By Zack Quaintance — Once again with the Top Comics to Buy for April 27, 2022 list, I face a set of difficult choices as I work to narrow my list down to a top five. This, of course, is a good problem to have, meaning I’m enjoying more books. Still, it always leaves me with a pang of regret that I have to stick to my (arbitrary!) set of five choices.

I think the hardest cut for me this week was Saga #58, which I dropped because Saga doesn’t make its issues available to reviewers ahead of day of release. So, I haven’t read it yet, although my excitement does remain high, because I’ve been loving this new arc. The list of tough cuts just continued from there: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Last Ronin #5 (I’m behind on that series), Step By Bloody Step #3, and Amazing Spider-Man #1 (with that good good JRJR art).

Anyway. Check out the full list of the Top Comics to Buy for April 27, 2022 below…and enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for April 27, 2022

PICK OF THE WEEK
Ghost Cage #2
Writers: Caleb Goellner & Nick Dragotta
Artist: Nick Dragotta
Letterer/Designer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics
SECRETS REVEALED! As they face a second wave of elemental nightmares, our phantom-forged heroes confront their sword-wielding assailant, learn more about their mission, and face a truth shocking enough to reanimate a graveyard! Get in on the limited series that's surging up the charts while you still can!
Why It’s Cool: Holy cow is this a good comic. I know that doesn’t tell you much, but that’s my knee-jerk reaction to the second (of three total) issue in this series. It’s funny, it’s clever, it draws from a vibrant and eclectic set of influences to deliver top-tier art. There’s really nothing like this one anywhere else out there, and I mean that in the best possible way.
Price: $5.99
Buy It Here: Digital

The British Paranormal Society: Time Out of Mind #1
Created By: Mike Mignola
Story By: Chris Roberson
Art By: Andrea Mutti
Colors By: Lee Loughridge
Letters By: Clem Robins
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
British Paranormal Society members Simon Bruttenholm and Honora Grant arrive at Noxton together, but with separate goals: Honora hopes to uncover information on the town's strange traditions, while Simon is searching for his missing assistant. But their separate investigations lead down the same twisted path that hides a dark secret behind Noxton's innocent façade! Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson expand the Hellboy universe with a spooky new tale featuring art by Andrea Mutti with colors by Quinton Winter.
Why It’s Cool: One of the (many) things I love about the Hellboy Universe is the versatility. This month alone, for example, Hellboy Universe comics have already served up Hellboy unraveling monster sightings years ago in Great Britain, as well as the backstory around a haunted (and very powerful) sword. Now, this new series is serving up a classic ghost hunter story set in 1910, one that is also steeped in continuity from other Hellboy books, none more so than Witchfinder. That’s all well and good, but this one happens to also be well-executed, a great start to this miniseries.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Digital

Justice League #75 - Death of Justice League
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Pencils: Rafa Sandoval
Inks: Jordi Taragona
Colors: Matt Herms
Letters: Josh Reed
Publisher: DC Comics
Oversize special issue! Superstar writer Joshua Williamson pens the beginning of the next big DCU event! It all starts here! A new Dark Army made up of the DCU's greatest villains has formed on the edges of the Multiverse! The DCU's best and most powerful heroes are pulled together in an epic war to push the darkness back! But in the end, they are no match for it! That's right, you heard it here first: the Justice League are killed by the Dark Army, with only one survivor to warn the remaining heroes of Earth about what is coming for them! FINAL ISSUE!
Why It’s Cool: We’re going to have a full review of this one upon release tomorrow, but I will say here that the art in this comic is especially excellent, nailing the gigantic bombast needed to make a big summer superhero event work — and this is definitely the start of a big summer superhero event, through and through. You can feel it on every page as the creative team lays the track for Dark Crisis.
Price: $6.99
Buy It Here: Digital / Physical

Newburn #6
Writer: Chip Zdarsky, with a back-up story by Casey Gilly
Artist: Jacob Phillips, with a back-up story by Soo Lee
Letterer: Jacob Phillips, with back-up story lettering by Toben Racicot
Publisher: Image Comics
Emily has been doing good work for Newburn and his gangland clients, but what drove her into their world?
PLUS: Ronnie takes matters into her own hands in "SPOOK-A-RAMA" from CASEY GILLY & SOO LEE!
Why It’s Cool: I’ve absolutely loved this comic, which follows a private investigator who works for the crime families in a city, all of whom respect his autonomy and role as a third party arbiter needed to ensure peace among their businesses. Our titular detective only appears briefly in this one, with just the back of his head visible in a single panel, but the book maintains the tone from all the previous issues, and sets up a really interesting set of plot points with new characters. Put it this way, when this one came to an end, I checked a couple times to make sure there weren’t more pages. It was that good.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Digital

Rogues #2
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Leomacs
Colorist: Matheus Lopes & Jason Wordie
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: DC Comics - Black Label
You might think you know Gorilla City, but you don't. Not a soul who has gone looking for the secret kingdom has ever returned. You'd think the Rogues would know better than to go searching...but they either don't know or just don't care. The down-on-their-luck ex-cons are back together for the heist of a lifetime, but every time Captain Cold thinks he's got things all figured out, the rug is pulled out from under him. And even if they make it to Gorilla City alive, they have a version of Gorilla Grodd unlike anything you've ever seen waiting for them... Continuing this groundbreaking neo-noir take on some of the DCU's greatest villains!
Why It’s Cool: This? Now this is the type of comic I envisioned when Black Label was first rolled out. It’s an alternate future story that features the Flash’s rogues gallery, reuniting 10-years after we typically see them in the DCU for one last heist — stealing Grodd’s gold reserves from Gorilla City. Not a single DC superhero has appeared in this book, and, really, the rogues themselves aren’t even super well-known by mainstream audiences — which to me makes this an excellent sort of risk for a prestige comics imprint to take. Combine that boldness of concept with a pitch-perfect execution from the entire creative team? And you get a series that is shaping up to be something special. Also, this issue has a ton of gorillas.
Price: $6.99
Buy It Here: Digital
Read our review of Rogues #1!

Others Receiving Votes

Action Comics #1042
Aquaman/Green Arrow - Deep Target #7
Dark Knights of Steel #6
Deathstroke Inc #8
Monstress #39
Robin #13
Sabretooth #3
Saga #58
Something Is Killing the Children #22
Step By Bloody Step #3
The Swamp Thing #12
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Last Ronin #5
Thor #24
Trial of the Amazons #2
We Have Demons #2

New #1s and One-Shots

Blood-Stained Teeth #1
GI Joe - Real American Hero - Cobraaaaa #1 (One-Shot)
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah #1 (One-Shot)
Hulk - Grand Design - Madness #1
Knights of X #1
Naughty List #1

Trade Collections and Graphic Novels of Note

Agents of SLAM TP
Batman Fear State Saga HC
Best Of John Wagners Judge Dredd HC
Brave New World HC
DC Pride 2021 HC
Decorum HC (read our review!)
Department of Truth, Vol. 3 - Free Country TP
Kisses For Jet A Coming-Of-Gender Story TP
Locke & Key The Golden Age HC
Meteor Men Expanded Edition TP
Orcs In Space Vol 2 TP
Retroactive TP
Thor Jason Aaron Omnibus Vol. 1 HC

Read more great graphic novel and comics reviews!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He has written about comics for The Beat and NPR Books, among others. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.