few titles here that were notable in the ’80s indie boom.

And plenty of Don Lomax war comics.

But if you want something a little more recent, Ageless might be of interest. It’s written by Torunn GrØnbekk, who’s been recently been writing Thor, with art by San Espina.

Ageless

Unannounced Sales
Critical Role Stephen King's the Dark Tower

Comixology has not announced that Critical Role from Dark Horse is currently on sale. That would be the comics based on the campaigns from the popular web series about Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.

There’s an omnibus format that’s a little better value and a “regular”  collected edition sale.

Then, formerly from Marvel / currently from Gallery 13, Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: Beginnings by Robin Furth / Peter David / Jae Lee and overseen by King is on sale for $1.99 a pop. It’s the backstory/coming of age for a gunslinger name Roland.

Last Call on Batman

A reminder that the Batman anniversary sale ends on Monday. Some of the material likely won’t be at these prices again until the end of year holiday sales zone. Our notes for the sale are here.

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Jonathan Hickman’s Marvel Catalog; Jonah Hex; Loki; Kraven the Hunter

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel discounts their Jonathan Hickman catalog, plus Kraven the Hunter and Loki. DC starts to crank up the Halloween sales, Image finishes off it’s alphabet sale and Caliber pops up.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

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

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

DC Says “Boo”

The DC Fights and Frights Sale runs through Monday, 10/9.

Another eclectic mix of titles, what’s good and/or hasn’t popped up in a bit?

Checkmate by Greg Rucka (and later Eric Trautman) / Jesus Saiz is an under-rated title that hasn’t popped up lately. This is a blend of spies and superheroes with Mister Terrific, Green Lantern and Fire in the initial mix… and, of course, Amanda Waller lurks.

Doctor Fate by Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew – We don’t always like these “reimagining’s,” but Levitz & Liew knock it out of the park as the helmet of Fate settles upon the head of a Brooklyn med student. A lot more is made of Fate’s Egyptian origins in this version, and not just that Anubis is causing trouble. This flew under too many radars.

Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan & Tony Harris. Yeah, that’s right. Pre-Saga Vaughan and post-Starman Harris teaming up for political intrigue as NYC’s first and only superhero, “The Great Machine” finds himself elected mayor. This one mixes political plots with superhero hijinks and how can you have superpowers + politics without a conspiracy? This one’s sometimes overlooked because it was Wildstorm, but not WildCATS.

Checkmate   Doctor Fate  Ex Machina

The ’00s incarnation of Jonah Hex is something of a palette-cleansing delight. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are the writers. While there are arcs, they’ll also deal in single issue stories. Why? Because at a certain point, they just get crazy with really high end guest artists. Jordi Bernet is a regular. Darwyn Cooke shows up. Paul Gulacy. Russ Heath. J. H. Williams III. Andy Kubert. Fiona Staples.  Come for the western, stay for the art.

Superman: Phantom Zone is a favorite oddity from the ’80s. Steve Gerber (Man-Thing) and Gene Colan (Tomb of Dracula, Night Force) have celebrated backgrounds in horror comics. What if they did a Superman horror comic? Well, they kind of did. This one gets metaphysical as Superman discovers some problems inside the Phantom Zone. Warning: this gets much weirder than you’re used to Superman getting. Also includes the Gerber/Rick Veitch follow-up from DC Comics Presents. Hey, Halloween beckons.

Daniel Warren Johnson seems to be having a moment right now. Wonder Woman: Dead Earth is his Black Label (read: Elseworlds) tale of Diana waking up in a post-apocalyptic hellscape of world with few humans left and plenty of monsters hunting them.  So she goes monster hunting as she tries to piece together how the world got this way. Does Johnson out-metal Dark Knights: Metal? Yeah, we’d say so.

Jonah Hex   Superman: Phantom Zone    Wonder Woman: Dead Earth

Hickman

The Marvel Jonathan Hickman Sale runs through Monday, 10/9.

The big opus was the story that ran through Fantastic Four, Avengers and then ended in Secret Wars. And it’s infinitely easier (yes, that was a pun) to read that in the Complete Collection editions, because that puts the issues in the correct reading order and includes the mini-series tie-ins. Otherwise, at a certain point, you’re reading an issue from an Avengers collection and then having to open a New Avengers collection for the next issue. Or an issue of FF.

