By Zack Quaintance — On this week’s Top Comics to Buy for April 28, 2021, we’ve got what is maybe the purest batch of five comics we’ve had all year. The entries on today’s list just touch on so many of the different qualities that make me love comics, from paying homage to the long history of certain characters to being a free and wild skunkworks for new ideas. The only problem this week — as is often the case — is that there just isn’t enough space today to feature all the books we love, leading to some very difficult decisions…

Top Comics to Buy for April 28, 2021

PICK OF THE WEEK
Batman / Superman #17
Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Artist: Ivan Reis
Inker: Danny Miki
Colorist: Sabine Rich
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Publisher: DC Comics
In a world where Superman’s rocket never reached Earth, the Dark Knight and his sidekick discover a startling rift between dimensions. On the other side? A world where Martha Wayne survived, and Bruce never grew up to be Batman! Not only that, but a strange alien has emerged from the rift who’s faster than a locomotive and can leap tall buildings in a single bound...the Superman of Metropolis! When these worlds collide, the architects of this alternate history are revealed, and the only ones who can thwart their deadly experiments are the Batman and Superman of Earth-0! It’s a dynamic dual-world adventure!
Why It’s Cool: I’m probably going to write something directly about this this week or next, but I’ve been loving the new paired-down, simplified line (even if it is over-saturated with Batman). While some corners of that line are really well intertwined and cohesive, there are other corners that have embraced wild experimentation, with Batman / Superman being the book leading the way there. Through its first two issues, writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Ivan Reis (inked by Danny Miki) are really using the comics medium well, playing with form while drawing from the long histories of its two lead characters in interesting ways that also tap the DC multiverse. It’s a dream book for someone with big love for DC and its long history, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who fits that description.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Batman / Superman #17

Department of Truth #8
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Image Comics
Cole Turner thought he joined the right side of the war for the Truth. But now that he’s learning more about Lee Harvey Oswald’s tenure leading the Department, he’s not so sure. The answers Cole seeks are hidden behind a pair of unsolvable riddles: WHO is the Fictional Woman, and WHAT does she want from him? The second arc of the smash-hit THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH begins here!
Why It’s Cool: The Department of Truth is (officially) one of our favorite comics at Image, making it one of our favorite books in all of the direct market — and it just keeps getting better. After two (fantastic) issues with top-tier guests artists that explored some more specific facets of this book’s stellar foundational concept, we’re back with the main series artist and, as such, with the main narrative. And it’s full speed ahead. I just keep waiting for this book to not be excellent and engaging to the max, and it never lets up.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Department of Truth #8

Happy Hour #6
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Michael Montenat
Colorist: Felipe Sobreiro
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: AHOY Comics
Lachrymose last issue! In the near-future America where sadness is illegal, the odyssey of miserabilist fugitives Jerry and Kim comes to an off-beat end. Plus, forlorn fiction and dejected drawings in the AHOY manner.
Why It’s Cool: I’ve been pretty vocal about how much I’ve enjoyed this series from its very start, playing as it does with ideas around positive thinking. It’s just been such a delightful and absurd romp, driven as well by a set of great main characters whose drive to fight for being unhappy has actually found them love…and with it some happiness. This is just a relentlessly-clever comic, from its concept to its conflicts…and now it gets a finale with an end twist that is just perfect.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Happy Hour

Helm Greycastle #1
Writer: Henry Barajas
Artist: Rahmat M. Handoko
Colorist/Co-Creator: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: Gabriela Downie
Publisher: Image Comics
New Latinx fantasy by HENRY BARAJAS, author of the critically acclaimed LA VOZ DE M.A.Y.O.: TATA RAMBO! The last dragon prince has been abducted—kept prisoner by an unknown threat: AZTEC MEXICA! Helm Greycastle and his outsider comrades are here to save the prince—but are recruited by a resistance plotting to overthrow Montezuma. Will Greycastle help save the people of MEXICA...or rescue the dragon prince and flee?
BONUS! HELM GREYCASTLE #1 includes a Latinx one-shot RPG (5E compatible) written by TRISTAN J. TARWATER (Rolled & Told) and art by JEN VAUGHN.
Why It’s Cool: I’ve been so excited for this comic since I interviewed its writer, Henry Barajas, about it during its initial Kickstarter campaign. And now that I can tease it and talk about it to the wider comics-reading world, I can get specific about why I like this book so much. Essentially, it’s a fantastic blending of high fantasy tropes with one of the world’s most interesting and under-appreciated histories/mythos, that being Mexico and the Aztecs. It’s also really well executed by the creators involved, and if that were enough, it comes with a great RPG one-shot, a huge bonus for me because playing D&D has been a big pandemic-era addition to my hobby set.
Price: $4.99
Buy It Here: Helm Greycastle #1

I Breathed A Body #4
Writer: Zac Thompson
Artist: Andy MacDonald
Colorist: Triona Farrell
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: AfterShock Comics
A science fiction horror series about social media, big tech, and influencer culture.
More determined than ever, Anne risks her life and soul to perform a dangerous ritual that will change the world. So begins the final livestream, broadcast to every single one of Mylo’s 400 million subscribers: This is not a dream, not a dream, we’re using the bacterial cultures in your body as an electrical receiver. You must heed our next words very carefully...
Why It’s Cool: I’ve also written quite a bit about why I like this book, starting of course with the combination of two of my favorite creators, writer Zac Thompson and artist Andy MacDonald. Now that we’re four issues into it, I’m absolutely loving this comic. There’s just an extreme fearlessness to the way this book extrapolates and explores its ideas, and it’s gotten the story to some truly unpredictable places, all while keeping on its original themes around self, body, appearances, tech, and social media.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: I Breathed A Body #4

Others Receiving Votes

Abbott 1973 #4
Action Comics #1030
Batman Black and White #5
Beta Ray Bill #2
Bitter Root #12
Cable #10
Detective Comics #1035
Harley Quinn #2
Love and Rockets #10
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #25
New Mutants #17
Nuclear Family #3
Shadow Service #7
Usagi Yojimbo - Wanderer’s Road #6
U.S. Agent #5
Witchblood #2

New #1s and One-Shots

20 Fists #1
Cyberpunk 2077: You Have My Word #1
Dejah Thoris: Winter’s End #1
The Marvels #1
Modern Frankenstein #1
My Little Pony / Transformers - Friendship in Disguise II #1
Robin #1
Spider-Man: Curse of the Man-Thing #1
Summoner’s War Legacy #1

Graphic Novels and Trade Collections of Note

Beatnik Buenos Aires GN
Friend of the Devil: A Reckless Book HC
Immortal Hulk Vol. 3 HC
JLA: The Tower of Babel Deluxe Edition
Monsters HC by Barry Windsor-Smith
The Plot Vol. 2
Steve Canyon Vol. 11, 1967 - 1968 HC
Suicide Squad Bad Blood HC
Tartarus Vol. 2, Threading The Infinite TP
Trots and Bonnie HC
Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus HC
Vain Vol. 1 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.