By Zack Quaintance — Coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend — that weekend of heavy eating and heavy shopping — the non-Big 2 comics offerings are a bit slim, which really narrows the focus of what we cover on this site. However! There are still plenty of good choices, and we’ve gotten together a list of our favorites, which as always you can browse below…enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for December 2, 2020

PICK OF THE WEEK
The Dreaming: Waking Hours #5
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Nick Robles
Colorist: Mat Lopes
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: DC Comics - Black Label
Price: $3.99
After his escape to the waking world went terribly awry, Ruin finds himself face to face with his creator, Dream…and Dream is not happy. Is there any force in this world that could stop him from unmaking his most unpredictable creation?
Why It’s Cool: The Dreaming Waking Hours has just been an utter joy, and here were get an arc finale of sorts, which brings together the excellent plot threads we’d been following and sets up a status quo for the excellent new characters at the heart of this story. As with the rest of this series, this issue is gorgeous, thanks of course to the creative team of artist Nick Robles and colorist Mat Lopes.
Buy It Digitally: The Dreaming: Waking Hours #5

Hellboy & the BPRD: Her Fatal Hour
Writer: Mike Mignola
Artist: Tiernen Trevallion
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Clem Robbins
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.99
Gone, but not forgotten! Years after Hellboy's ill-fated tangle with the Beast of Vargu, the Romani women who helped him need that debt repaid. Claimed by a demon in a romance gone wrong, the younger woman reaches out to Hellboy through the power of a familiar old puppet, and a supernatural confrontation full of magic and mayhem ensues! In a second short story, Hellboy goes head to head with a phantom who is looking for an object completely unknown to the living people the ghost is terrorizing. Master of horror Mike Mignola is joined by artist extraordinaire Tiernen Trevallion and award-winning colorist Dave Stewart to bring you the follow-up to smash Hellboy hit "The Beast of Vargu"!
Why It’s Cool: Any time a new Hellboy one shot hits stores, it’s a cause for excitement, but this one is especially interesting because it sees artist Tiernen Trevallion making his debut with the characters in the Mignolaverse.

Far Sector #9
Writer: N.K. Jemisin
Art & Color: Jamal Campbell
Lettering: Deron Bennet
Publisher: DC Comics - Young Animal
Price: $3.99
Jo’s investigation into the conspiracy at the heart of the City Enduring takes her to Platform Solid Ground, an alien farmland where most of the City’s food comes from. But what the headstrong Green Lantern discovers there shakes even her to the core as Far Sector’s thrilling threads of murder and machinations build to a fever pitch.
Why It’s Cool: There’s really no other superhero comic like Far Sector, from the scope of its high-concept and detailed approach to sci-fi, to the sheer excellence of its design work. This story is something entirely new and refreshing for the genre, and the pacing and excitement has only increased as the book has started to head toward its endgame, which is where we’re very much headed in this issue.
Buy It Digitally: Far Sector #9

Happy Hour #2
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Michael Montenat
Colorist: Felipe Sobreiro
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: AHOY Comics
Electric Funny Sticks! Bloodsucking Joy Leeches! The cuddly horrors of Puppy Treatment! These and other state-enforced "remedies" for unhappiness drive Jerry and Kim to escape the Readjustment Center in the world's most depressing clown car! Plus extra prose stories and illustrations.
Why It’s Cool: I absolutely loved the first issue of this book, which followed two protagonists in an institution within a world where society has essentially made it required to be happy all the time. There was a lot of interested and character-driven setup in the first issue, and now in Happy Hour #2, we get our plot sort of kicked off in earnest. And while I won’t give any of that away, I will say through this second issue, Happy Hour remains one of the most intriguing new comics of the year.

That Texas Blood #6
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Jacob Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
“A BROTHER’S CONSCIENCE,” Part Five
The “A BROTHER’S CONSCIENCE” storyline ENDS here! Broken, Randy takes “justice” into his own hands.
Why It’s Cool: Since That Texas Blood debuted, the book has been a stark and minimalistic study in rural crime storytelling, set against the sweeping and brutal backdrops of a West Texas County. It’s also been a tale of brothers and family, of roots and trying to escape. I won’t spoil anything that happens in this finale (what kind of terrible person would do something like that?), but I will say that it all goes to a place I guess I always suspected it might go, even if I badly hoped (for the sake of the characters) that it wouldn’t end up there. Great book from a pair of fast-rising creators.
Buy It Digitally: That Texas Blood #6

Others Receiving Votes

Backtrack #9
Batman #104
Daredevil #25
Fire Power #6
Heavy #3
Hellions #7
Red Atlantis #2
Vampire The Masquerade #5
Walking Dead Deluxe #4
X-Factor #5

New #1s and One-Shots

Batman/Catwoman #1
Civil War Marvels Snapshots #1
E-Ratic #1
Fantastic Four Road Trip One-Shot
Justice League: Endless Winter #1
King in Black #1
Knock Em Dead #1
Knull Marvel Tales #1
Lumberjanes: End of Summer #1
MODOK Head Games #1
Overwatch: Tracer-London Calling #1
Tales From the Dark Multiverse: Wonder Woman War of the Gods One-Shot
The Union #1

Trade Collections and Graphic Novels

Butcher of Paris TP
Coffin Bound Vol. 2 Dead God TP
Dune: The Graphic Novel Book 1 HC
Eternaut 1969 HC
Goon: Bunch of Old Crap, An Omnibus Vol. 3
Green Lantern Season Two Vol. 1 HC
Kill A Man GN
Wonder Woman: Dead Earth 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.