That’s all you need. “Time Runs Out” is even in the final Avengers Complete Collection volume. And here’s something that cannot be understated, the sheer scope of this tale makes it increasingly compelling the further into it you go. Once you’re past the Infinity sequence, it really starts getting jaw-dropping.

Fantastic Four by Hickman   Avengers by Jonathan Hickman - the Complete Collection   Secret Wars

For the X-Men material, House of X / Powers of X is self-contained. X of Swords is relatively self-contained (and a very successful cross-over). Past that, we think the Hickman era is best enjoyed with the Dawn of X collections (not on sale) to better appreciate what an unusual tapestry was being weaved.

House of X / Powers of X   X of Swords

Past his more famous outings, The Human Machine is the complete version of Hickman’s second S.H.I.E.L.D. series. (The first series, Architects of Forever, is not on sale here.)

Craving What?!?

The Marvel Kraven Sale runs through Monday, 10/9.

Yes, it would appear somebody’s getting out early and ahead of next year’s Kraven the Hunter film. So what are we looking at here?

For most people, “Kraven’s Last Hunt” by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck is the pinnacle of the character (and count us in that group). Therein, Kraven takes his final revenge on Spidey. One of the darker Spider-Man tales and one that hit classic status pretty much as soon as it hit the shelf. There are plenty of ways to but this one, but we think the Kraven’s Last Hunt Epic Collection is a good buy with a lot of extra comics around this tale.

If you’re looking for a more traditional tale of Kraven, there aren’t really collections built around that (doubtless, there will be when the movie arrives), but the Spider-Man No More Epic Collection includes an early Kraven tale among it’s collection of Stan Lee / John Romita, Jr. goodness.

And if you’d like something a little more modern and little more off-kilter, X-Force V.5 by Benjamin Percy & Robert Gill hunting mutants as he tries to prove he’s the real apex predator.

Amazing Spider-Man - Kraven's Last Hunt   Spider-Man No More   X-Force

God of Mischief

The Marvel Loki Sale runs through Monday, 10/16.

You’d think a TV show was returning? Anyway, these days you have “post-TV” Loki and traditional Loki.

If you’re looking for Loki as the lead, the closest you’re likely to get to the TV show (thus far) is probably looking for either Loki, Agent of Asgard by Al Ewing, Lee Garbett and Jorge Coelho or the Loki run in the revived Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen, Doug Braithwaite, Richard Elson (and a few more artists).

If your jam is the traditional Loki as a villain, this isn’t the best sale for that, although it does have Loki’s original appearances in Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 1: The Vengeance Of Loki.

Loki: Agent of Asgard   Journey Into Mystery   Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 1: The Vengeance Of Loki

The End of the Alphabet

The Image Comics Discovery Sale part 4 runs through Sunday, 10/15.

This sale will conclude Image’s return to the Comixology deals page after roughly half a year with the first volumes of titles beginning with the letters S through Z. It ends on a Sunday, but this sale has always been ending on odd days, so that’s not a huge surprise. What are some interesting titles? Let’s hit some highlights in bullet form first:

That’s a pretty nice list, but let’s highlight the volumes with a complete story.

The first nod goes to Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton, which is a complete tale in one volume. When an incredibly obnoxious and abusive TV action star is murdered, his six emotionally damaged former sidekicks reluctantly team up to figure out who did the deed. A very, very funny and fairly dark book.

Starlight might be our favorite of Millar’s Image era. The high concept here is an aging Flash Gordon-type returned to Earth, didn’t quite get the hero’s welcome one might expect and is nearing retirement in suburbia, when a ship from the planet he saved some ~40 years prior arrives looking for help. This is a much less over the top Millar staying within the traditional lines of, and writing a love letter to, the classic “planetary romance” space opera and Goran Parlov is vastly under-rated.

twenty-seven has a second volume, but it’s a sequel. V.1 is the secret of why all those musicians have been dying at the age of 27. Spoilers: the deaths weren’t natural.

6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton   Star Light   27

But Is It 9mm or .45?

The Caliber Comics October Sale runs through Tuesday, 10/31.

There are a few titles here that were notable in the ’80s indie boom.

Deadworld   The Realm    Jazz Age Chronicles

And plenty of Don Lomax war comics.

