Tag: Stephen King

Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Marvel Cosmic; DC’s Milestone Team; Spider-Woman; Resident Alien; Richard Corben

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel discounts their cosmic titles. DC cuts prices for the Milestone Team; Dark Horse highlights Resident Alien and Richard Corben.

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):

All McDuffie, All the Time

Justice League  Hardware  Lobo

The DC Team Milestone Sale runs through Monday, 2/3.

You may notice that there’s a lot of Dwayne McDuffie material on sale, which is always a good thing. Some McDuffie books we like:

The Justice League of America run (despite his issues with editorial): The Injustice League, Sanctuary, The Second Coming, and When Worlds Collide w/Ed Benes (and Alan Burnett).

We also think extremely highly of Hardware: The Man in the Machine w/ Denys Cowan and JJ Birch, which is pretty much how intellectual property worked in the tech industry in the early 90s.

Some interesting books by other people:

  • Batman: Second Chances – Max Allan Collins / Dave Cockrum; Jim Starlin / Jim Aparo; The Collins run and revamping of Jason Todd and the beginning of the Starlin/Aparo run
  • Deathstroke (’16) – Christopher Priest / Carlo Pagulayan / Diogenes Neves; A dark and psychological take… and definitely a lead who’s a villain, not an anti-hero
  • Lobo by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant Vol. 1 – Keith Giffen / Alan Grant / Simon Bisley; The over-top exploits of The Main Man from the early 90s.

If you haven’t had a look at the DC Start Here sale, that’s still running through Monday and has lots of bargains.

Cosmic Slop

The Marvel Cosmic Sale runs through Tuesday, 2/4.

This is, after a fashion, a convergence of smaller sales as we follow the thread of cosmic tales and characters through Marvel. The threads weave in and out, but for the sake of easy processing, let’s look at them this way:

The Marvel World of Jim Starlin
Warlock Rebirth of Thanos

Jim Starlin defined “cosmic” for Marvel in the 70s and then returned in the late 80s to revive it (and his signature villain, Thanos) in the run-up to The Infinity Gauntlet, after which things kinda blew up.

Starlin’s Captain Marvel is missing, but Warlock by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection is available on the cheap. It’s highly recommended and a foundational work for a lot of what is to come.

The lack of Epic Collections hampers the availability of Starlin’s Silver Surfer run in this sale, but The Rebirth of Thanos w/ Ron Lim, which sets up The Infinity Gauntlet is included.

Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer: Parable Silver Surfer: Requiem Silver Surfer

Most of the “classic” Surfer runs are missing with the lack of Epics and Masterworks in the sale

Original Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers   Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino

No, not like the movies or spinning out of Annihilation (we’ll get to that in a bit), this was a super team in the future that occasionally returned to our present. They weren’t created by Steve Gerber, but he built them up in Defenders and then Marvel Presents before moving on.

Honestly, this is our preferred GoG. The originals are solid. The Valentino run is a trip (and seems like it must’ve been an influence on Bendis when he rebooted Legion of Super-Heroes). Very different from what came later, though.

Nova

Nova Classic   Nova by Abnett & Lanning

High school student Richard Rider becomes a centurion of the Nova Corps and tries to figure out his powers in the initial run. By the time DnA get ahold of the character, he’s a veteran and the road to Annihilation has begun.

  • Nova (1976-78) – The original Marv Wolfman/John Buscema/Sal Buscema/Carmine Infantino run
  • Nova (2007-10) – The Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning/Paul Pelletier/Kev Walker/Andrea di Vito era – the Complete Collection is the better deal.
  • Nova (2013-15) – Gerry Duggan / Paco Medina was probably the longest tenured creative team of this volume.
  • Nova: Resurrection (2015) – Jeff Loveness / Ramon Perez
  • Nova: The Human Rocket (2015-16) – Sean Ryan / Cory Smith / John Timms

What’s good here?  We’d go with the original run or the DnA run (complete with a space station carved out of a Celestial’s head – yes, the concept predates Avengers Mountain).

