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 a lot of variety this week with Fantastic Four and Blade from Marvel, Halloween horror selections from IDW and Valiant, and a Jodorowsky sale from Humanoids.
You remember Jonathan Hickman? He’s the mastermind behind the current incarnation of X-Men, but that’s not his first rodeo at Marvel. The Marvel Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Sale is his run on Fantastic Four and FF, which was his first truly big assignment there and it’s on sale until Thursday (10/29). The short version: Hickman technically starts with the Dark Reign: Fantastic Four series, though most people count the beginning of the run as his first issue of the “regular” Fantastic Four series. Fantastic Four ends at issue #588. The comic then turns into FF (Future Foundation) for 12 issues, at which point Fantastic Four returns with #600 and both titles run side by side for the rest of his run. FF is firmly a part of the run. In many ways, Hickman is planting the seeds for his Avengers run and Secret Wars here. I’d say Secret Wars is more a Fantastic Four/Doctor Doom story than an Avengers, too. That Mr. Hickman does like to plan ahead. The roster of artists for these books includes Dale Eaglesham, Steve Epting and Nick Dragotta.
On the Halloween side of things, there’s the Valiant Horror Sale running until Monday (11/02). Truth be told, I think Valiant’s finest comic is the Britannia series of mini-series written by Peter Milligan and drawn by Juan Jose Ryp and Robert Gill. It’s the story of the first Roman “detectioner” (i.e. private detective) who walks away from near death experience a changed, possibly resurrected man, and finds himself coerced into service for Emperor Nero. One part historical fiction, one part hardboiled detective, one part mystic goings on in the night. It’s also a smart, well researched comic. There are three series: Britannia, Britannia: We Who Are About To Die, and Britannia: Lost Eagles of Rome. You can save even more money by getting the single issues on these. There’s more to the sale and Shadowman is satisfying, but Britannia gets the highest possible recommendation. If it sounds like your bag, give it a spin.
Since Halloween is nearing, let’s also look at the IDW Horror Sale. Oddly, this one ends on Thursday (10/29) — before Halloween. I guess they’re adding a trick to the treat? IDW’s first breakout comic was 30 Days of Night. A vampire comic by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith that’s a franchise in both comics and film. The original is on sale for $0.99. Bernie Wrightson at Halloween? Absolutely! He’s one of the great horror artists and Frankenstein Alive, Alive! with Steve Niles and Kelly Jones is on sale. There are a lot of X-Files comics at IDW, but I tend to lean towards X-Files Classics for a talent roster that includes the under-appreciated writers like Stefan Petrucha and John Rozum, plus much of it has art from a pre-Walking Dead Charlie Adlard.
Marvel even gets into the Halloween act with their Blade Sale, which runs through Sunday (10/25). While you might prefer the Daywalker’s more recent appearances, it’s also a great time to explore Tomb of Dracula, the series where Blade debuted. The primarily Marv Wolfman/Gene Colan series was one of the finest comics of the 1970s. That duo doesn’t start out on the book, so you need to give it until Marv’s been there a couple issues, but then an amazing journey begins. The Complete Collections are the best deal there.
In a slightly different direction, there’s the Humanoids Jodorowsky Sale through Monday (10/26). That Jodorowsky as in in Alejandro Jodorowsky, who’s also been know to make movies (and we wish his Dune was realized). Jodorowsky is consistently good and it’s $0.99 per volume, so it’s hard to go wrong anywhere on this sale. The obvious place to start with him is The Incal series he did with Moebius. If you like that, you can go forward with The Metabarons and The Technopriests or go in a different direction.
Other notable sales currently in effect that we’ve discussed previously:
The Image Graphic Novel Sale – Some quality books we haven’t mentioned yet: Seven to Eternity by Rick Remender and Jerome Opena is one of the best-looking comics out there right now. Very high standards all around for this dark fantasy quest. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples is still on hiatus, but is a rightfully acclaimed SF/F mashup about a family on the run. I suspect it reads even more current today than when it was written. The Fix is a very funny caper about corrupt cops who aren’t particularly good at being corrupt and a drug-sniffing dog by Nick Spenser and Steve Lieber.
Hulk: Planet Hulk TPB