But if you want something a little more recent, Ageless might be of interest. It’s written by Torunn GrØnbekk, who’s been recently been writing Thor, with art by San Espina.

Ageless

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales – The Ultimates / Marvel Ultimate Universe; Original Sin; Marvel Manga

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, it’s a Marvel week: The Ultimates, Original Sin and Marvel Manga are the new additions to the deal pile.

Where did the New Releases and Sale pages go?

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

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

The “Other” Avengers

The Marvel Ultimates & the Ultimate Universe Sale runs through Monday, 6/19.

As you’ve probably heard, Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch (we’ll come back to those names) are re-launching the Ultimate Universe in some fashion in a few months.

Last week, we had the Ultimate Spider-Man sale. We suspect in the next week or two, we’ll have Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men sales. This week, it’s The Ultimates, who are the Avengers of that universe… and that series, particularly the first couple installments, was extremely influential on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

And yes, you’re going to be seeing a parade of A-list artists.

The core material here is the Mike Millar-penned Ultimates material.  His run is:

Hitch drew those iconic first two volumes, but you might reasonable be curious what Mr. Hickman was doing when he wrote for the Ultimate line:

There’s actually a lot of good stuff to browse here, but it comes with a warning. (How often do we issue a warning?) You don’t want Jeph Loeb in the Ultimate Universe. Nope. It’s not Long Halloween. You also don’t want the Orson Scott Card Iron Man. Marvel probably thought they were getting Ender and it is NOT.

Ultimates   The Ultimates 2   Ultimate Comics - The Ultimates

Born This Way

The Marvel Original Sin Sale runs through Monday, 6/19.

This would be the Marvel Event by Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato where the Marvel heroes investigate the murder of The Watcher.

Original Sin is the core series.

Original Sin: Hulk Vs. Iron Man by Mark Waid, Kieron Gillen and Mark Bagley is really Original Sin 3.1-3.4

Original Sin: Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm by Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, Simone Bianchi and Lee Garbett is really Original Sin 5.1 – 5.5

As with most Marvel Events, there are plenty of tie-ins and all manner ways to read them (that involve flipping between collections), but that’s the most central set.

Original Sin   Original Sin: Hulk vs. Iron Man   Original Sin: Thor & Loki

Special Export

The Viz Marvel Manga Sale runs through Tuesday, 6/20.

That’s right. Spidey and Deadpool from Viz.

Deadpool: Samurai   Spider-Man: Fake Red   Marvel's Secret Reverse

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Comixology Sales: Darth Vader, Gotham Knights (and Batman); Daredevil; Image’s Fall Sale

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Darth Vader, Daredevil and MAYBE Namor get the discounts at Marvel, DC unleashes the Bat-Family with “Gotham Knights” and Image opens a seasonal sale.

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):

Sith-Tober

There’s supposed to be a Darth Vader sale right now, but the link to the overall sale isn’t posted yet for whatever reason. Our understanding is that it’s supposed to be running through Thursday, 11/3. Maybe it will be by the time you see this? Lucky you, we can see the sale prices and have a couple recommendations:

We still haven’t read a Darth Vader comic to top the Kieron Gillen / Salvador Larroca run.  It’s slow clap territory, especially the scene at the end of the opening arc when Vader figures out he’s been lied to.  This series picks up right after A New Hope and follows Vader as he goes rogue, looking for that rebel pilot who blew up the Death Star.  Note: You also need to get the Vader Down collection, which is the cross-over between the Darth Vader comic and the Star Wars comic.  Key plot points there. Did we mention these volumes are $2.99/$3.99?  Good prices for superior material.

The second best Vader series we’ve read is the Charles Soule / Giuseppe Camuncoli run. It might be the favorite series at the Lucasfilm offices, seeing as how they gave Soule a promotion. This run really hits second gear in V.2 when the librarian of the Jedi Temple turns up.

Vader   Vader Down   Vader Series 2

Sub-Prices

Namor, the Sub-Mariner is another sale that’s supposed to be running, but isn’t posted. Our understanding is it’s supposed to be running through Monday, 10/31. Maybe it will also be up by the time you see this?  Right now we’re not seeing the discounts on this material, but keep an eye out for it. It’s not in the system on Friday evening like it’s supposed to be.

We did enjoy King In Black: Namor (which has very little to do with King in Black) by Kurt Busiek and Benjamen Dewey, for instance… should the discounts materialize.

