By Zack Quaintance — This first month of the year has felt subdued compared to the packed final month of last year, but that’s been a good thing, giving some truly excellent creator-owned titles a chance to remind us just how nice this current age of comics is. That’s certainly what we get this month, with strong entries from Vault and Image filling out the entirety of our top five with the exception of one spot.

Let’s check out our list!

Top Comics to Buy for January 8, 2020

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
The Plot #4
Writer: Tim Daniel & Michael Moreci
Artist: Joshua Hixson
Colorist: Jordan Boyd
Letterer: Jimp Campbell
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
The cold, ashen hands of what once was reach into the now... and give a little push.
Why It’s Cool: I’ve loved this comic since its stellar first issue, but this chapter ranks as its best yet. This comic is a great example of how to pace suspenseful installment-based storytelling, and artist Joshua Hixson puts on a class on how to draw imagery so eerie that compensates for comics inability to set a spooky tone with ambient music. Not to go into spoiler territory here, but this issue also provides more answers and seeds revelations in ways that the previous installments have only sort of grazed, if even coming that close. If you’re one of the many many people on comics Twitter enjoying this one, you should be very excited for Wednesday.

Ascender #8
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Dustin Nguyen
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
"THE DEAD SEA," Part ThreeThe Vamps may rule this strange new universe but that won't save them from Kanto, The Blood Scrapper-the most badass vampire hunter in the galaxy!
Why It’s Cool: After 30-some issues of fairly hard sci-fi that was much closer to something like Star Trek than something more fantastical like Star Wars, the astronaut gloves are off (wait, what?). This story (with its new title) has now entered a territory where the creative team is free to embrace so many different elements of fantasy storytelling, from dragons to vampires to magic. In this issue, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen really show us exactly what that means for our characters and how it can quickly add up to wild plot twists and one hell of an entertaining story. Ascender has been an interesting book to me, in that there has been a fast build, with each new issue feeling more comfortable with the changed world it operates within. I continue to highly recommend it.

Dollhouse Family #3
Writer: M.R. Carey
Layouts: Peter Gross
Finishes: Vince Locke
Colorist: Cris Peter
Letterer: Todd Klein
Publisher: DC Comics - Black Label - Hill House
Price: $3.99
Childhood ends. Children grow up. And young Alice is now a mother herself, raising her daughter alone in 1990s London. But the Dollhouse has never forgotten the promise that she made. The Dollhouse knows where she's gone. And so does Jenny, the ghost of the girl who died in her orphanage...
Why It’s Cool: Make no mistake, I have been loving the entire Hill House line, which has been just an absolutely stellar new imprint from DC Comics, one that has really helped soothe the loss of Vertigo because so many of these books fit right in with that label’s history. One of my favorite of the Hill House books is this one, Dollhouse Family, which has sped through plot, time and subject matter with a reckless abandon not often seen in today’s comics market, where most stories are told at a slower pace while seeming to await an inevitable trade. I had a feeling while reading Dollhouse Family #3 that the story could go anywhere, that it had no fear of overwhelming the audience with too much, and that it the creative team was entirely in control of all that was happening. That’s a great feeling to have as a reader.

Pretty Deadly - The Rat #5
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Emma Rios
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
MINISERIES FINALE
Clara speaks.
The finale issue of "The Rat" story arc-set in the classic Golden Age of Hollywood-and the newest installment in the popular mythic fantasy series.
"The Rat" is the midway point in the PRETTY DEADLY series, with upcoming volumes including the fourth story arc, "The Butterfly," which will look backward to reveal Alice's origins, and the fifth story arc, which will push the series to its conclusion in the Great Depression.
Why It’s Cool: Pretty Deadly - The Rat, like other volumes of Pretty Deadly, has just been a gorgeous ethereal story from its start, with a mythological framing device that lends itself to grand poetic prose flourishes and some of the best artwork in all of comics. This issue definitely leans into the elemental side of the world created in these pages, creating a dark fever dream of a story that feels heavy with equal parts darkness and hope, all of which adds up to a wave of meaning that comes over the reader and gives additional weight to the four issues that came before this one. If you haven’t been reading this book monthly, you’ll want to do yourself a favor and make a note to pick up the forthcoming trade.

Relics of Youth #4
Writer: Matt Nicholas & Chad Rebmann
Artist: Skylar Patridge
Colorist: Vladimir Popov
Letterer: Andworld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Is it all over? Serena's forces have laid claim to the Fountain of Youth, as Nat confronts the reality of Derek's terminal cancer. With Queen Adela launching a last bid assault on the pirate intruders, Nat and the other teenagers are faced with a choice: Leave one of their own to die, or embrace their destiny and protect the Oshtia Island from the true nature of man.
Why It’s Cool: Relics of Youth has been fantastic from its start, and in the finale of this first arc, it really delivers on all the storytelling potential that’s been inherent since its debut. The story in these pages is in the grand tradition of teen adventure movies and TV that most of us have been consuming regularly throughout our lives. There’s a plucky group of somewhat mismatched kids, each with their own distinct personalities and strengths/flaws. There’s a shady group of adults out to stymie them, and there’s a big reward/macguffin at the center of it all (one that in this case ties into long-time global mythos). At the same time, the creators do an expert job of making this story feel very much our exact moment, with diversity of characters, the goals of the bad guys, and even the notoriously-hard-to-write teen dialogue. If you’re looking for an exciting teen adventure comic that satisfies on every level, look no further than Relics of Youth.

New #1s and One-Shots

The Clock #1
Daphne Byrne #1
Doctor Who 13th Doctor Season 2 #1
Firefly Outlaw Ma Reynolds #1
Marvels X #1
Miles Morales: The End One-Shot
Ruins of Ravencroft: Carnage One-Shot
Star #1
Stranger Things: Into the Fire #1
White Ash #1

Others Receiving Votes

Archie 1955 #4
Batman #86
Butcher of Paris #2
Dying is Easy #2
Excalibur #5
Gideon Falls #20
Immortal Hulk #29
Moonshine #15
Morbius #3
New Mutants #5
Oblivion Song #23
Strange Skies Over East Berlin #4
Trees: Three Fates #5
X-Force #5
Young Justice #12

Trades and OGNs of Interest

Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams HC
Captain Marvel Vol. 2 - Falling Star
Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus Vol. 1 HC New Printing
The Dreaming Vol. 2
Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Five Complete Collection
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Tempest HC

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.