By Zack Quaintance — I’ve gotten myself into that familiar comics situation, where all my favorite series seem to come out on the same Wednesday. This time, it’s the third Wednesday of the month. Granted, the books I’m talking about here are largely indie fare, so the schedules are almost definitely soon to be interrupted by skip months, arcs ending, or miniseries wrapping up — but still. In both March and February, it’s felt like the months have been light and then — BAM! Everything I’m into comes out on the same week. Folks? This is that week. It’s so chock-full of excellent comics that I had to add a sixth spot to our features section.

Anyway, let’s check out the books!

Top Comics to Buy for March 18, 2020

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
BANG! #2
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Wilfredo Torres
Colorist: Nayoung Kim
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.99
A constant stream of terrorist attacks follows John Shaw, and the only thing that keeps him one step ahead is a collection of power-giving inhalers and a hatred of shoes. When he's once again caught in the middle of a terrorist plot, Shaw finds that these random attacks may not be so random-and the fabric of reality may be at stake.
Why It’s Cool: BANG! #1 was great, a send-up of James Bond stories that swerved in meta directions when you least expected it to. But you know what? BANG! #2 is even better. In this issue, the full scope of the series becomes clearer, with Kindt and Torres tipping their hand a bit and revealing its not just one iconic franchise they plan to send up. It’s sooooo much more than that, and it’s going to be bonkers as they go about exploring the many possibilities revealed here. I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that this is a must-read issue, and a story that (as cliched as this sounds) can only be done in the medium of comics, so dependent is it on needing to toggle between visuals, familiar imagery, ideas of the here and now, as well as the occasional burst of in-scene prose.

Alienated #2 (of 6)
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Chris Wildgoose
Colorist: Andre May
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99
After outcast teens, Samuel, Samantha, and Samir, find an adorable but dangerous alien creature in the woods and name him Chip, they bond over their shared secret. But as the pressures of hiding an actual alien mount, they each begin to fantasize about how to use Chip's strange powers to improve the world-starting with their current lives.
Why It’s Cool: As much as the folks who write for our site liked Alienated #1 (and as you can see here, it was an awful lot), I don’t think we fully appreciated how special this book is until we got to the second issue (a pattern, given we had a similar reaction to BANG! #2). Alienated was a surprisingly-excellent series that took teen dramedy and injected it with just enough sci-fi to create a mystery as well as an opportunity to satirize violent trends within the culture. That was the premise of the first issue. In the second issue, readers should be prepared for the sci-fi to be ratcheted up, and the satirical lens to be pointed in different and really compelling directions, to the point one will likely put this comic down with a new sense of what’s going to be possible for this story to explore moving forward..

Black Stars Above #5
Writer: Lonnie Nadler
Artist: Jenna Cha
Colorist: Brad Simpson
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Eulalie awakens in a place both familiar and strange, alone once more. The nameless northern town is not what it seems. Though she hoped this would be her way out of the woods, Eulalie finds herself deeper in nature than she ever thought possible, surrounded by those who seek to shatter its rule. When she's promised everything for which she's ever yearned, Eulalie must accept providence or refuse the guidance of the Black Stars.
Why It’s Cool: Well folks, after I don’t know how many weeks of heaping praise upon Vault Comics’ existential cosmic historical fiction series (yes, you read all of that right), we’re happy to now report that the creators of this singular title have gone out and nailed the landing. Like the four issues that preceded this finale, I found myself feeling chilled as I read through this haunting comic, just drawn into the pages and made to feel the sense of eerie and terrifying stillness that was all around as this book did its thing. I don’t know if I’ll have the time for a full review this week, so I’ll say this here — one thing I especially liked throughout Black Stars Above was the poetic flourishes that burst forth throughout this comic, perfectly augmented by text with strikes through them. This is a risk format choice, but it just works, accentuating the already strong storytelling being done everywhere else in this comic.