King In Black: Namor

Marvel Dares You

The Marvel Daredevil: Born Again and Other Tales Sale runs through Monday, 10/31.

Clearly, since it’s being filmed, Daredevil: Born Again is the flagship title of this sale. This is the landmark Frank Miller / David Mazzucchelli tale of the Kingpin discovering Daredevil’s secret identity and tearing down his world, brick by brick. A classic tale that has earned its reputation.

Daredevil: Parts of a Hole written by David Mack and drawn by Joe Quesada & Jimmy Palmiotti (remember that team… it’s been a minute) is the arc that introduces Echo and we find it interesting that this should be in a born again sale. Foreshadowing?

Daredevil: End of Days is the biggest oddity of this sale, but it’s also a series we enjoyed. At the time, Marvel was doing a lot of “the last <insert character here>” stories and this one brings back Brian Bendis, David Mack, Alex Maleev, Klaus Jansen and Bill Sienkiewicz assemble for what starts as the tale of Ben Urich trying to solve the mystery of Daredevil’s final words… and then heads off in unexpected places. It serves as nice “20 years later” sort of endcap to the Bendis/Brubaker era of Daredevil and is something that’s semi-off the radar.

Daredevil: Born Again   Daredevil: Parts of a Hole   Daredevil: End of Days

But Can You Download a Patch?

The DC Gotham Knights Sale runs through Monday, 11/7.

We’d have probably put the Tynion Detective run in here for “Gotham Knights,” but what do we know?

The “Batman-proper” offering here is  the Scott Snyder / Greg Capullo run that kicked off the New 52 era by introducing the Court of Owls. We suspect you’ve heard of it and it’s _mostly_ $4.99/$5.99 per volume. HOWEVER, there are a couple volumes not properly discounted as we type this, so keep an eye on the price. (Perhaps that will fix itself, since DC discounts used to really lag earlier in the year.)

For Nightwing, we’re in the apparent majority opinion that you want to be looking at the Tom Taylor/Bruno Redondo Nightwing.  There were single issues of this at the bottom of the sale page, but they weren’t discounted when we looked at them. Again… this might change. It’s deja vu.

And for an old school selection, the Chuck Dixon / Tom Lyle / Tom Grummet Robin run from the 90s (which is to say, Tim Drake), definitely has a following. Amazon is weird and breaks it up into three listings/links: V. 1, V.2, and V.3-5.

Batman: The Court of Owls   Nightwing   Robin: Reborn

We All Fall Down

The Image Fall Sale runs through Sunday, 11/13.

700+ items makes for a deep list, but there are a few things here we’re more inclined to point out.

For instance, God Country by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw. While that duo is probably best known for Thanos Wins, we think God Country is the better book. Frankly, we don’t think Cates has topped it, period. The elevator pitch isn’t quite so unique – a magic sword cures an old man’s dementia and gives him the vigor of youth to fight off the invading demons. But the meditation on losing one’s mind and character work? Top notch and elevates everything. We weren’t ready for it.

The Black Monday Murders by Jonathan Hickman and Tomm Coker is a murder mystery. A murder mystery amongst secret and elite cults where financial institutions and banking cartels wield black magic behind the scenes to control the world and get one up on rival sects. Oh, there’s a touch of satire, but it’s mostly played straight. Excellent series and we’re looking forward to the final volume which ought to be popping back on the schedule soon. Hickman’s said he’s done with the scripts and Image is waiting for Coker to have the art in the can before soliciting, so… soon?

Seven to Eternity by Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña is fantasy quest about a man who goes on a quest to save his family and depose his father’s old enemy, the king.  Except this one inverts some tropes and goes to some very dark places as devil’s bargains are struck. It’s also a real showcase for Opeña. It’s hard to praise the art enough.

God Country   The Black Monday Murders   Seven to Eternity

 

 

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: X-Men, Wolverine, Hawkeye and Batman

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel brings the mutants – Hickman era X-Men and Jason Aaron’s escapades with Wolverine. Plus Hawkeye and the DC “Hot 100” sale which has a lot of Batman to it.

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):

Let’s Put the X in Hickman

The Marvel X-Men From Dawn to Reign Sale runs until Thursday, 9/8.

