Top Comics to Buy for June 23, 2021
By Zack Quaintace — This week’s list of the Top Comics to Buy for June 23 is headlined by a pair of the strongest entries from one of my favorite indie comics publishers — Vault Comics. This isn’t unusual. Vault puts out a lot of great comics, but this pair — Blue Flame and Wasted Space — feel exemplary even within that. And with another monster hit on the way — the world is not ready for Barbaric #1 — it occurs to me that we might be seeing Vault level up yet again.
Anyway! On to the rest of the list…
Top Comics to Buy for June 23, 2021
PICK OF THE WEEK
Blue Flame #2
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Adam Gorham
Colorist: Kurt Michael Russell
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: Vault Comics
The Blue Flame digs deeper into the Tribunal Consensus as he weighs the decision of defending all of humanity before them... but wait, shooting victim Sam Brausam is in a coma in Milwaukee, and his estranged sister doesn’t know if he’ll wake up.
Why It’s Cool: I wrote in detail about why Blue Flame #1 was out first perfect 10/10 score of 2021, and now here I am naming Blue Flame #2 our PICK OF THE WEEK for the Top Comics to Buy for June 23, 2021. In other words, I like this book…a lot. It’s playing with reality, perception, and mixed narratives, operating on a really subtle and interesting level that doles out just enough information to orient and ground the reader without (yet) fully tipping its hand. I absolutely love this comic, and if you missed out on the first issue, I highly recommend grabbing both of the books to date this week.
Price: $3.99
More Info: Blue Flame #2
Black Hammer Reborn #1
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Caitlin Yarsky
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Jeff Lemire! The Eisner Award-winning superhero saga returns in this ongoing series picking up twenty years later with new series artist Caitlin Yarsky. Now, it's twenty years later, and Lucy, and the world, have moved on. Living in the suburbs of Spiral City, Lucy is married and has children. But all is not blissful. Her marriage is falling apart, her job has reached a dead end, and for mysterious reasons, she hasn't picked up the hammer in years. But, as her domestic life begins to crumble, the secrets of the last twenty years, and the reasons Lucy really gave up being Black Hammer, begin to resurface, threatening her family, and the peace she has tried hard to find for herself. A new chapter in the Eisner Award-winning Black Hammer series!
Why It’s Cool: Black Hammer was in kind of an odd space before this comic hit. The side series were going strong — both Barbalien and Skulldigger were excellent — but there was no more main, over-arching series. There was no narrative guiding this shared universe of tweaked homages masterminded by Jeff Lemire. This book changes that, restarting a new main Black Hammer title in a way that feels both familiar and new. Past that, it’s just a great all around read.
Price: $3.99
More Info: Black Hammer Reborn #1
Infinite Frontier #1
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Xermanic
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
Publisher: DC Comics
When our heroes saved the Muliverse from Perpetua in Dark Nights: Death Metal, everything was put back where it belonged...and we do mean everything. All the damage from all the Crises was undone, and heroes long thought gone returned from whatever exile they had been in. Most of them, at least. Alan Scott, the Green Lantern from the Justice Society of America, has noticed some of his allies are still missing in action, and he’s determined to find them. There are others, though, who would rather remain hidden than explain themselves, like Roy Harper, a.k.a. Arsenal, a man who should be dead but now is not. Plus, what does all this mean for the DCU’s place in the Multiverse? On opposite sides of a dimensional divide, both Barry Allen and President Superman ponder this question. Not to mention the Darkseid of it all! Or a team of Multiversal heroes called Justice Incarnate!
Why It’s Cool: Since DC Comics initiated a soft, rolling linewide refresh with Infinite Frontier #0, I have been digging most of the shared superhero universe comics that the publisher has been putting out. Now, a new Infinite Frontier miniseries looks to give the entire universe an overarching narrative, not quite to guide what’s happening in individual titles but simply to ensure that some of the plot pins thrown into the air continue to get juggled. In addition to that, this comic is also the DC multiverse shannanigans book that I’ve been calling for…forever.
Price: $4.99
More Info: Infinite Frontier #1
Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #4
Writer: Chris Samnee and Laura Samnee
Artist: Chris Samnee
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Crank!
Publisher: Oni Press
Sisters Rainbow (the bookish one) and Jonna (the bafflingly strong and near-invulnerable one) have been wandering the barren, monster-infested no man's land looking for their missing father for what seems like forever. Mysterious warriors Gor and Nomi—who they met last issue—have given them shelter and the hope of community, but when their hidden camp is attacked by a giant beast, Gor and Nomi show the girls a thing or two about fighting monsters! Or is it Jonna who has some lessons to teach?
Why It’s Cool: In this issue, Chris Samnee — colored by Matthew Wilson — reminds us that he is one of (if not the) best action storytellers in all of comics. Like most of this book so far, Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #4 features fantastic giant monster fighting action, with just enough narrative string to give the whole affair an air of intrigue with some stellar forward momentum. Don’t miss this book.
Price: $3.99
More Info: Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #4
Wasted Space #21
Writer: Michael Moreci
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Vault Comics
This is it! The beginning of the end. With only five more issues to go, one question looms over this groundbreaking series: How many more dick jokes can they squeeze in? Oh, and, also, will Billy kill the Creator at last? Read the issues and find out!
Why It’s Cool: One of the first comics that I ever reviewed for this very website was Wasted Space #1, back before this site even regularly did reviews (I believe it was our second ever review, behind Gideon Falls #1, but I digress…), and I bring that up as a means of saying I have loved this book from it start. At the same time, I have also been impressed with how much this book has evolved. It’s a finely tuned space opera narrative at this point, one in which Moreci continues to write great borderline philosophical dialogue, Sherman delivers increasingly visionary action-heavy sci-fi artwork, Wordie’s colors look great, and Campbell’s lettering keeps the whole thing flowing. This is just another fantastic issue from comics’ best sci-fi series.
Price: $3.99
More Info: Wasted Space #21
Others Receiving Votes
Action Comics #1032
Batman Superman #19
Bitter Root #14
The Dreaming - Waking Hours #11
Giga #4
Home Sick Pilots #6
Justice League #63
Nuclear Family #5
Old Guard - Tales Through Time #3
Robin #3
Something is Killing the Children #17
Superman #32
S.W.O.R.D. #6
X-Men Legends #4
New #1s and One-Shots
Batman Reptilian #1
Checkmate #1
Claire and the Dragons #1
Gamma Flight #1
Good Luck #1
Heroes Return #1
Imogen of the Wyrding Way #1
Marvel Voices Pride #1
MFKZ #1
Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Special
Spawns Universe #1
Vinyl #1
Wonder Woman - Black and Gold #1
Trade Collections and Graphic Novels of Note
Factory Summers HC
Ice Cream Man Vol. 6 - Just Desserts TP
Kitchen Witch GN
Marvel Masterworks Uncanny X-Men Vol. 13 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.