Annihilation

Annihilation

Annihilation was a crossover Event for Marvel’s fledging “cosmic” line in which Annihilus mounted a deadly invasion from the Negative Zone. It struck a nerve.

Annihilation is the first series of mini-series.

Annihilation: Conquest is the sequel as Ultron and the Phalanx make their move.  This leads into the formation of the new Guardians of the Galaxy.

Annihilation: Scourge is 2019 entry in the series.

New Guardians of the Galaxy (The DnA cast or movie version if you must)

Guardians of the Galaxy   Guardians of the Galaxy

We LOVED the final Ewing/Cabal series, which ends with “The Final Annihilation.” And if you liked Nova and the Annihilation Events, the DnA run is the continuation of that format. The ’23 version of GoG is indisputably the Kev Walker show.

Eensy Weensy

 Spider-Woman  Spider-Woman

The Marvel Spider-Woman Sale runs through Tuesday, 2/4

Last week, we noted a lack of Masterworks in the X-Men sale. This week, in the Cosmic sale. Guess what? Same deal with Spider-Woman, so the ’78-’83 original run is off the table. Is this going to be a trend for ’25? Time will tell.

Unannounced Sales

Resident Alien  Den  Stephen King's the Dark Tower

Resident Alien is a comic by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse about a stranded alien posing as a doctor and solving murders. It got a little more famous when a TV adaptation hit and a lot more famous when the TV show moved over to Netflix. (And will now be moving over to the USA cable network.) We read the first omnibus a few months back and if your point of reference is the TV show, the comic is a little more mystery-oriented. It’s available in

Note: the 7th series is only available as a collected edition at this time.

We’re also seeing an assortment of Richard Corben’s Dark Horse publications on sale:

Also on sale:

The Marvel “Maybe” Sales

Hellverine: Resurrection  Jango Fett

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

Dropping Next Week

  • Ultimates By Deniz Camp Vol. 1: Fix The World – Deniz Camp / Juan Frigeri; While not the cheapest thing listed, we’ve been pretty happy with this dark and twisted world builder. Doom and She-Hulk? Not necessarily what you were expecting. $12.99

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Avengers; Doctor Doom; Aquaman; Vault Comics; The Dark Tower

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Marvel discounts nearly the entire Avengers run, plus Doctor Doom. DC has an “All-Star” sale. Plus, some unannounced Vault and Dark Tower titles.

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):

Avengers Assemble

Avengers Assemble

The Marvel Avengers Sale runs through Monday, 5/27

And this as pretty much everything except the Masterworks editions. (Hey, don’t look at us… we think that’s a strange omission, too.)

Let’s start about by breaking down the major series/titles on sale:

The Jonathan Hickman era

Avengers by Jonathan Hickman

The Hickman era is a little complicated, because his Avengers and New Avengers titles run together, so the Avengers by Jonathan Hickman collections are what we’d recommend for a more natural reading experience. Those collect both titles, plus tie-ins… and this is something were reading order counts.

But, this being Marvel collections, it get more complicated. The Avengers/New Avengers material (whichever format you read it in) is just one segment of Hickman’s tale. The story is continued in Avengers: Time Runs Out, which is the real last arc of Avengers and New Avengers. (And it’s in the “by Hickman” omnibuses.)

And all this funnels into Secret Wars, the true endgame of Hickman’s Avengers run… which, of course, is not included in the sale… but it is in Doctor Doom sale, this week only. (Stranger and stranger.)

The Hickman era really is it’s own beast. A lot of comics talk about having an “epic scale.” This one’s scope is staggering and the sheer size of the scope means it gets better and better as things progress in a way few comics really do. So just know that the entire era is effectively one extended story and it’s a real “in for a penny, in for a pound” thing.

The Jason Aaron era

Avengers

While not necessarily as complex as the Hickman era, there are a few different ways to read it:

Enter Jed MacKay

Avengers

We didn’t see it on the official list, but  V. 1 of the Jed MacKay / C.F. Villa Avengers run is on sale.