And gosh golly, if that sale’s name isn’t an awful lot of contortion to avoid saying the Hickman showrunning era.  For those coming in late, Jonathan Hickman was a sort of creative director of the X-line for a very productive period. He wrote a few and gave guidance on the other titles. After the Inferno series, he moved on to other things when the rest of writers expressed interest in working with the current status quo a bit longer. Hickman had planned on moving on to the next phase of a longer story arc he’d mapped out, so… perhaps he’ll return to that at some point?

This is one of those sale pages where someone (it isn’t clear if it’s Marvel or Amazon) is trying to do us all a solid and separate out things, dividing things in to sections or tiers with scrolling carousels. We approve of the effort.

The first tier, “The Krakoa Era Begins Here,” is the spine of the era: the Hickman core, if you will.  You need to start with House of X / Powers of X, which establishes the new status quo.  You then continue into the Hickman-penned X-Men flagship title.  All the X-titles eventually flow into two events: first X of Swords (which is more of an Exaclibur story) and finally Inferno ends the era, at least in terms of Hickman’s writing and overall role.  So yeah, when they say “Krakoa Era,” they’re again dodging Hickman’s name and it kind of amuses us how awkward that is.  Hox/Pox is the beginning of the Krokoa era, sure enough. The rest? That’s stretching definitions.  So if you get everything listed in this tier you’ll get the “story of the universe” of the X-Men comics of that era. (Mind you, despite how comic book marketing works these days, “the story of the universe” is not the end-all/be-all of reading enjoying.)

This sale is on the collections of the individual titles (as opposed to the Dawn of X and Reign of X collections), so that lends itself to chery-picking. Do we have opinions on this? Of course, and we ended up liking some of the titles on the periphery best.

Hellions by Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia is a demented delight. A dark, snarky and occasionally violent series that finds Mr. Sinister pulling the strings on a wetworks squad of broken toys (Psylocke, Havoc, Nanny, Wildchild, etc) to clean up some of his… side projects.

Way of X by Si Spurrier and Bob Quinn is about Nightcrawler and Legion trying to head off the re-emergence of Onslaught, but Nightcrawler trying to reconcile his religion with Krakoa’s resurrection protocols and his efforts toward synthesizing a mutant religion really steals the scenes.

S.W.O.R.D. by Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti is the cosmic title of the bunch. The mutants have been proactive establishing a space station to house an agency to protect Earth against extraterrestrial threats… and that’s before they establish Arakko on Mars. Cosmic adventures and more than a little political intrigue & deception.

Hellions by Zeb Wells   Way of X   S.W.O.R.D.

You’re Not Yourself, Have a SNIKT!

The Marvel Wolverine by Jason Aaron Sale runs through Monday, 8/29.

This can pretty much be narrowed down to two titles:

Wolverine by Jason Aaron collects several titles, including the end of the ’03 Wolverine, Wolverine: Manifest Destiny, Wolverine: Weapon X, Spider-Man & Wolverine and the ’10 version of Wolverine.  And yes, towards the end of the run is when Aaron sends Wolverine to Hell. Lots of artists over the course of this work, including Adam Kubert, Ron Garney and Howard Chaykin.

Wolverine & The X-Men is the post-Schism run where Logan heads back to Westchester to run the Jean Grey School. Aaron writes, the artists most associated with this run are Nick Bradshaw and Chris Bachalo (with some early Pepe Larraz towards the end).

Wolverine by Jason Aaron   Wolverine and the X-Men

Hawkguy

The Marvel Hawkeye Sale runs through Thusday, 9/1.

When people think of Hawkeye, they usually start thinking about the iconic and quirky Matt Fraction / David Aja run. Lucky you, Marvel’s put the whole thing in one volume as Hawkeye by Fraction & Aja: The Saga of Barton and Bishop.

Hawkeye Epic Collection: The Avenging Archer is the old school option. This has the original Iron Man appearances, some Avengers, some Marvel Team-Up, the original solo mini-series and so forth.

If you’re in a Kate Bishop mood, you’re probably looking for the Hawkeye run by Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero.

Hawkeye   Hawkeye   Hawkeye

Is That a Radio Format?

The DC Hot 100 Sale runs through Monday, 8/29.

It’s somewhat random set of DC books on sale this week.  Predictably, there’s a lot of Batman in there.

