By Zack Quaintance — The Top Comics to Buy for May 5, 2021 list is absolutely packed. How packed? So packed that I decided to highlight six books this week (hey, it’s my website), and I still didn’t get to spotlight some of my favorite comics from this coming Wednesday. It hurt me — physically hurt me — to not put books like Fear Case #4, The Swamp Thing #3, and the new Bad Idea releases on the big list. But hey, we’ll find a way to write about all those great series at some point.

For now, enjoy this week’s list!

Top Comics to Buy for May 5, 2021

PICK OF THE WEEK
The Good Asian #1
Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote
Artist: Alex Tefenkgi
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Jeff Powell
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE’s long-awaited follow-up to the critically acclaimed INFIDEL with stunning art by ALEXANDRE TEFENKGI (OUTPOST ZERO)! Following Edison Hark—a haunted, self-loathing Chinese-American detective—on the trail of a killer in 1936 Chinatown, THE GOOD ASIAN is Chinatown noir starring the first generation of Americans to come of age under an immigration ban, the Chinese, as they’re besieged by rampant murders, abusive police, and a world that seemingly never changes.
Why It’s Cool: The Good Asian #1 is one hell of a comic, using extensive research of an under-covered and ugly era of American history as well as noir genre tropes in really smart ways to give shape to a book that feels at once familiar and wholly new. What helps the whole thing truly succeed is the excellent anachronistic dialogue, the clean linework, and the pitch-perfect noir coloring. This first issue is one of those that feels like the start of something great as well as a complete and entertaining reading experience on its own merits, making it our pick of the week.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: The Good Asian #1
Read our interview with Pornsak Pichetshote now!

Batman #108
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Jorge Jimenez, with Ricardo Lopez Ortiz
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
Batman goes undercover to infiltrate the transhumanist gang known as the Unsanity Collective and learn more about their sudden appearance in Gotham. And what nefarious plans does Simon Saint have for Arkham Day survivor Sean Mahoney? How does it connect to the Magistrate?
And in part two of the action-packed, bone-rattling Ghost-Maker backup story...can our hero stand up to the horror of Kid Kawaii?
Plus, don’t miss the debut of the mysterious Miracle Molly!
Why It’s Cool: This new era of Batman comics is firing on all cylinders, with a powerful main book and a set of great, coherent, and additive auxiliary titles around it. Batman #108 is the best single issue of Batman since the last issue, really playing with some of the more staid ideas of the Batman concept, namely with the character’s relationship to wealth. It does so by adding in a set of new characters, and I won’t go much further than that as not to spoil anything. The last thing I’ll say is that the Ghost-Maker second stories have also been very good, exploring and cementing Ghost-Maker as a great new character adjacent to Gotham City.
Price: $4.99
Buy It Here: Batman #108

Dead Dog’s Bite #3
Writer/Artist: Tyler Boss
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
After a fire, Joe tries to find answers at her local library. Stop by yours today. The penultimate issue arrives. From award-winning cartoonist Tyler Boss (4 Kids Walk into a Bank).
Why It’s Cool: This book is just operating on another level than basically anything else I’m reading on a monthly basis. It’s clever, perfectly-paced, and drawn with a level of detail that makes for a flexible aesthetic, one capable in equal parts of taking us through intensive or scary emotional beats, while on the next page dropping very funny background gags that if you’re reading too fast you might blow right by. I love this comic, and I really can’t say enough good things about it. Truly, we are lucky to have this book. Tyler Boss is a massive talent who has illustrated well-received comics in the past, but perhaps none have felt as precise and perfect as this one.
Price: $4.99
Buy It Here: Dead Dog’s Bite #3

