By Zack Quaintance — This week’s comics feel more robust than past offerings in some ways but clearly lagging in others. This is due to DC Comics coming out with its fullest slate of books since distribution resumed, while Marvel Comics new releases are regulated to online only. It is, however, a nice glimpse of half of what we can come to expect again by the end of this summer.

With all that in mind, let’s take a look at the Top Comics to Buy for June 17, 2020!

Top Comics to Buy for June 17, 2020

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
Canopus #3
Writer/Artist: Dave Chisholm
Publisher: Scout Comics
Price: $3.99
Fiery exploding skulls; super volcanic eruptions; interstellar travel; a mission gone horribly wrong; the ground turned to liquid; a miraculous launch; trapped half a mile beneath the surface of the planet and surrounded by otherworldly fire--the situation is looking dire for Helen and Arther as they attempt to blast their way back to the surface, Helen learns the truth behind the mission to Canopus amping up her urgency to return home.
Why It’s Cool: I have the benefit of having read all of Dave Chisholm’s sci-fi epic Canopus...and as such I can give this penultimate issue my heartiest recommendation. All of Chisholm’s work is striking — just on a surface panel-to-panel level — but trust me when I tell you the ambitions of this four-part story are huge, and Chisholm expertly pulls the whole thing off, making Canopus for my money one of the true must-read comics of 2020 so far.

Dark Nights: Death Metal #1
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Greg Capullo
Inker: Jonathan Glapion
Colorist: FCO Plascencia
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
Get ready for the earth-shattering encore! The legendary team behind Dark Nights: Metal and Batman: Last Knight on Earth take center stage and reunite for one last tour. When the Earth is enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, the Justice League is at the mercy of the Batman Who Laughs. Humanity struggles to survive in a hellish landscape twisted beyond recognition, while Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman have all been separated and fight to survive. Unleash the beast and let the head banging begin!
Why It’s Cool: Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 is the start of DC Comics big summer event, but more than that it is perhaps the start of the publisher making clear its intent for its line of mainstream superhero comic books looking toward the future. That is a conversation for a different space, and in the meantime we will simply note here that this seven-part story (complete with tangential tie-ins) sits at the intersection of many of the qualities that make superhero comics fun to escape into: it’s big, it’s bombastic, it’s bent on calling out specific parts of the genres long history, and it has meta touches with something to say about the nature of these stories.
Buy It: Click here!

Family Tree #6
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Phil Hester
Inker: Eric Gapstur
Colorist: Ryan Cody
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
The story of Darcy's infection with the horrific sylvan disease is finally revealed as, in the present, Grandpa Judd struggles in the grasp of the deadly Arborists.
Why It’s Cool: It seems weird to type this about a story that involves humanity seemingly evolving into trees, but through its first five issues or so, Family Tree has been an understated comic, keeping to a small scale its generational story about one family at the center of said evolution. The book did many things exceedingly well in its first volume, and now its starting to use the narrative ground it sowed, exploring in closer detail the family relationships that drive the story while not sacrificing any of the tension that has made this chase story so fun to follow. Plus, all of the creators involved here are veteran and highly-skilled in the craft.
Buy It: Click here!

Tartarus #3
Writer: Johnnie Christmas
Artist: Jack T. Cole
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Tilde and Klinzu face a new impossible foe-the most dangerous threat they've faced so far. When the smoke clears, not everyone will make it out alive. Includes a new installment of "LIFE," a backup story by STEPHANIE COOKE and MEGAN HUANG, exclusively in single issues.
Why It’s Cool: Speaking of high-concept sci-fi that continues to reward readers with big payoffs, up next on our list of must-read comics for this week is Tartarus, which powered by Jack T. Cole’s visionary and detailed artwork is turning into a true sci-fi odyssey with plenty of themes that tie into our present moment. This book is in every sense a treat for lovers of fine visual storytelling.
Buy It Here: Click here!

