It’s time for another look at which digital comics Comixology has on sale right now. What are the good reads and what are the good buys? We’ll be taking a look mostly at the sales that are ending by Thursday and what an eclectic set of digital comics it is.
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There’s definitely a Halloween vibe going on in the Comixology sale section. DC has the classic fair tale update Fables on sale. Marvel has the green skinned monster-centric Greg Pak sale. We have a look a Dark Horse’s horror sale and… even early Spider-Woman was on the spooky side.
Running through Monday (10/26) is the “DC Fable Sale.” Longtime readers should interpret that as the “Vertigo Fables Sale,” since it’s the Fables franchise from DC’s fondly remembered Vertigo imprint. Fables, as you maybe recall is a long running fantasy comic written by Bill Willingham and drawn primarily by Mark Buckingham. It’s about the heroes and heroines of fairy tales hiding out in NYC after a conquering tyrant has run them out of their home worlds and their quest to reclaim their homes. And yes, The Big, Bad Wolf is one of the breakout stars. It’s a classic and was Vertigo’s flagship series for awhile. If you want to save a little money on the entire run, after volume 10 of the “normal” graphic novels, switch over to the “Deluxe Edition” Omnibuses to finish out the series. The Deluxe Editions are a slightly better value. The initial spin-off was Jack of Fables, features Jack the trickster Fable taking a road trip and finding himself in the middle of a conspiracy. There are a few more series to browse: Fairest and Cinderella are probably the most notable, although only one of the two Cinderella series is on sale. There are also some follow-on graphic novels. Honestly, this whole franchise was pretty solid. Vertigo is missed.
Moving from DC over to Marvel, there’s the Marvel Greg Pak Sale. While he’s gone on to do more work, Pak is always going to be strongly associated with an absolutely classic run on Hulk. Planet Hulk was when Hulk was shot out into space and became a gladiator, conquering the planet he landed on. When he gets back, Hulk’s a wee bit peeved he was launched into space and World War Hulk begins. Now what not everyone remembers is that Pak spun his Hulk run into a Hercules run. There’s a lot more to Pak’s Marvel work, but I’d consider those three titles his core work. Have a browse through the sale for more recent work and a lot of Amadeus Cho
Halloween is still approaching, so let’s look at another thematic sale. The Dark Horse Horror Sale runs until Monday (11/2) and has over 1,300 items in it. You pretty much have to start with Hellboy when you talk Dark Horse horror, since there’s a well populated universe there. The flagship Hellboy series by Mike Mignola and friends is the one people are most familiar with. The Omnibus editions are your best value here. I’ll mention two more titles in the Hellboy-verse, but there are a LOT more if you go browsing. B.P.R.D (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) is something you could almost call the longform Hellboy. Actually, Hellboy’s not really in B.P.R.D. that much. It’s the rest of the team tracking down a far reaching conspiracy loosely referred to as “The War on Frogs.” It’s primarily by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Guy Davis and it’s a great ride. I revisited it recently and it holds up. The best deal here is the “War on Frogs” omnibus editions. The story continues into the “Hell on Earth” omnibuses, but for whatever reason those aren’t on sale. On the other end of the spectrum is Lobster Johnson. The Lobster is a pulp character set before and during WWII, chasing around supernatural pulp menaces. Sometimes it’s serious. Sometimes it’s hilarious. It’s always a lot of fun and is frequently overlooked.
Now, if you’re looking for something a little more old school, there’s always the Warren horror magazines, which have an impressive creative list of 60s and 70s talent. These come in two flavors: Eerie Archives and Creepy Archives.
For something a little more current, there’s Harrow County. That series by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook wrapped up last year. It’s a slow burn Southern Gothic horror series about witches and all manner of supernatural creatures out in the woods. For a different vibe, there’s the award winning Beasts of Burden about dogs and a cat protecting their town from horrible things by Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson and company. Beasts of Burden is slightly less expensive if you get the single issues. Plenty more if you care to browse the sale.
Marvel also has a Spider-Woman Sale through Thursday (10/22). Given that Halloween’s approaching, it’s worth reminding people how utterly strange and sorcerer/werewolf/Brothers Grimm oriented those early Marv Wolfman Spider-Woman tales were.
Still running and worth a look:
Image’s enormous graphic novel sale: most of their backlist is ~half off. OR you could pick up the single issues of Jonathan Hickman’s and Tomm Coker’s excellent horror mystery The Black Monday Murders for 99 cents a pop and save quite a more.
Marvel also still has their Excalibur Sale going on.