You want something good from the last couple years?  We highly recommend Batman: The Adventures Continue by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini and Ty Templeton. It’s a continuation of The Animated Series and it’s first rate Batman. Highly recommended if you have a fondness for the cartoon.

If you want something a little older No Man’s Land was probably our favorite Batman Event of the 90s. The first volume (of the regular set, not “Road to,” even has some work by Bob Gale. We’re always happy when he does some comics! The premise is Gotham has been cut off from the mainland by an earthquake. Things have gone a little feudal and the various villains are setting themselves up as warlords in various neighborhood as Batman and friends try to keep things under control until the situation improves. If you’re thinking this sounds a bit like the DMZ series, you’re not imagining things… but No Man’s Land came out ~5 years earlier.

The most recent book in this sale is the Mattson Tomlin/Andrea Sorrentino Batman: The Imposter.

Batman: The Adventures Continue   Batman: No Man's Land   Batman: The Imposter

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: X-Men, Iron Man, Heroes Reborn and DMZ

This week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales include: The Dawn of X segment of X-Men comics, Heroes Reborn (OK, for our purposes, Heroes Return), Iron Man and the DMZ, now as seen on TV.

Side comments about the nature of reprinting cross-over Events included at no extra charge!

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

X-Hijinks

Marvel’s X-Men: Dawn of X Sale runs through Thursday, 3/20.

To put this in the context of the Hickman era of X, you start out with the House of X / Powers of X mini’s, then you go into the “regular” X-Men family of titles. This post HoX/PoX era is what’s being called “Dawn of X” and it basically stops just before the X of Swords crossover Event.

Dawn of X is a series of trade paperbacks (or digital TPBs for our purposes) that collect the issues of the _entire_ X-Men line of books, to more properly approximate reading the line in release order. Oh, they’ll fudge the exact release order here and there for 2-parters, but you get the idea.

Essentially, particularly early on in the line, the ideas of the X-family floated between titles. Ben Percy’s Wolverine and X-Force cross-pollinated a fair amount, too. We’ve felt that you do get a more out of the X-line by reading it as a whole. It enhances the scope and the worldbuilding aspects. Oh, there’s a dud of an issue here and there, but on the whole, it’s a strong line. (We didn’t think the line was quite as uniformly strong post-X of Swords, but that’s for a different time.)

Marvel has been getting better about going back and collecting stories that bounced between titles (like Hickman’s Avengers saga) in the actual reading order, as opposed tpbs of the individual titles that you need to bounce between. In general, this is a good thing.

We wish we could get you this listed in numerical order, but Amazon’s sorting routines aren’t very good here… but we can give you the list in reverse order! <rolls eyes>

Dawn of X

We’ll Stick with the Return

Marvel’s Heroes Reborn Sale runs through Thursday, 3/24.

This is the 90s experiment when Marvel outsourced some of their titles to Image. Now, for our money, the gems here are from the “Heroes Return” period, when those title came back to Marvel:

Iron Man: Heroes Return – The Complete Collection V. 1 has Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern and Sean Chen as the primary creative team, re-establishing shell head back in the Marvel Universe. You get some Mandarin, there’s a side trip with Captain America and MODOK. This collects the first portion of one of our favorite Iron Man periods.

And speaking of high points, this sale also has Captain America: Heroes Return – The Complete Collection,  which is the Mark Waid/Ron Garney run resuming. (It had just started, and was abruptly halted, for Heroes Reborn.) A little Hydra, a lost shield… that MODOK tale from Iron Man is also reprinted here (a shared Annual). It’s a solid run.

Iron Man: Heroes Reborn   Captain America Heroes Return

We Forget… Is It Still 2020?

The last couple years really are a blur and this sale is confusing us!

The Marvel Iron Man 2020 and Other Stories Sale runs through Sunday, 3/20.

First off, the Heroes Return sale for Busiek/Chen Iron Man is by far the better deal, so ignore the shorter collections here.

Now here’s a comic we haven’t seen mentioned in quite a while: Iron Man: The Inevitable by Joe Casey and Frazier Irving. We liked that one when it was coming out. Stark tries to rehabilitate the Living Lazer, while Spymaster and the Ghost plot his downfall. Introspection, espionage and then some things blow up. We think the audience may have been expecting more slam-bang when it came out, but we recall this as a slower build up… and it likely benefits from a collected edition.

