By Zack Quaintance — This is sort of a down week for comics sales, coming off the bonanza that went up on Memorial Day Weekend. But there is still plenty of enjoy for digital readers on comiXology. The Dark Horse fire sale of basically their entire catalog continues, DC has put a number of second volumes up (many of which rarely go on sale), and, as always, there are some excellent gateways into other comics, too.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — To be totally blunt, it’s a chaotic time to be tracking and recommending new release comics. Some of the product coming out to stores (those that are open and functioning, that is) are books that were stalled in Diamond’s warehouse. Others are new releases, and still more have been regulated to digital-only releases. That said, we did our best to come up with a set of Top Comics to Buy for May 27, 2020, for those of who are able to shop for comics right now in these times.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — A lot of publishers like to run giant digital comics sales for three day weekends, and this year’s mostly-quarantined Memorial Day is no exception. The biggest sale of the weekend is DC Comics discounting nearly 1,000 different collections, but that’s not all there is. There are plenty of other great books available too, and you can find our picks for the best available below.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — It’s a weird thing to be doing a list of Top Comics to Buy for May 20, 2020. Yes, officially new comics are shipping out to retailers next week, with Diamond Comics Distribution resuming services. The reality, however, is that in some of the largest population centers in the country (including where I live), there’s not really anywhere to go buy comics.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — It’s another week of quarantine, at least where I live in Washington, D.C., where the curve of new COVID-19 infections is yet to really start flattening. As a result, our full shelter-in-place order has now been extended through June 8. So, that’s an unpleasant bit of business. But the good news is that there’s another great set of comiXology sales available this weekend! And we’ve once again combed through them to pick some of the best values and overlooked hidden gems…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — The big headline for me with the comiXology sales this weekend is the massive DC Comics sale, which sees what seems to be every digital collection the publisher has to offer on sale for half off (part 1 and part 2). There’s a ton of great deals in there for the intrepid reader, or for someone who’s gone lax and wants to catch up on all things Batman, Superman, etc. But that’s not all that’s on sale this weekend!
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — There’s no denying that right now is a scary time, both in terms of the threat posed to our health and the health of our loved ones, as well as the economic recession that seems all but guaranteed in the months to come. As such, I know that I’ve personally identified a dual need in my life to both save money and find stories for escapism. If there’s one truism in harrowing times, it’s that we as a people will always need stories.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — We’re deep into the quarantine now, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve somewhat exhausted your long-suffering to-read pile. I have plenty in there left, but the stories I was most excited about have been rapidly depleted. As a result, I’m on the hunt for something fresh, or at least fresh to me.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Another week, another new set of Best ComiXology Sales recommendations. This week features a nice variety of superhero stuff, jumping on points for longer runs, and complete reads. The ideal balance, I might go so far as to say. Anyway, apparently DC Comics is going to start trickling new releases back to stores (any that are opened, anyway), but there’s still no clear and total end in site to the comics release pause. But the backlist reading goes on.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — For many of us, the ongoing coronavirus quarantine and self-isolation efforts have now surpassed 30 days. I know speaking for myself, I’ve started to get a bit cagey. It’s also becoming more difficult to focus on maintaining even a minor sense of normalcy that has been so key for me to maintain my calm and sanity throughout this. Still, hope springs eternal and we persevere.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Another weekend of quarantine is upon us, with no new comic books in site for the indefinite future. Fortunately for digital comics readers, however, the sales on ComiXology this weekend are enticing and diverse. As we’re doing all through this odd period of crisis and social isolation, we’ve picked the Best ComiXology Sales for the weekend of April 10, with an eye toward curating a diverse list of stories and publishers.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — As I write this, there still isn’t a timeline for when print comics will find their way back into...um….well, I guess, print. Meaning, that the coronavirus crisis in this country has shut down comic book printing, the distributor that ships comics nationwide, and the network of small businesses that sell the books in the community. In other words, enjoy the Best Comics for March 2020, because it’s looking like there won’t be one for April.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Another weekend is upon us with no new comics in site. Owing to the coronavirus crisis, there were no new comics last Wednesday and there has been little to indicate that there will be new comics this coming Wednesday. For many of us in the United States, physically going down to our local comic shop is not an option, what with 87 percent of the country under shelter in place orders as massive death tolls sweep through major cities.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — It’s a miracle, folks. Here it is, still March, and I have finished the list for Best New #1 Comics for March 2020 (with the Best Comics for March 2020 slated to go live on April 1!). How did I — a guy who regularly posts these lists halfway into the following month, manage such a feat? Well, as you may have noticed, there is no new Top Comics to Buy piece for this week, owing to the fact that to my knowledge basically every publisher but DC and Marvel aren’t releasing new comics this week (digitally) due to the crisis.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Well folks, it’s time to face it, given the nature of this life-disrupting crisis, our favorite goofy hobby is going to be disrupted for the foreseeable future. Many comic shops (including my own here locally in Washington, D.C.) have closed doors. In addition, Diamond Comics Distribution has announced it is accepting no new orders to its warehouse for the foreseeable future...meaning there will be no new books flowing out into the world, at least not through the standard channels.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — It’s another week of uncertainty, fueled by the rapid outbreak of the coronavirus, the full extent of which is just becoming clear in the United States as much-needed testing slowly trickles out to the populous. That last sentence sounds like the tagline for one of the comics we typically feature here, but it’s not. It’s reality, and it’s hard to deal with, but I continue to find that escaping into comics is as good a means of coping with this as any. So, onward.
Read MoreBy 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.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — February was a solid month for comics, albeit one where many of the highlights were stories that had gained momentum through the end of last year and were paying off bigger pieces of their narrative puzzles this month. I’m thinking specifically here of X-Men #7 and Black Stars Above #4, which I’ll elaborate on more below.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Ah, it’s one of my favorite types of months for the Best New #1 Comics feature...one in which our top five section (at the bottom, ironically enough!) has five choices from five separate publishers. I love it when that happens, signaling as it does that this is an urbane site that appreciates the wide variety of stories being told right now...provided those stories are being told in a very specific monthly direct market format.
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Once again here we are on the cusp of my favorite sort of week — the one where quality reigns over quantity, just a bit. Indeed, this week sees the continuation of most of my favorite superhero titles right now — Immortal Hulk, Superman, and X-Men, to be specific — while at the same time delivering some chilling and smart horror — Dollhouse Family — and the start of a new indie high-concept sci-fi book — Decorum. Basically, it’s a good week to read a handful of comics.
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