What’s at the top of the list for recommendations?

For the classic series, there are a lot of good runs. The first Roy Thomas/John Buscema run, particularly around the introduction of The Vision. The Kree-Skrull War. Steve Englehart’s Run. Jim Shooter’s run. Roger Stern’s run, particularly when the team of John Buscema and Tom Palmer return. There is a ton of good stuff to look at. When we factor in price point and page count (some of the newer Epic Collections are a little more expensive), we keep coming back to The Final Threat. Steve Englehart/ Gerry Conway / Jim Shooter / George Perez / John Byrne / John Buscema / Sal Buscema. You get the return of Wonder Man, “The Private War of Doctor Doom,” and “Bride of Ultron” for the major arcs. It’s a nice cross-section of creators and stories for $5.99.  But really, it’s hard to go wrong with the Kree-Skrull War through ~#200, and then pick it up again for Roger Stern.

We’re also major fans of the Kurt Busiek / George Perez run that begins here. A second golden age that stands up with the best runs.

Let’s face it, there have been a lot of good Avengers runs.

Victor Von Doom Bows Before No Man!

Doctor Doom  Avengers - The Private War of Doctor Doom  Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment

The Marvel Doctor Doom Sale runs through Monday, 5/6

The top dog here is the Doctor Doom series by Christopher Cantwell and Salvador Larroca. Its an instant classic well worth your time. Doom has been framed. For now he’s on the run, but his vengeance will be terrible. Featuring Kang in a highly amusing frenemy role.

Avengers: The Private War of Doctor Doom has a lot of creators with Gerry Conway, Steve Englehart and Jim Shooter as the primary writers and George Perez as the primary artist. This is a cross-over between Super Villain Team-Up (a better than you might think series that was basically Namor and Doom plotting against each other) and Avengers.  Also contained in the larger collection The Final Threat.

Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment by Roger Stern and Mike Mignola has Strange and Doom invading Hell to free Doom’s mother from the clutches of Mephisto.

There’s a bit more here, but these are a good start.

All-Stars and Friends

The DC All-Stars Sale runs through Monday, 5/6
All-Star Comics  The Atlantis Chronicles  Starman

DC seemingly randomly mixes some titles (lots of Aquaman this time) and… the correct sale pricing has returned. Yay!

A few things that caught our eye:

  • All-Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever – Gerry Conway / Paul Levitz / Wally Wood / Keith Giffen / Joe Staton; This collects the full Justice Society 70s run and you sure don’t want to be paying the usual HC omnibus price for it!
  • Aquaman (’94) – The Peter David run
  • Aquaman: The Death of a Prince – Most of the relevant ’70s Aquaman tales in one collection – Steve Skates / David Michelinie / Paul Levitz / Jim Aparo / Mike Grell / Don Newton.  It didn’t lack for quality creators, did it?
  • The Atlantis Chronicles – Peter David / Esteban Maroto; Listed as Aquaman, but this insanely under the radar classic is a high fantasy / magic vs. science tale of the history of Atlantis. This is where all the “Orin” references come from. It’s great, beautifully illustrated and another $49.99 HC omnibus price if it isn’t on sale.
  • Starman (’94) – James Robinson / Tony Harris; One of the best comics of the mid-90’s, full stop and what jumpstarted the legacy hero trend. DC needs to finish collecting this gem.

You Were Expecting Winnie the Pooh?

Gun Honey

The Titan Gun Honey Sale runs through Monday, 6/3

Gun Honey is a series of miniseries about a weapons smuggler. Part of why it’s a series of miniseries is likely because the author is oriented towards novels. Charles Ardai might not have a high profile in the comics world, but over in the mystery world he’s won an Edgar and a Shamus. He’s also the co-publisher of Hard Case Crime. (He also has one helluva collection of pulp novel covers.)

Ang Hor Kheng provides the art.

This is available as $0.99 single issues and $5.99 collected editions. The single issues are the better value.