Iron Man: Iron Monger is the end of the Denny O’Neil/Luke McDonnell era… although McDonnell bows out a little early, so you get some Rich Buckler and Mark Bright starts his run with #200.  And #200 is a helluva ride. O’Neil runs Tony Stark through the ringer and this sees him dragging himself up from the gutters after an alcoholic relapse to deal with Obadiah Stane and his Iron Monger armor. That finale has proven very influential over the years!

Iron Man: The Inevitable   Iron Man: Iron Monger

Feudal Warlords of Manhattan

The Stream DC: DMZ Sale runs through Monday, 3/28.

And yes, that would be the old Vertigo series, DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. And it’s a good one. The premise? There’s been a militia uprising. The rebels have captured the coast and New Jersey. The US Army holds Long Island. Manhattan is a no-man’s land between the armies. A demilitarized zone, i.e. DMZ. A rookie photojournalist pulls an assignment in the DMZ, but things go pear-shaped and he finds himself stranded… but also with a unique opportunity as an embedded reporter, so he attempts to navigate a strange landscape of neighborhood-based warlords and the strange society that’s popped up around the Manhattanites who could get out… while both armies jockey for position in the shadows.

You can read a few volumes on Comixology Unlimited to test drive it, but if you’re buying, you want the larger deluxe editions for your lowest tab.

DMZ

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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

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Comixology Sales: Dawn of X, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar

This week’s Comixology sales include: Dawn of X from Marvel, DC loosing The Sandman (and Sandman Mystery Theater), Horror from Dark Horse and Omnibus editions from Dynamite.

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

Mutated Reading

The Marvel Dawn of X Sale runs through Thursday, 8/26.

Dawn of X is a different type of Marvel collected edition. This collects the titles of the Hickman X-Men line into a book format, but bounces between the various series in a manner similar to how one would read the issues as they came out. We’ve always felt that reading the  entire line was an additive experience and this is probably the best way to experience that in the collected edition format.  The 16 volumes of Dawn of X take you right up to the edge of X of Swords.

Dawn of X

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

The DC Spotlight: Sandman and the Sandman Universe Sales runs through Monday, 8/23.

We’re assuming you’re already heard of the  Neil Gaiman Sandman series. (Note: sub-50% discounts again)

So let’s talk a bit about the very loosely connect pulp spin-off Sandman Mystery Theater. It’s a pulp detective feature with a bit of subtext that’s primarily written by Matt Wagner and/or Steven T. Seagal. Guy Davis is the primary artist. It’s a lost classic from the ’90s as the Golden Age Sandman, replete with gas mask and gas gun stalks his prey.  This one DOES get you 50% off the collected editions (which will get you through issue#24) and 99-cent single issue.

Sandman   Sandman Mystery Theater

The Long, Hot… Halloween?

The Dark Horse Hot August Horror sale runs through Monday, 8/23.

Yes, we did hear it got a little warm in Portland.

You can’t have a Dark Horse Horror sale without the Mignolaverse. Rise of the Black Flame by Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson and Christopher Mitten is the tale of the Hellboy villain when the power was controlled by a cult.

In a different direction, there’s John Allison’s (Bad Machinery, Giant Days) Steeple.

And you ever notice that Steve Niles has done quite a bit of Criminal Macabre?

Rise of the Black Flame   Steeple   Criminal Macabre

Another One Rides the (Omni)Bus

The  Dynamite Omnibus Sale runs through Monday, 9/13.

We would draw your attention to two things here.

First, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar is fantastic. It didn’t get quite as much attention when it came out from Epic and First, but it’s a large part of what he was working on between his first run at Marvel and when he returned for the run-up to Infinity Gauntlet.

Jeff Parker and Doc Shaner did an under the radar – and extremely fun – take on Flash Gordon a few years back that’s worth a look.

Dreadstar   Flash Gordon

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Comixology Sales: Old Man Logan; Ms. Marvel; V For Vendetta; Early Bendis and a LOT of Image Comics

Highlight of this week’s Comixology Sales include Marvel dropping prices on Old Man Logan and Ms. Marvel, DC having an “essential” sale (why yes, that includes Batman) and a ton of Image gets the discount treatment.

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

Ageism For Mutants?!?

