By Zack Quaintance — We’re deep in the middle of our Best of 2019 coverage, but we’re taking a quick break today to do one of our usual features, this specifically being the Top Comics to Buy for January 1. It’s a holiday, so there aren’t as many big books as one might expect to find on a typical Wednesday.

That said, there’s plenty to read this week, especially for fans of superhero comics. Thor gets a new creative team, our favorite noir artist Jorge Fornes returns to Daredevil, and the main X-Men title is undergoing what some associated writers have teased as an important tweak to the mutant world’s new status quo. As you’ll see in a second, however, it was some of the more nuanced and meta indie books that really caught our eye.

Enough! Let’s get to the list…

Top Comics to Buy for January 1, 2020

*PICK OF THE WEEK
*Olympia #2
Story: Tony and Curt Pires
Script: Curt Pires
Artist: Alex Diotto
Colorist: Dee Cunniffee
Letterer: Micah Meyers
Designer: Ryan Ferrier
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Elon scrambles to piece together Olympian's past and find a way to get him home. So he heads to the one place he knows he'll find answers: his local comic shop!
Why It’s Cool: Our committee (of one) has been thinking a lot about Olympia since the first issue of the book hit stores in late November, and we are just so glad that the next chapter is here. It’s early in this book’s run, but it is quickly showing itself to be the type of meta story steeped in comics nuance and historical themes that long-time fans of the medium should all be excited to absolutely devour. We know we are.

Daredevil #16
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jorge Fornes
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
The Devil of Hell's Kitchen returns! As Matt Murdock rekindles his alliance with Elektra, Kingpin plans to rekindle some alliances of his own...
Why It’s Cool: We didn’t read many new comics last week, what with the holiday and all, but we did have occasion to check out Marvel’s Incoming #1, a massive anthology of quick bits of stories that set up EVEN MORE stories to come from the publisher this year. Within that, our favorite part was easily the Daredevil and Elektra scenes drawn by noir crime comic artist extraordinaire, Jorge Fornes. And you know what? This week in the Daredevil main title, we’re getting another whole issue of Daredevil art from Fornes! It’s all very exciting, indeed.

Everything #5
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: I.N.J. Culbard
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.99
Shirley's battle with function and purpose takes a personal, devastating turn, while Eberhard's life crumbles away and Lori's restarts. Everyone's perspective has changed-but who's really in control of Holland, Michigan? In the unbelievable conclusion of arc one, the balance of everything has shifted . . . and there's no turning back.
Why It’s Cool: This bizarre and surreal comic has been an absolute highlight since it first launched five months ago. Now, we get a conclusion to an intriguing first story arc that provides a good many answers within a story that has given out few to date. This book is perplexing in the best possible way, giving the audience enough to orient them while using its mysteries to evoke thoughts of consumerism run rampant, real world economic struggles, and deep sweeping notions of control. There’s little else we could ask for from a comic, and it’s safe to say that for us this is a must-read book.

Ruby Falls #4
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artist: Flavia Biondi
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics - Berger Books
Price: $3.99
In the dramatic finale, Lara's cold case heats up as she nears the end of her fearless pursuit. But it's not just about answers anymore-lives are endangered, and a broken town must come together to heal its harrowing history. Will Lana and Blair save Clara before the river runs red?
Why It’s Cool: Speaking of stories that have been intriguing from the start, up next we have Ruby Falls, which like Everything is one of Dark Horse’s excellent Berger Books imprint titles. This issue provides a finale for a series that has used well-realized characters and intriguing generational themes to unfurl a murder mystery that speaks to changing small town social dynamics in a way we haven’t really seen done in comics, or any other storytelling medium for that matter. If you’ve been following this series from its start, there is every reason to be excited for this week’s finale. If you’re unfamiliar, get ready to love this one in trade.

X-Men #4
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Inker: Gerry Alanguilan
Colorist: Sunny Gho
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
The Krakoan leaders attend and economic forum to show the humans what real power looks like.
Why It’s Cool: Our committee (of one) has been looking forward to this issue since Marvel first unveiled the cover, which shows some of the principal leaders of the new mutant nation on Krakoa all gussied up and ready for Business (capital B intentional). Our excitement level rose even further when we heard one of the Dawn of X writers, Gerry Duggan, saying on the excellent Off Panel podcast that this issue was definitely one for fans to look out for. The way Duggan spoke of it, it sounded like we might be in for the sort of recontextualization or telegraphed swerve that made the House of X/Powers of X series one of our absolute favorite books of not only the summer, but all of 2019.

New #1s and One-Shots

Ducktales Faires and Scares #1
Hawkeye Freefall #1
I Can Sell You a Body #1
Star Wars #1
Tarot #1
Thor #1

Others Receiving Votes

Copra #4
Crone #3
Daredevil #16
Dial H For Hero #10
Doctor Doom #4
Dreaming #17
Flash #85
Grendel: Devil’s Odyssey #3
Justice League Dark #18
Killadelphia #2
Maradauers #5
Martian Manhunter #11
Ogres #2
Spider-Man Venom Double Trouble #3
Terrifics #23

See our past top comics to buy here, and check out our reviews archive here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.