By Zack Quaintance — The Top Comics to Buy for July 29, 2020 are a disparate and powerful bunch. The stories in this week’s crop of top recommendations range from a pair of major superhero debuts, to the return of one of the best Image Comics series to the finale of the very underrated Kill Lock from IDW Publishing. And! On top of all that, we get a new original graphic novel from one of the best teams in comics, with Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips releasing Pulp. In other words, there’s a lot going on this week and it’s great.

Enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for July 29, 2020

PICK OF THE WEEK
Black Magick #12
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Nicola Scott
Color Assists: Chiara Arena 
Letterer: Jodi Wynne
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Rowan Black is a cop. Rowan Black is also a witch. Throughout her life, she has struggled to keep these things separate. Now, the walls are beginning to crumble, and Rowan—alienated from her friends, under investigation on the job, and stalked by mysterious forces who are literally hell-bent on using Rowan’s power for their own benefit—is on the verge of crumbling with them. And if these combined forces don’t manage to destroy Rowan—she might just destroy herself first.
Why It’s Cool: If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times — writer Greg Rucka is the best in the industry at taking fantastical ideas and grounding them in a way that feels authentic and realistic. Be it Lazarus — a story that is literally about immortal assassins fighting with swords — or this returning series, Black Magick, which is about police officers who are actual witches. This book is perhaps the best and most rewarding slow burn in all of comics, and it also has some of the best art in the monthly market, courtesy of superstar talent Nicola Scott. The return of Black Magick feels like a massive event.
Buy It Digitally: Black Magick #12

Kill Lock #6
Writer/Artist: Livio Ramondelli
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Price: $3.99
The Kill Lock works. An individual, or a pair, you may be able to hide and survive. Four cannot. When the Artisan, the Kid, the Wraith, and the Laborer reach the end of their journey, doom seems certain, unless… If one dies... they all do.
Why It’s Cool: We’ve loved the Kill Lock since it first launched late last year, using a cast of disparate robotic characters to bring us a story that has more humanity than most books with flesh-based stars. Writer/artist Livio Ramondelli has brought forth a true auteurs vision throughout the run of this series, with a plot that feels as simple as it does complex, making it an easy book to get into and a rewarding book to put in the time needed to wrap your head around the entirety of what’s going on. In this finale — not to spoil anything — we get the full vision of the story from the start, and it’s one that is likely to blow readers away with the grandiosity of its character-driven vision.
Buy It Digitally: Kill Lock #6

That Texas Blood #2
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Jacob Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
“A BROTHER’S CONSCIENCE,” Part One. The first five-part story arc BEGINS HERE! Los Angeles-based writer Randy Terrill returns to his abandoned home of Ambrose County, Texas after the sudden and mysterious death of his brother Travis.
Why It’s Cool: We absolutely loved That Texas Blood #1, a spare and immersive look at the life and work of a small-town Texas Sheriff. That first issue was a contained story that essentially served as an introduction to the book’s characters and world. Now, in That Texas Blood #2, we get the start of the series’ first multi-part story arc, and it’s very very exciting indeed. Don’t miss out on That Texas Blood — this book is a massive indie comics hit just waiting to happen.
Buy It Digitally: That Texas Blood #2

Wonder Woman #759
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Mikel Janin
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
It’s a brand-new day for Wonder Woman! As Diana starts to pick up the pieces of her life following her battle with the Four Horsewomen and her run-in with the Phantom Stranger, Man’s World has become more complicated to navigate than ever before. It seems everyone has a take on who Wonder Woman should
be-some who look on her heroics with admiration, and some who lie in wait to seek revenge. A familiar threat is watching Diana’s every move, and now is the perfect time to strike…
Why It’s Cool: A new high-profile creative team for one of DC Comics’ vaunted lead trilogy — Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman — is always a noteworthy occurrence, and this issue marks the arrival of writer Mariko Tamaki (who just this weekend won the Eisner for BEST WRITER) to the world of Diana Prince. This would have all coincided with the release of a new Wonder Woman film, if not for the pandemic, but that aside, this level of talent coming to the book makes it a must-buy nonetheless.
Buy It Digitally: Wonder Woman #759

X-Factor #1
Writer: Leah Williams
Artist: David Baldeon
Colorist: Israel Silva
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
MUTANTS HAVE CONQUERED DEATH! By the grace of The Five, the resurrection protocols can bring back any fallen mutant. But such a huge enterprise isn’t without its problems and complications… When a mutant dies, X–Factor is there to investigate how and why to keep the rules of reincarnation. Writer Leah Williams (AMAZING MARY JANE, X–TREMISTS) and artist David Baldeón (DOMINO, WEB WARRIORS) take Northstar, Polaris, Prodigy, Eye-boy, Daken and Prestige into the world of murder and missing persons…
Why It’s Cool: Going into the pandemic, perhaps no franchise in comics had more momentum than the X-Men, which was in the process of parlaying one of the biggest superhero series in years (House of X/Powers of X) into a whole new line of X-Men comics. There’s a new foundational concept to Marvel’s Mutants — they can’t die due to a new system of revival — and this book runs directly at it, exploring the practicalities of the new status quo in very practical ways. Given all this, this title makes it feel like the momentum for the franchise is back on, and we’re so happy to feel the excitement again.
Buy It Digitally: X-Factor #1

Others Receiving Votes

• Archie #713

• Ash & Thorn #3

• Bleed Them Dry #2

• Cable #2

• Empyre #3

• Ghosted in LA #11

• Heathen #11

• Legion of Super-Heroes #7

• Plunge #5

• Spider-Man Noir #2

• Suicide Squad #7

• Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics #5

• White Ash #5

• X-Men #10

New #1s and One-Shots

• DC Cybernetic Summer Anthology

• Empyre: Captain America #1

• Empyre: Savage Avengers One-Shot

• Grit #1

• Hedra One-Shot

• Lost Soldiers #1

• X-Factor #1

Trade Paperbacks and Graphic Novels of Note

PICK OF THE WEEK
Pulp HC
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips
Colorist: Jacob Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $16.99
Max Winters, a pulp writer in 1930s New York, finds himself drawn into a story not unlike the tales he churns out at five cents a word—tales of a Wild West outlaw dispensing justice with a six-gun. But will Max be able to do the same when pursued by bank robbers, Nazi spies, and enemies from his past? One part thriller, one part meditation on a life of violence, PULP is unlike anything award-winning BRUBAKER & PHILLIPS have ever done before. This celebration of pulp fiction set in a world on the brink is another must-have hardcover from one of comics’ most acclaimed teams.
Why It’s Cool: A new work from the team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is always an event, and this one is perhaps more notable than others, seeing the frequent collaborators venture outside of their usual genre — crime — to attempt a Western, a genre that has played a crucial part in comics history but in the modern era remains largely unexplored. What better set of accomplished creators to take a run at it — both in terms of traditional genre trappings and in terms of Westerns function within the titular pulp medium — than Brubaker and Phillips? This is a must-read book, to be sure.
Buy It Digitally: Pulp HC

• Black Stars Above TP

• Cloven Book One HC (read our review!)

• Cuphead Vol. 1, Comics Capers & Curios TP

• Deathstroke RIP TP

• Ghostwriter HC (read our review!)

• Heart Attack Vol. 1, Against The Wall TP

• Houdini Handcuff King HC

• Retina GN

• Seeds and Stems: Megg and Mogg GN

• Silver Surfer: Parable TP New Printing

• Walking Dead: The Alien 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.