Top Comics to Buy for August 31, 2022

This week’s list of the Top Comics to Buy for August 31, 2022, sees us navigating one of those odd fifth Wednesday, when the vast majority of releases come from the Big 2, and, in this week’s case, Marvel specifically. Fortunately, one of my favorite superhero comics right now (see the Ant-Man #2 blurb) has a new issue out this week. In addition, you can find the full set of weekly picks below…enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for August 31, 2022

Ant-Man #2
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Tom Reilly
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Jumping forward in time…the Marvel Universe has been infiltrated by shape-shifting Skrulls posing as allies. Little does anyone know that a SECRET INVASION is about to explode! But what does that have to do with this era’s Ant-Man, Eric O’Grady?! Eric must retrieve important data from Scott Lang’s helmet… The only problem is Scott Lang is dead! But what’s a little grave robbing to someone who’s irredeemable? The journey through Ant-Man’s history continues!
Why It’s Cool: Tom Reilly — who is colored wonderfully here by Jordie Bellaire — is a tremendous talent, making some of the best art in superhero comics in recent memory (if you haven’t read The Thing, do so ASAP), and he’s teaming here with Al Ewing, one of the most imaginative writers in superhero comics (you should also read Immortal Hulk, if you haven’t). It’s just two issues, but the result of their collaboration is a really great series so far, one that moves well, spans Marvel continuity, and is just overall a lot of fun, making it an easy choice for this list of Top Comics to Buy for August 31, 2022.
Price: $3.99

Forever Forward #1
Writer: Zack Kaplan
Artist: Arjuna Susini
Colorist: Brad Simpson
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Scout Comics
Sci-fi writer Zack Kaplan and artist Arjuna Susini take you on a sci-fi adventure like no other, one that imagines time traveling through “the future” as an Odyssey-style mythic journey home. When brilliant young scientist Dr. Lewis Moody accidentally launches himself, his secret longtime crush and three best friends 33 years into the future with his unproven quantum time machine, they find a mysterious message from their future selves: “The Only Way Back Is Forward.” Now, as they jump again and again through strange future times, will they one day find the technology to time-travel back, or are they doomed to hopelessly travel forward… forever?
Why It’s Cool: Time travel comics are tricky, but this one feels like one of the better and bolder attempts at one I’ve read in recent memory. It’s got a great set of characters, fantastic art, and a fun mystery hook in this first issue that really begs readers to come back and continue on with this series. Add to that fantastic pacing, and this is a very nice first issue.
Price: $4.99

Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country #5
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Lisandro Estherren
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: DC Comics – Black Label
When Madison Flynn first crossed paths with the Corinthian, and saw his true nature, she reacted with astonishment and wonder, not fear. Across all his lifetimes, she was one of the only living things to ever see him that way. And now she will learn what a terrible mistake that was.
Why It’s Cool: I have enjoyed Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country quite a bit since it launched, feeling as it does like a complex and worthy successor to its source material. Still, within that, I’ve felt like this book was holding something crucial back, that we didn’t have the full idea of what its narrative interests were and what it’s all about. Well, in this issue, that changes, and what it means is the best issue of the series yet, one that makes me excited to see what else this title has in store.
Price: $3.99

Star Wars: Obi-Wan #4
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Madibek Musabekov
Colorist: Sebastian Cheng
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
As the sandstorm overtakes his home, Obi-Wan has more time to reflect in – and on – the darkness.
He looks back on a time when he and Anakin Skywalker were pulled off the front lines of the Clone Wars to confront a lost soul from Kenobi’s wartime past.
Can the two Jedi bring a man back from the heart of darkness to which he has fallen?
Why It’s Cool: I’ve really enjoyed this series from the start, written as it is by Christopher Cantwell, whose work is always interesting and well-done. And this issue is just as strong as the rest of the book to date, building as it does on plot points that Cantwell and his collaborators put into play earlier in this run. But you can also just pick this one up and read it as a standalone, offering as it does a satisfying contained tale about the horrors of warfare, with a slight Star Wars-meets-Apocalypse Now vibe.
Price: $3.99

Superman: Warworld Apocalypse #1 (one-shot)
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artists: Brandon Peterson, Will Conrad, Max Raynor, and Miguel Mendoca
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: DC Comics
It has all led to this: the final battle between Superman and Mongul, and between the Authority and Mongul’s Unmade Champions! The identity of the hooded stranger has been revealed, uncovering a shocking betrayal that threatens to crush Superman’s rebellion forever! But as the fate of Warworld relies on Superman, the last chance to return his powers now lies with Natasha and John Henry Irons. From the visionary creative team of Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Brandon Peterson, and Will Conrad, empires fall and rise and the fourth world is reborn in this jaw-dropping final chapter!
Why It’s Cool: If you’ve been reading — and enjoying — this epic storyline so far (as I have), then get ready, because this oversized one-shot delivers what is essentially the Warworld finale, and it’s a satisfying finale at that. My pal Joe Grunenwald had a full review of this one leading the DC Round-Up.
Price: $7.99

Others Receiving Votes

• Agent of W.O.R.L.D.E. #2
• Blink #2
• Break Out #3
• House of Slaughter #8
• Iron Fist #5
• Jonses #5
• Moon Knight: Black, White, and Blood #4
• Robin #17
• Variants #3
• X-Force #31 (Judgement Day tie-in)

New #1s and One-Shots

• Amazing Fantasy #1000 (one-shot)
• DC Saved by the Belle Reeve #1 (one-shot)
• Flash 2022 Annual #1 (one-shot)
• Frank Miller Presents Ashcan Edition #1 (one-shot)
• Harley Quinn: The Animated Series – The Real Sidekicks of New Gotham Special #1 (one-shot)
• Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1 (one-shot)
• Power Rangers Unlimited: The Death Ranger #1 (one-shot)
• Star Trek: Picard – Stargazer #1
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Best of Baxter Stockman (one-shot)
• Thunderbolts – Marvel Tales #1 (one-shot)
• Thunderbolts #1
• Transformers Shattered Glass II #1

Trade Collections and Graphic Novels of Note

• Astro City Metrobook Vol. 2 TP
• Batman ’89 HC
• Batman’s Mystery Casebook TP
• Devil’s Reign Villains For Hire TP
• Devil’s Reign X-Men TP
• Joker Vol. 2 HC
• Newburn Vol. 1 TP
• Wrassle Castle Vol. 3 Put A Lyd On It TP