This week’s top comics to buy for March 11 mixes one of the most popular titles in comics with strong new #1s and a satisfying finale. Absolute Batman #18 leads the way, delivering yet another consequential chapter for one of the hottest-selling comic of the past decade, if not longer.
You can find all five of my top recommendations below, along with 10 other comics I enjoyed, plus the usual sets of new #1 and graphic novel release lists … enjoy!
Top Comics to Buy for March 11
A Quiet Place – Storm Warning #1
Writer/Layouts: Phil Hester
Finishes/Inks: Ryan Kelly
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Nathan Widick
Publisher: IDW Publishing
The creatures came for the cities first. But in Pearl, Iowa — a tiny island town on the Mississippi — the mayor and townsfolk believe that’s someone else’s problem. Cut off from the chaos of the coasts, they think they can ride out the storm. But fire chief Lonnie Fry knows better. The creatures that hunt by sound are coming west, and unless the people of Pearl take drastic action, silence won’t save them — it’ll bury them.
Why It’s Cool: A Quiet Place comes to comics, courtesy of a pair of my favorite creators in Phil Hester and Ryan Kelly. And the results are great, mixing the monster horror of the movie with a contentious smalltown feud backstory. It’s not easy to replicate the sound-based tension of the movie, but this comic does a great job of it.
Price: $4.99
Absolute Batman #18
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Eric Canete
Colorist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
After the explosive reveal ending last issue, and Batman continues to fight Poison Ivy’s mutated monsters and winds up uncovering an even more gruesome horror that has embedded itself in the city’s very foundations. All while the Joker’s machinations start to coalesce in a partnership with a new ally.
Why It’s Cool: This issue, simply put, has more plot in it than most superhero arcs. There’s essentially multiple plotlines unfolding at once throughout, all of which move forward the book’s status quos in interesting ways.
Price: $4.99
Crownsville #5
Writer: Rodney Barnes
Artist: Elia Bonetti
Letterer: Marshall Dillon
Publisher: Oni Press
For nearly a century, Maryland’s Crownsville State Hospital has stood as a living testament to a dark chapter in America’s past… a segregated mental institution where Black patients were routinely subjected to abuse, neglect, unethical medical testing, and even secret government experimentation, before its doors were closed forever. But the past doesn’t always stay in the past. The ghastly and horrific secrets shuttered away at the abandoned institution have returned from the grave to seek justice for the horrors inflicted upon them. With their pasts intertwined in the history of the hospital, Detective Mike Simms and journalist Paul Blair bear witness in this stunning conclusion as the spirits of Crownsville who cannot find rest instead seek retribution!
Why It’s Cool: Crownsville has been a strong, scary, and layered comic throughout its run, and now it comes to an end. And it’s a great end at that, delivering a satisfying resolution while also leaving things in a way it can (and should) be continued.
Price: $4.99
Exorcism at Buckingham Palace #1
Writer: Hannah Rose May
Artist: Kelsey Ramsay
Colorist: Heather Breckel
Letterer: Jodie Troutman
Publisher: IDW Publishing
It’s 5:00 a.m. at 10 Downing Street. The prime minister gets a call that bolts him upright out of bed: The royal family has been lost at sea. Parliament and Buckingham Palace explode with action in the aftermath. Some suspect the prince and his wife, the princess, were attacked. Others whisper their tragedy was the result of a long-standing family curse…
Why It’s Cool: On the heels of now-finished miniseries, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, writer Hannah Rose May is back for Exorcism at Buckingham Palace, teaming this time with artist Kelsey Ramsay. The first book was great, and if this launch issue is any indication, this one will be great, too. It’s the same concept, with a new setting and characters.
Price: $4.99
Tigress Island #1
Writer:Patrick Kindlon
Artist/Letterer: EPHK
Publisher: Image Comics
A group of down-on-their-luck actresses are kidnapped to an island prison run by a sadistic female warden. Working together is their only chance of escape, but trust issues abound! Action-adventure inspired by exploitation films. Ridiculously fun. Seriously sexy.
Why It’s Cool: I wrote an advanced review of this one a while back, which is just another step in artist EPHK’s ongoing comics breakout. It’s a great, exploitation film homage of an action comic, and I’m excited to see the rest of this story.
Price: $3.99
10 Other Comics I Enjoyed This Week
Bleeding Hearts #2- D’Orc #2
- Godzilla vs. America: Godzilla vs. Portland #1
- Green Lantern Corps #14
- High Strangeness #5
- No Place #4
- The Season’s #9
- Sirens – Love Hurts #2
- Supergirl #11
- Usagi Yojimbo – Kaito ’84
New #1s and One-Shots
51 #1- Alias Red Band #1
- Dick Tracy – St Patrick’s Day Special #1 (one-shot)
- Godzilla vs. America: Godzilla vs. Portland #1 (one-shot)
- Imperial Guardians #1
- The Other/Half #1
- Spider-Man: Meals to Astonish #1 (one-shot)
- Tigress Island #1
- Usagi Yojimbo – Kaito ’84 #1
- X-Men United #1
Graphic Novels and Trade Collections
Avengers No Surrender – No Road Home Omnibus HC- Batman / Superman World’s Finest Vol 8 20,000 Leagues HC/TP
- Benjamin HC
- Catwoman – The New 52 Omnibus Vol 1 HC
- Creepy Archives Vol 13 TP
- Dark Knights of Steel Allwinter TP
- David Dastmalchian’s Through HC
- DC Finest – Flash The Fastest Man Dead TP
- End League Complete Collection TP
- The Ends TP
- Fantastic Four Vol 1 Save Everyone TP
Flinch – The Complete Collection TP- Flow TP
- Frankie and the Curious Cocoon Quest HC
- Gatchaman Deluxe Edition HC
- Godzilla Library Collection Vol 6 TP
- Godzilla Vs America: Godzilla Vs Boston HC
- Godzilla Vs America: Godzilla Vs Chicago HC
- Godzilla Vs America: Godzilla Vs Kansas City HC
- Godzilla Vs America: Godzilla Vs Los Angeles HC
- Green Lantern – The Sinestro Corps War Compendium TP
- It Killed Everyone But Me TP
- Locas The Maggie and Hopey Stories TP
Metadoggoz HC (read our review!)- New Avengers Vol 1 Killuminati TP
- Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos Library Edition Vol 1 HC
- Ogrest Vol 5 TP
- Punisher Epic Collection Vol 8 Survival TP
- Punisher Welcome Back Frank TP (Marvel Premier Collection)
- Radiant Black Massive Edition Book 2 HC
- Red Hulk Vol 2 Mission Latveria TP
- Return to Skull Island Vol 1 TP
- Stephen McCraine’s Space Boy Vol 23 TP
- Stranger Things Tales From Hawkins 2 TP
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol 2 NYC vs TMNT TP
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Saturday Morning Adventures Vol 7 TP
- Toxic Avenger Vol 2 Love and Blight TP
Read past editions of the Top Comics to Buy!
And check out the Beat’s most recent comics reviews!