Undeclared Major

Ether  The Rush  Dark Tower

An eclectic mix of unannounced sales this week:

Dark Horse is celebrating the work of David Rubin:

Vault has a few titles:

More of the Robin Furth / Peter David comics based on Stephen King’s The Dark Tower

And, lastly, Economix: How and Why Our Economy Works (and Doesn’t Work), in Words and Pictures by Michael Goodwin and Dan Burr.

Past that, don’t forget the Marvel May the 4th Star Wars Sale runs through Monday.

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Comixology (at Amazon) Sales: Harley Quinn, Loki, TMNT: The Last Ronin, Sleeping Beauties, Land of Oz

In this week’s Comixology (at Amazon) sales, Harley Quinn enters a new decade, Marvel spotlights Loki and the Land of Oz, and IDW discounts Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin and Sleeping Beauties (as in Stephen & Owen King’s novel getting adapted).

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):

The Better Punchline

The DC Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Sale runs through Monday, 9/12.

30 years?  Yup.  If you saw the debut on Batman: The Animated Series, we understand if you don’t admit it.

While it isn’t the cheapest deal by page count right now ($2.99 for 66 pages), any Harley Quinn conversation has to start with The Batman Adventures: Mad Love, wherein Paul Dini and Bruce Timm reveal Harley’s origin.  It’s a gem.

We’ve always had a soft spot for the New 52 Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti/Chad Hardin run of Harley Quinn. Their take is particularly absurdist and brings in an… eclectic supporting cast to say the least. We’ve heard compared to Deadpool a few times. It’s the version we’ve laughed at the most.

Your off the beaten path option (relative to the rest of the HQ catalog) is Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh is a YA take with a teenaged Harley and it’s one of the most critically lauded versions.

Mad Love   Harley Quinn   Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass

God of Mischief

The Marvel Loki Sale runs through Thursday, 9/15.

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).

For your Loki as the villain, we’re going to slightly off the reservation into the world of Mutants with X-Men: Asgardian Wars. This is a collection of a story arc consisting of the X-Men / Alpha Flight mini-series (Chris Claremont/Paul Smith), the New Mutants Special Edition and an X-Men Annual (both by Claremont/Arthur Adams).  Loki starts some trouble and the X-Men eventually end up in Asgard looking for him.  Back in the mid-80s, the annuals in the X-verse were a bit more standalone from the ongoing plots and the New Mutants annuals were particularly wild for a few years. Claremont basically uses the mini-series and annuals (the “special edition” was essentially a New Mutants annual) to tell a self-contained, though somewhat sprawling tale.  Fun collection with superior artists.

Loki: Agent of Asgard   Journey Into Mystery   X-Men: Asgardian Wars

The Marvelous Land of On Sale

The Marvel Oz and Other Classics Sale runs through Monday, 9/12.

This would be a collection of the Marvel Illustrated (read: Classics Illustrated) adaptions from ’07-’13.  The most famous of which being the Wizard of Oz adaptions by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young. Yes, that Skottie Young.

The key piece here is the set of Oz: The Complete Collection where it’s two books per volume.  Also, it should be noted Amazon lists the Road to Oz / Emerald City of Oz volume first… and that’s actually the last volume of the three.  The order is Wizard of Oz/Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz/Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, and then Road to Oz / Emerald City of Oz.

Oz: The Complete Collection

No, Not “Hit” as in “Hit-Girl”

The IDW Recent Hits Sale runs through Thursday, 9/29.

This a particularly small sale and single issues are the key thing you’ll be looking at here.

The headline here is probably the $0.99 single issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin by Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz and Esau & Isaac Escorza. We’re not sure the “Dark Knight for TMNT” elevator pitch is quite right, but this is the story of a future where the last surviving Turtle heads for a final confrontation with the Foot Clan. This is much darker than the original series. We enjoyed the first issue and have this on our short list since it seemed to prudent to wait for it to wrap up.

Sleeping Beauties is the Rio Youers / Alison Sampson of the Stephen & Owen King novel. Since the second collected edition isn’t on sale, you’re better off with the single issues here.

TMNT - The Last Ronin   Sleeping Beauties

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