The Old Man Logan Sale runs through Sunday, 7/25. If Jennifer Walters finds out they’re calling Logan that at the office, there might be a discrimination suit!

You’re mostly looking at two flavors here: The original post-apocalyptic Mark Millar / Steve McNiven Old Man Logan. While we’d probably call this a variation on Days of Future Past, in terms of the superheroes in a bleak future, this one really was a trend setter and has inspired a lot of imitators. “Old Man” is not an uncommon way to start a title at Marvel these days.

Then you’ve got the ongoing Old Man Logan series, initially by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. This one brings the older Logan back in time to the present and, frankly, was better than most people were expecting at the time.

Wolerine: Old Man Logan   Wolverine: Old Man Logan

You Look Mahvellous

The Ms. Marvel Sale runs through Thursday, 7/29.

This would be the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel, as opposed to Carol Danvers, and we’re firm in thinking you need to start with the original G. Willow Wilson / Adrian Alphona series that caused quite a stir (especially on the Scholastic circuit).

Ms. Marvel

Essential Oils Minus the Oil

The DC Essentials Sales runs through Monday, 7/26.

For something relatively current, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed DCeased, the Tom Taylor / Trevor Hairsine / Stefano Gaudiano vehicle where the Anti-Life Equation gets lose and creates a zombie doomsday scenario. What can we say, as he often does, Taylor takes a pitch that sounds like “Marvel Zombies for DC” and creates something new with depth. (Mind you, Marvel Zombies was also a lot of fun for a few installments.)

Going back a bit further, Multiversity is one of Grant Morrison’s best vehicles for sheer world building fun. This one hops dimensions as we follow a conspiracy across the multiverse. And, being that rare self-contained event, Morrison’s got a murderer’s row of artists for the story, including Frank Quitely, Jim Lee, Chris Sprouse and Doug Mahnke.

And if you want to go back to the 80s, Alan Moore and David Lloyd did a project called V for Vendetta that started as a serial in Warrior magazine and finished up at DC. A very political tale of resistance to tyranny, it’s proven influential and was an early hit that crossed over to the mainstream.

DCeased   Multiversity   V for Vendetta

Image HumbleBrag Sale

The Image Eisner Sale runs though Monday, 8/2.

There’s some pretty strong and recent content here, so we’ll just highlight three things we particularly liked.

The Department of Truth by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds is the real deal. It’s an X-Files-esque tale of conspiracies theories become real and the power of belief. Tynion’s definitely having a moment right now. Simmonds’s art style is a good fit for the material, too.

The team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have also been having a particularly strong run that’s represented here by two original graphic novels. We’d probably put Pulp slightly ahead, that would be the meditative tale of pulp writer in 1930s reliving his wild younger days with a hail of bullets.  That said, Reckless, the opener for a series about an ex-FBI undercover man turned underground fixer, is pretty darn good, too.

Department of Truth   Pulp  Reckless

Image Throws in the Kitchen Sink

The Image Mega Sale runs through Monday, 8/2. It might not be the entire Image library, but it’s close enough. Plenty to browse, but let’s highlight a few things that might not pop to the top of your mind.

Once upon a time, Bendis was not a big name creator. Yes, that really was quite a while ago, but back when he was an emerging writing, Todd McFarlane tapped him to write the Spawn spin-off Sam and Twitch.  Yes, the oddball detectives investigating dark things. Who was drawing it?  Names you’ll recognize: Angel Medina, Ashley Wood, Alex Maleev.  Yes, Bendis and Maleev go WAY back.

Lewis & Clark – Monster Hunters.  That’s the elevator pitch for Manifest Destiny by Chris Dingess, Matthew Roberts and Tony Akins. Lewis & Clark are sent to map out the Northwest Territory, but also to investigate unsettling supernatural questions and clear out the territory of monsters. It starts out light and fun before descending into madness. Usually under the radar, always enjoyable.

The Black Monday Murders by Jonathan Hickman and Tom Coker is a tale of an occult cartel controlling the world’s financial system and the power struggle an apparent murder sets off in it. One of our favorite things from Hickman and Coker knocks it out of the park with some downright haunting art.  Coker occasionally posts pages from his work on the third act, so we’re hoping it’s not too far away from being scheduled.

   Sam and Twitch   Manifest Destiny   The Black Monday Murders

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