Eve #1
Writer: Victor LaValle
Artist: Jo Mi-Gyeong
Colorist: Brittany Peer
Letterer: Andworld Design
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
For fans of Undiscovered Country and Little Bird comes a new adventure series from award-winning author Victor LaValle (Victor LaValle's Destroyer) and rising-star artist Jo Mi-Gyeong (Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal) about a dangerous journey across a future dystopian America to save the world.
When the ice caps melted, most of humanity was lost to the hidden disease that was released.
Now, a mysterious girl named Eve has awoken in secret and must deal with a world that's nothing like the virtual reality she was raised in.
In order to save her real father, Eve must embark on a deadly quest across the country, but she has no idea of the threats that await her -- or the price she will pay to restore life to a dying planet...
Why It’s Cool: Victor LaValle is one of my favorite writers, and I read all of his prose work as soon as it comes out. I have also been waiting patiently for LaValle to launch another comic since his Frankenstein homage, Victor LaValle’s Destroyer, wrapped a few years back. Well folks, the wait was worth it. LaValle is teaming up for Eve with artists Jo Mi-Gyeong and Brittany Peer, and what results is a beautiful comic poised to tackle issues around the environment with a narrative driven by a young girl protagonist. The choice that really makes this first issue work well is to give the reader a close third-person perspective behind that protagonist, disorienting us with all that disorients here. It’s a fantastic read, and I highly recommend picking this first issue up.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Eve #1

Nocterra #3
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Tony S. Daniel
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Deron Bennett
Publisher: Image Comics
“FULL THROTTLE DARK,” Part Three
Know the signs: black gums, gnarled bones, and haunting yellow eyes. When you spot a human shade out there in the endless night...run.
Why It’s Cool: It’s kind of cheap to describe a sci-fi/horror comic that features a twisted sort of trucking as high octane…but that’s exactly what I’m going to do here. Nocterra is like a high-octane, big budget summer blockbuster, laden with familiar beats that are pulled off so well at such a large scale, that it’s impossible to look away. This is an extremely well-crafted book, like a popcorn movie with dead-on special effects that doesn’t bother with trying to seem like something it’s not. Read this book, and prepare for a fast, intense, and raucous good time.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Nocterra #3

Wrong Earth: Night and Day #4
Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Jamal Igle
Inker: Juan Castro
Colorist: Andy Troy
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: AHOY Comics
The utility gauntlets are off! The tensions between campy Dragonflyman and his gritty counterpart, Dragonfly, come to a furious boil! It's a rift that can only be settled with fists, gadgets, and-in Dragonfly's case-lethal weapons! Plus, XTRA: illustrated prose, AHOY-style!
Why It’s Cool: The Wrong Earth is such a perfect comic. Now on what is essentially the book’s third volume, it keeps getting better and more interesting milage out of a concept that was fantastic to begin with. This issue continues to push forward the whole NOT Batmen on swapped sensibilities concept that has driven this book from its start, all with its fantastic sense of humor. Please please please read this book; it’s so good.
Price: $3.99

Others Receiving Votes

Bliss #7
Commanders in Crisis #8
Die #16
Eniac #3
Fear Case #4
Hellions #11
Immortal Hulk #46
Marauders #20
Suicide Squad #3
The Swamp Thing #3
Vampire The Masquerade #8

New #1s and One-Shots

Becstar #1
Broken Souls Ballad #1
DC Love Is a Battlefield #1
Eden #1
Heroes Reborn #1
Invincible Red Sonja #1
Jenny Zero #1
Marjorie Finnegan Temporal Criminal #1
Orville Digressions #1
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha #1
Thanos Quest: Marvel Tales #1
Whalesville x Rocks and Minerals #1
X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing #1

Trade Collections and Graphic Novels of Note

Brandon Sanderson’s Dark One Vol. 1 HC (Read our full review / our interview with the creative team)
Complete Kirby War and Romance HC
EC Archives: Tales From The Crypt Vol. 1
Embodied GN
Money Shot Vol. 2 TP
Poison Flowers and Pandemonium GN
Summer Spirit GN
Wynd Book 1 Flight of the Prince 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.