By Zack Quaintance — Another weekend of quarantine is upon us, with no new comic books in site for the indefinite future. Fortunately for digital comics readers, however, the sales on ComiXology this weekend are enticing and diverse. As we’re doing all through this odd period of crisis and social isolation, we’ve picked the Best ComiXology Sales for the weekend of April 10, with an eye toward curating a diverse list of stories and publishers.

Enjoy!

Best ComiXology Sales Weekend of April 10

The Bridge
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Main Artist: Sara DuVall
Publisher: Abrams Books
More than 130 years after its completion, the Brooklyn Bridge remains one of the most extraordinary landmarks and symbols of Brooklyn and New York City—and the story behind this architectural marvel is just as extraordinary. The Brooklyn Bridge was originally designed by John Augustus Roebling, but it was his son, Washington, and his daughter-in-law, Emily, who oversaw the bridge’s construction. As work on the bridge went on, Washington developed caisson disease, leaving him bedridden for the majority of the bridge’s 14-year construction. Washington’s wife, Emily Roebling, took his place running the work site, deftly assuming the role of chief engineer, supervising the project and overseeing the workers, contractors, a hostile press, and greedy city politicians—an unusual position for a woman to take on at the time. In this inspiring graphic novel, author Peter J. Tomasi and illustrator Sara Duvall show the building of the Brooklyn Bridge as it has never been seen before, and the marriage of the Roeblings—based on intellectual equality and mutual support—that made the construction of this iconic structure possible.
Why It’s Cool: Writer Peter J. Tomasi is best-known for his work as an editor and now a writer with DC Comics, but he recently put out a different sort of graphic novel that’s well-worth a look. The main character is not Superman or Batman, but rather the architectural marvel that is New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge. In this 200-plus page graphic novel — illustrated by Sara DuVall — the writer tells the story of the bridge’s history, the work that went into its design, and the way a sick architect’s wife stepped into oversee its construction as chief engineer, dealing as she did with workers, contractors, skeptical press, and greedy politicians. It’s a great work, one that should have much appeal for history buffs and fans of sequential art alike...oh, and it’s only $2.99 with this weekend’s sale!
Price: $2.99
Link: Click Here!

Clean Room, Complete Series
Writer: Gail Simone
Main Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt
Publisher: DC Comics - Vertigo
Journalist Chloe Pierce had no idea that her fiancé Philip's decision to pick up a book by enigmatic and compelling self-help guru Astrid Mueller would change her life forever-by ending his! Three months after reading Mueller's book, Philip had blown his brains out all over Chloe's new kitchen-and something in that book made him do it. Now, Chloe will stop at nothing as she attempts to infiltrate Mueller's clandestine organization to find the truth behind Philip's suicide and a "Clean Room" that she's heard whispers of-a place where your deepest fears are exposed and your worst moments revealed.
Why It’s Cool: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — if Clean Room had come out during a different era of Vertigo Comics, it would had enjoyed a 60-plus issue run and gone on to become yet another classic for the imprint. Unfortunately, by the time this book hit shops in late 2015, the market had vastly changed sun was already setting on the classic imprint. Still, this is an all-time great horror comic, and one that does a lot of things not seen elsewhere in the genre, combining alien invasion, body horror, and cultism into one of the most unique stories to hit comics in many decades. This is a must-read book, and you can get the entire series now for about $15.
Price: $5.09 per volume, or $15.27 for the complete series.
Link: Clean Room Vol. 1; Clean Room Vol. 2; and Clean Room Vol. 3.

Friendo, Vol. 1
Writer: Alex Paknadel
Main Artist: Martin Simmonds
Publisher: Vault Comics
Leo wasn't allowed toys as a kid, but now that he's all grown up he's going to take yours. He used to play by the rules, but then governments and corporations set fire to the rules and still expected him to behave. He probably would have if it hadn't been for his new friend Jerry. See, Jerry isn't human; he's a personalised marketing VR... and he's malfunctioning. Unhinged ultraviolence from Alex Paknadel (Incursion, Kino, Arcadia) and Martin Simmonds (Punks Not Dead). Collects issues #1-5.
Why It’s Cool: I read Friendo as it was coming out in 2018 and 2019, and dear readers? This is a book that has thoroughly burrowed into my brain. There’s just so much going on in Friendo and it’s all so smart and at times shocking. There’s commentary on society, on capitalism, on the personal struggle we all find ourselves trying to understand these days as we wage it. Friendo features an elusive and perfect mix of stunning grindcore horror imagery and poignant ideas, all set in a familiar near future. This is a great book for aspiring creators as well, reading as it does like a blueprint for how to keep a story grounded while also exploring the outer limits of imagination enabled by graphic sequential art. Here’s hoping for news of Friendo Vol. 2 when this whole crisis subsides!
Price: $4.99
Link: Click Here!

House of X / Powers of X
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Main Artists: Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Face the future — and fear the future — as superstar writer Jonathan Hickman (INFINITY, NEW AVENGERS, FANTASTIC FOUR) changes everything for the X-Men! In HOUSE OF X, Charles Xavier reveals his master plan for mutantkind — one that will bring mutants out of humankind’s shadow and into the light once more! Meanwhile, POWERS OF X reveals mutantkind’s secret history, changing the way you will look at every X-Men story before and after. But as Xavier sows the seeds of the past, the X-Men’s future blossoms into trouble for all of mutantdom. Stories intertwine on an epic scale as Jonathan Hickman reshapes the X-Men’s past, present and future!
Why It’s Cool: Simply put, this is the definitive X-Men comic of the past 18 years or so, evoking as it does the rich history of this franchise while establishing a new status quo that points the big ship in a fresh direction. I’ve written about this elsewhere, but the X-Men comics are the hottest thing at Marvel Comics right now, and the current storylines for the Dawn of X line of titles (all of which have early issues that are also on sale right now) all begin here! If you haven’t read the 12 issues bundled in this volume yet, now is a great time to do it for less than nine bucks
Price: $8.49
Link: Click Here!

The Twilight Children
Writer: Gilbert Hernandez
Main Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: DC Comics - Vertigo
No one knows what the mysterious glowing spheres are, or where they come from. The only thing that matters to the residents of the beachside village where the orbs manifest is what they do when they appear. They blind children and imbue them with psychic abilities. They destroy homes, and make entire families disappear. They attract scientists, government experts and secret agents, each with their own agenda. And they inflame small-town passions-secret lovers, simmering resentments-to a fever pitch. Now, they've brought Ela. Materializing on the beach just as mysteriously as one of the orbs, this beautiful woman says nothing, but seems to harbor unspeakable power. Will she help to save the town, or destroy it? Or is it Ela herself who is really in danger?
Why It’s Cool: You can make a case that no comic of the past decade has had a stronger creative hybrid than The Twilight Children, which is written by Gilbert Hernandez (Love and Rockets), Darwyn Cooke (New Frontier), and Dave Stewart (basically every Hellboy comic). More importantly, though, this is a haunting and romantic story, ethereal in the way it depicts a small town beset by mysterious orbs, blind children with psychic powers, and searing small town passions. With everything going on in the world, I can think of few better places to get lost right now than within a comic book like this one. It’s also one of the last completed projects from the all-time great Cooke, who has since passed away. RIP.
Price: $5.09
Link: Click Here!

And check out some great small press and Kickstarter comics available now!

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