By Zack Quaintance — Our Top Comics to Buy committee (of one) doesn’t typically go in for debut issues on this list. It’s hard to get a good sense of whether a series is really worth reading from just a debut alone. So, we like to sit back and give it an issue or two before we give it the august honor (super important) of appearing on this list. All of that is to say it really speaks to how much we liked Tartarus and Undone By Blood, both of which have debut issues appearing on this week’s list.

Those, of course, are not the only titles to make the list, and you can find the rest below. Enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for February 12, 2020

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
Terrifics #25
Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Ivan Plascencia
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
Choose your fate, choose your action, choose your destiny! In this special extra-sized 25th issue, Michael Holt has dis-covered a deadly hidden enemy, and only a series of life-or-death simulations can bring the threat to the forefront! But when Mr. Terrific lies to his team, how can they trust him again? Don't miss this epic multi-path journey that puts you, the reader, in charge of the story! Pick your ending, but choose wisely! The Terrifics team hangs in the balance!
Why It’s Cool: I’ll be blunt — I was concerned about this comic surviving a transition from writer Jeff Lemire to writer Gene Luen Yang. I’m a huge fan of both, but such hand-offs are always tricky business, often foreshadowing a coming cancellation. That concern, thankfully, has proven unfounded. The Terrifics has remained one of DC Comics weirdest and most unlikely regular series, succeeding with a great mix of interesting deep cut DC characters and fun storytelling concepts. This one is definitely a fun experiment in storytelling, one that hems along the lines of those old Choose Your Own Adventure novels from grade school. Oh, and all of it is illustrated by Dan Mora, who is just a massive talent and turns in impeccably clean linework throughout here. Even if you’re not reading this series, or don’t especially like superheroes, this issue is still worth picking up.

The Clock #2
Writer: Mat Hawkins
Artist: Colleen Doran
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Publisher: Image Comics / Top Cow
Price: $3.99
When aggressive cancer begins spreading through humanity like a virus, one scientist will sacrifice anything for answers. Is it a global eugenics conspiracy? The beginning of World War III? And can he get to the bottom of it before it takes what's left of his family?
Why It’s Cool: As I wrote in the debut issue of this series last month, this is a very strong hard sci-fi comic series that draws from an impressive amount of real-world research, wrapping that up here with international thriller elements as well as a deep family drama. In this second issue, we get plot points that push along both of those ideas, creating a chapter that is suspenseful and deeply sad at the same time. In fact, I hardly remember feeling so devastated for an individual character this quickly into a story. This is a singular comic, and one I highly recommend.

Tartarus #1
Writer: Johnnie Christmas
Artist: Jack T. Cole
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $5.99
SERIES PREMIERE! A new adventure series with all the sci-fi drama of Breaking Bad set in Mos Eisley! Promising young cadet Tilde is framed for crimes against the empire after discovering her mother was the ruthless warlord of the deadly colony Tartarus, a vital player in the galactic war. Now, Tilde's only way home may be to reclaim her mother's dark crown. #1 New York Times bestseller JOHNNIE CHRISTMAS (Alien 3) and artistic phenom JACK T. COLE (The Unsound) kick off this ongoing series with 44 big pages of story!Why It’s Cool: I wrote a full advanced review of this issue earlier this year (see below), so I’m just going to go ahead and quote the summary line from that…“Tartarus #1 is a powerhouse of a debut comic, one that feels immersive both in terms of its artwork and the power of its themes. This comic is entertaining at the highest level while also conveying deep potential for twists, surprises, and grand meaning to come. Buy this book.” Hear me? BUY IT!
FULL REVIEW

Undone By Blood Or Shadow Of A Wanted Man #1
Writer: Lonnie Nadler & Zac Thompson
Artist: Sami Kivela
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: AfterShock Comics
Price: $4.99
In the early 1970s, Ethel Grady Lane returns to her hometown of Sweetheart, Arizona with one thing on her mind: killing the man who murdered her family. But first, she'll have to find him. As Ethel navigates the eccentric town and its inhabitants, she learns that the quaint veneer hides a brewing darkness. She has no choice but to descend into a ring of depravity and violence, with her only ally an Old West novel that follows famed gunslinger Solomon Eaton. As both stories unfold simultaneously, a love of fiction informs choices in reality, for better or worse. From the minds of Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson (The Dregs, X-Men, HER INFERNAL DESCENT) and artist Sami Kivela (Abbot, Tommy Gun Wizards) comes a neo-western that depicts the hard truth of seeking vengeance in the real world.
Why It’s Cool: “There’s a bit of Tarantino, a bit of Cormac McCarthy, and a bit of Charlie Kaufman in this debut comic from a group of rising creators, and it all adds up to a very compelling first issue.” That’s what I wrote in my advanced review of this book however many weeks ago, and so I’m doubling down on it again now. This is a great comic, one of the best debuts so far in this young year (along with Tartarus...see above), and I can’t recommend it enough.
FULL REVIEW

X-Men #6
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Matteo Buffagni
Colorist: Sunny Gho
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Mystique goes to extraordinary lengths to get what she wants...
Why It’s Cool: I have been liking the new X-Men flagship title a lot since the Dawn of X relaunch, delivering as it does a satisfying one-off story (each more different than the last) that ties into the new franchise status quo, some more directly than others. Mystique, a character boosted to greater mainstream prominence by the X-Men film franchise, has not yet had a prominent role on Krakoa within this new peaceful (relatively) mutant future, so it will be interesting to see what she’s up to in this issue. What, in other words, exactly does she want, as the solicit text asks?

New #1s and One-Shots

Alienated #1
Batman Pennyworth RIP #1
Blackwood: Mourning After #1
Green Lantern Season 2 #1
Gwen Stacy #1
Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #1
Marvel Action Spider-Man Vol 2 #1
Napoleon Dynamite Valentine’s Day Special One-Shot
Nebula #1
Spirits of Ghost Rider: Mother of Demons #1
Star Trek Year Five Valentine’s Day Special One-Shot
Superman: Heroes #1
Transformers Valentine’s Day Special One-Shot

Others Receiving Votes

20XX #3
Batman’s Grave #5
Dollhouse Family #4
Dragonfly and Dragonfly Man #4
Hawkman #21
Immortal Hulk #31
Iron Man 2020 #2
Ghosted in LA #8
James Bond #3
Rai #4
SFSX (Safe Sex) #6
Superman #20
Thor #3
Wonder Woman #751
X-Force #7

Astronauts Women on the Final Frontier HC.jpg

Trades and OGNs of Interest

Animal Man By Grant Morrison Book 1 TP
Astronauts Women on the Final Frontier HC
Blackhawk Blood & Iron HC
Cryptoid HC
Daredevil By Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus Vol 2 HC
Dawn of X Vol 1 TP
Dreadful Ed and Mary Scary HC
Hulk The End TP New Printing
Justice League Corporate Maneuvers TP
Lab Raider Vol 1 TP
Loud GN
Maus 40th Anniversary Boxed Set
She Said Destroy TP
Snapdragon HC & TP
Wonder Woman By George Perez Vol 4 TP
Zatana and the House of Secrets TP

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.