Low Low Woods #4 (of 6)
Writer: Carmen Maria Machado
Artist: Dani
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: DC Comics - Black Label - Hill House
Price: $3.99
El and Octavia's paths converge in an unexpected and bizarre way. They come together again just in time to witness a truly horrendous sight: a mob of Skinless Men erupting from the fiery fissures of Shudder-to-Think, Pennsylvania.
Why It’s Cool: Perhaps no other comic at the Big 2 right now is engaged in character work as strong as what’s being done in Low Low Woods, a series that is exploring a horror story in out-of-the-way Pennsylvania, but is doing so in a way that often makes ideas like “a mob of Skinless Men” seem less interesting than the lifelong bond between its two central characters. The level of storytelling capability in Low Low Woods is just so so high (sorry!). The writer and artist here know exactly when to hit us with a silent scene-setter panel, when to bring the scary imagery, when to give us a bit of creepiness, when to have the leads joke with each other, and on and on. There are a lot of subtle choices being made in these pages that add up to what will hopefully become the surprise hit title of the Hill House comics line over at DC.

Undone by Blood (or the Shadow of a Wanted Man) #2
Writer: Lonnie Nadler & Zac Thompson
Artist: Sami Kivela
Colorist: Jason Woride
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: AfterShock Comics
Price: $3.99
Defeated and downtrodden, Ethel learns the hard truth about Sweetheart, Arizona, and it ain't so sweet.
Dead set on finding the man who murdered her family and without a lead to go on, she does the only thing left to do-return to the scene of the crime. And with it, a flood of brutal memories wash over Ethel, threatening to undo her quest for revenge. But Ethel isn't the only one confronting her past. Famed gunslinger Solomon Eaton is forced to rekindle old ties. Will they meet him with a handshake or a loaded gun?
Why It’s Cool: Undone by Blood (Or the Shadow of a Wanted Man) is — as I wrote in my review of the first issue — something akin to a mix of Charlie Kaufman and Cormac McCarthy. It’s a revenge western set in the 1970s that is made even richer by a layer of metafictional overtones. In this second issue, the creators continue to push their lead character (who, it should be noted, is already on a quest to solve the brutal murders of her entire family), by putting her up against what feels like a fairly traditional mystery. It’s really interesting stuff, leaving her to search for the truth of what happened to her family in a presumably brutal small town. At the same time, she’s finding herself engrossed in a western novel that maybe connects to what’s going on in her life...and it’s all just illustrated so well by the team of Sami Kivela and Jason Wordie, who give us kinetic western action and detail-heavy 1970s scenery, characters, and backgrounds. An immersive and rich comic, Undone by Blood is not to be missed.

Wasted Space #15
Writer: Michael Moreci
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Our third arc concludes with a big ol' reunion--but will the team ever be the same? Emotional truths are laid bare as Billy and Molly grapple with their respective quests. And Legion's in this one, too!
Why It’s Cool: Wasted Space also wraps up its third arc this week with another whip-smart, highly-philosophical issue. I can (and have) heap praise after praise upon Wasted Space, which continues to be one of my all-time favorite space operas in any medium, so I’ll limit myself by keeping this quick write-up exclusive to this issue. What’s really great about Wasted Space #15 is that it brings back some familiar elements from throughout the run of the series to date in meaningful ways that move the story forward...Legion shows up, Dust is still hilarious, and Billy has one of his floats out in space just this time Molly joins him. Basically, this book is doing what only long-form comics can and creating rewarding storytelling patterns with its characters. We’re now at 15 issues for this series, and it’s never been so good.

New #1s and One-Shots

2020 Iron Age #1
Archangel 8 #1
Artemis and the Assassin #1
Hexagon #1
Hotell #1
Outlawed #1
Red Border #1
Resistance #1
Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1
Spider-Woman #1
Starship Down #1
Titans Giant #1
Wicked Things #1
X-Ray Robot #1

Others Receiving Votes

Ascender #10
Atlantis Attacks #3
Canopus #2
DCeased: Unkillables #2
Dragonfly and Dragonfly Man #5
Family Tree #5
Grendel: Devil’s Odyssey #4
Middlewest #16
Plunge #2
Tartarus #2
Something is Killing the Children #6
Undiscovered Country #5
Usagi Yojimbo #9
X-Force #9
Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #4

Trade Paperbacks & OGNs of Note

Batman Universe HC
Captain America Winter Soldier Marvel Select HC
Cayrels Ring HC
Cowboy HC
Immortal Hulk Vol. 6
King Thor TP
Last Stop on the Redline TP
Marvels 25th Anniversary HC
Money Shot TP
Not Drunk Enough Vol. 2 GN
Notes On A Case Of Melancholia Or A Little Death HC
Pretty Deadly Vol. 3 The Rat TP
Superman Vol. 2 The Unity Saga House of El TP
Trees Vol. 3 TP
Wonder Woman The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 4 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.