Wynd #1
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Michael Dialynas
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Price: $4.99
Magical heritage is punishable by death in Pipetown, so a young boy named Wynd must keep his true identity - and pointy ears - a secret from everyone, even if it means he'll never have the normal life he wants. But when his secret is threatened, Wynd will be forced to leave his home behind to embark on a dangerous quest that will put him at the heart of a royal conspiracy beyond his imagination. Now on the run with Oakley (his best friend), Thorn (the boy of his dreams), and Yorick (a literal prince!), Wynd will have to embrace the magic within himself if he wants to save them from the shocking dangers that await! Every issue of Wynd is oversized, featuring more than 40 story pages.
Why It’s Cool: Finally, BOOM! Studios launches another exciting new original comic this week, with James Tynion and Michael Dialynas’ breezy and over-sized fantasy romp, Wynd, which has hints of discussion about the other, LGBTQ relationships, and the difficult isolating natures of power structures and long-beholden responsibilities. Like all of the issues to come in this series, this book clocks in at a healthy 40-pages, but you’ll read it quickly as the narrative is made to soar right along.
Buy It Here: Click here!

Other Comics Receiving Votes

Birthright #44
Death-Defying Devil #5
Gideon Falls #22
Green Lantern Season 2 #4
Hawkman #24
Ludocrats #2
Man Who Effed Up Time #3
Metal Men #7
Moonshine #18
Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #3
Resistance #2
Strange Adventures #2
Superman #22
White Ash #4
Wonder Woman: Dead Earth #3

Recent / Upcoming Digital-Only Titles

2020: Ironheart #2
Ant-Man #5
Aquaman: Deep Dives #9
Batman: The Adventure Continues #6
Batman: Gotham Nights #9
Flash: Fastest Man Alive #9
Ghost-Spider #10
Lost on Planet Earth #3
Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #7
Swamp Thing: New Roots #7
Teen Titans Go! Booyah #4
Valkyrie: Jane Foster #10
Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace #6

New #1 Comics

A Man Among Ye #1
Dark Nights: Death Metal #1
Wynd #1

Trade Paperbacks and Graphic Novels

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
Panorama TP
Writer/Artist: Michel Fiffe
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $19.99
From the archives of Copra creator, Michel Fiffe, comes a body-horror romance of epic proportions. Panorama follows the adventures of teenage couple Kim & Augustus as they navigate their way through a shared, unwanted ability they can't control. Panorama blends chiaroscuro with a kinetic line that perfectly captures runaways trying to find love, define identity, and survive a metamorphosis unlike anything ever seen before.
Why It’s Cool: Michel Fiffe’s Copra series (now with Image) has been a must-read in these parts for sometime, which is why our trade/original graphic novel pick of the week is the body-horror romance story from Fiffe’s archives, Panorama. Fiffe is a powerful and talented cartoonist who takes big risks and creates work where the weight of comics tradition is evident, and everything he puts out is worthwhile. That all makes Panorama a very exciting prospect.
Buy It Now: Click here!

Against Hope TP
Best of Alex Toth and John Buscema’s Roy Rogers Comics HC
Cankor GN
Dancing After Ten HC
Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Vol. 3 Through Hell TP
Dawn of X Vol. 5
Dial H For Hero Vol. 2 New Heroes of Metropolis TP
Doomsday Clock Part 2 HC With Slipcase
EC Archives: War Against Crime Vol. 2 HC
Gideon Falls Vol. 4 The Pentoculus TP
Invisible Kingdom Vol. 2 Edge of Everything TP
Lab GN
Moonshine Vol. 3 Rue Le Jour TP
Neil Gaiman Library Edition Vol. 1 TP
Old Growth HC
Perramus The City and Oblivion HC
Star Wars Age of Rebellion HC
Tea Dragon Society TP
Tiananmen 1989 Our Shattered Hopes HC
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Big Squirrels Don’t Cry GN
You Brought Me The Ocean 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.