By Zack Quaintance — This is one of those Very Good comiXology Sales weekends, wherein perspective digital comics buys have a little bit of everything. There’s a touching and educational memoir, there’s compelling historical fiction in comics, there’s a classic X-Men story, and there’s Batman. What else could you possibly ask for?

Best comiXology Sales: Weekend of January 29, 2021

Batman Ego and Other Tales - Deluxe Edition
Creator: Darwyn Cooke
With: Paul Grist, Bill Wray, Tim Sale, Jeph Loeb, J Bone, Amanda Conner, and Jimmy Palmiotti
Publisher: DC Comics
A collection of pulse-pounding stories of the Dark Knight, Catwoman and more of Gotham’s finest. Featuring Darwyn Cooke’s unique visions of Batman and Catwoman, now available as a Deluxe Edition hardcover!
Why It’s Cool: For the best in-depth look at why this book is so good, please check out senior staff writer d. emerson eddy’s Classic Comic of the Week piece about this one. But if you’re into the whole brevity thing (man), I would direct your attention to this one excerpt that perhaps best sums it up — this book “…something that every Batman fan should read at least once. And hopefully come to love it and relish it as much as I do. It's an incredible start to Cooke's comics career and his work only ever got better and better with each offering.”
Price: $7.99
Buy It Digitally: Batman Ego

Butcher of Paris
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Dean Kotz
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
In 1944, as Swastikas flew over Paris, one of the most notorious and prolific serial killers in history turned the war-torn city into his personal hunting ground. Written by Stephanie Phillips (Descendent, Devil Within) with art by Dean Kotz (Mars Attacks), The Butcher of Paris is a historical, true-crime thriller about a killer wanted by both the Nazis and allied forces for the death of nearly two-hundred victims. Collects the five-issue miniseries.
Why It’s Cool: Can I interest you in a detective procedural that involves (the true story of…) hunting a serial killer in Nazi-occupied Paris during WWII, all told through excellent comics scripting and art? If so, Butcher of Paris just might be the perfect comic for you.
Price: $5.99
Buy It Digitally: The Butcher of Paris

New Mutants Demon Bear
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Bill Sienkiewicz
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The visionary talents of writer Chris Claremont and legendary illustrator Bill Sienkiewicz bring the Demon Bear that has haunted Danielle Moonstar's dreams to horrifying life! It took her parents, and now it has returned for Dani — and only the combined efforts of her fellow New Mutants can stop it from finishing the job! Sink your teeth into a true classic! Then, Dani's nightmare returns years later as San Francisco — and her new team X-Force, come under attack from a similarly unholy ursine!
Why It’s Cool: This story is an absolute classic, ranking as one of the best superheroes-meet-horror narratives of all time, and still (for my money) the quintessential New Mutants comic. With the New Mutants under such excellent care now with writer Vita Ayala and artist Rod Reis, there may be renewed interest in this squad (also, apparently there was a movie?), if that’s the case, folks would do well to check out this one.
Price: $5.99
Buy It Digitally: New Mutants - Demon Bear

Tales of Woodsman Pete
Writer/Artist: Lilli Carré
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
From Lilli Carre, one of the bright new faces in the indy comix scene -- Tales of Woodsman Pete is a collection of vignettes and stories about a solitary albeit gregarious woodsman with a loose grasp on his own personal history and that of the outside world. He forms relationships with his inanimate surroundings and muses to a dead audience, specifically his bear rug, Philippe. His own tales eventually become entangled with that of the legendary Paul Bunyan, and the two become indirectly intertwined, illuminating the discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the character within his stories. The lives of both Paul and Pete encounter such things as the questionable origin of an ocean and the desire for preservation of everything from a fallen bird to an overused expression that has strayed a stone's throw from its original meaning.
Why It’s Cool: Tales of Woodsman Pete was recommended as part of last year’s Quarantine Reading List by comics historian Jennifer DeRoss, who had this to say — “It is a peaceful, albeit melancholic, short read with an emotional resonance that lasts long after you put it down. Perfect for sitting in the sunlight wondering what it all means to be in the moment we find ourselves in.”
Price: $3.99
Buy It Digitally: Tales of Woodsman Pete

They Called Us Enemy Expanded Edition.jpg

They Called Us Enemy - Expanded Edition
Writers: George Takei, Justin Eisenger, and Steven Scott,
Artist: Harmony Becker
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
The New York Times bestselling graphic memoir from actor/author/activist George Takei returns in a deluxe edition with 16 pages of bonus material! Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his magnetic performances, sharp wit, and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in STAR TREK, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. THEY CALLED US ENEMY is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the terrors and small joys of childhood in the shadow of legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's tested faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future. What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? George Takei joins cowriters Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.
Why It’s Cool: They Called Us Enemy is a moving story that shows the heartrending dangers of an entire country giving into fear of the other during wartime, told through the lens of actor/activist George Takei’s own real-life experiences as a child in Japanese internment camps during WWII. There’s a deep sadness inherent to this story, but what I appreciate most about They Called Us Enemy was the way Takei’s telling kept defeatism at bay, often focusing on the faith and heroics displayed by his father within even the family’s darkest times. This should be a must-read for every American, especially given our current political climate.
Price: $6.49
Buy It Here: They Called Us Enemy - Expanded Edition

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