Comic Book Buyer's Guides

Comixology Sale Picks: Grant Morrison

Hello. Sorry, yes, we know, it's been a while. We've been a bit busy, and it's prevented us from getting much done around here. But Comixology are running an absolutely massive Grant Morrison (DC/Vertigo only) sale this week, and we simply couldn't let that pass without comment - so read on to find out just how much of your hard-earned cash you need to be throwing away...

Preacher Reading Guide

Oh look, it's another one of those Comixology sales where the entirety of a brilliant series is going super-cheap. It's not really possible to pick out individual issues or arcs from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's late '90s Vertigo series Preacher and recommend them over others - the series as a whole is a sprawling epic that really needs to be followed through from the beginning rather than dipping in and buying bits of it. But because of the handful of spinoff, character-background-filling-in miniseries that were released alongside it, and the fact that different trade editions have collected some things in slightly different orders, it's useful to put together an arc-by-arc reading guide for if you do end up buying it in this single-issue form. And at the same time I'll give a quick précis of each arc and where I think it stands in the great scheme of things.

DC's Convergence: A Character Primer (in 40 Comics)

So DC's massive Convergence event - in which basically the entire DCU is going on hold for two months while a load of past versions of characters get smooshed together for a big universe-crossover that is in no way similar to the one Marvel are doing almost immediately afterwards - kicks off in earnest next week (after an introductory zero issue this Wednesday). And to celebrate, the publisher has been running a Road to Convergence sale on Comixology, designed to give confused readers an entry point into their history of multiverses and reboots.

Unfortunately, said sale basically just consists of the assorted miniseries - Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, Flashpoint and so on - in which said reboots have occurred, along with a couple of New 52-era minis that set up some of the plot of Convergence itself. So none of them are really much help if you want to get a handle on the old incarnations of characters that will suddenly start appearing for two-issue minis in April and May. And that's where we come in. Instead of giving you a guide to which of the previous crossovers are worth buying, we've gone through every single one of the upcoming miniseries and picked a single, individual comic you can buy digitally that we feel in some way introduces, encapsulates, or otherwise explains the character. And yes, we even got one for Hawkman.

Comixology Sale Picks: Superman Essential Graphic Novels

It's been a little while since we've had a nice one of these that we can properly get our teeth into, but as you might expect, a Superman Essential Graphic Novels sale is right in our particular wheel arch. So read on to see which of Grant Morrison, Jeph Loeb and J. Michael Straczynski have written books we think you should buy OH I WONDER WHICH ONES HAVEN'T.

Comixology Sale Picks: Batman 750

Update 26.11.14: The Batman 750 sale is back! So we're re-bumping our guide to it - it seems to be basically the same 750 comics as before, though we haven't had a chance to go through and check in detail to make absolutely certain. But if you missed it the first time, now's your chance...

Seven hundred and fifty Batman comics? Seven hundred and fifty? No way are we going to be able to give you a yes or no on every single item featured in Comixology's mammoth Batman anniversary sale, but if we go through and pick out a few choice things we think are worth looking at, it might help you actually navigate the sale without it taking the entire week that it lasts for...

Comixology Sale Picks: Secret Avengers (2010)

If you like Avengers - specifically Secret ones - this is the book for you. Featuring a cast stuffed with your favourite Marvel names! Captain America, Nick Fury, Ant-Man, War Machine, Nova, Moon Knight, Beast, Valkyrie, Black Widow, Agent Carter and Shang Chi. We know, we know. Settle down.

This series defined itself as the "espionage" Avengers title. If you want to know what that means (not a lot beyond the first 12 issues) you'll have to read it to see. But although there are four writers and two crossovers, it's got some good stuff scattered throughout its run. To make sure you know what to buy, here's our guide to Comixology's Secret Avengers sale.

Comixology Sale Picks: Wolverine (2003)

In case you're wondering, we haven't gone anywhere. Bit of a busy period in the day jobs. Normal service should resume shortly! In the mean-time, here's our look at the current Wolverine sale, which covers the 2003 relaunch up until the series was retitled Dark Wolverine and taken over by Daken. There are 75 issues in total, and quite a lot to get through, so let's not hang about.

Comixology Sale Picks: DC Multiversity

With Grant Morrison's long awaited The Multiversity starting this week, DC and Comixology have seen fit to put up a sale that should really be called "The Crisis Sale", but which is basically themed heavily around the concept of alternate worlds. Fortunately, it does this without touching Countdown with a ten-foot barge pole, for which we can only be thankful.

Anyway, here's our look at what's worth buying, although be warned that the sale includes both 52 and Crisis on Infinite Earths, so if you're going to take our word on absolutely everything, you're in for an expensive one.

Comixology Sale Picks: World War Hulk

A few years ago, the Hulk's so-called friends decided to deal with his rampages permanently. Recognising that Banner was incapable of being cured, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Doctor Strange and Black Bolt shot him into space. The plan was for the Hulk to land on a peaceful planet where he could live out his days free from unwanted interference. Unfortunately, he got knocked off course and landed on the war-torn Planet Sakaar instead.

In an epic, Conan-esque storyline called "Planet Hulk", he rose from a slave to become the ruler of Sakaar, bringing peace to the land and uniting the disparate races on the planet. Then the damaged shuttle that brought him there exploded, wrecking the planet and killing his wife. World War Hulk is what happened when he gets back to Earth. He always said you wouldn't like him when he's angry. But now he's really mad.

Comixology Sale Picks: Thanos

If, like us, you're still reeling from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, you might be wondering where you can read more about the cosmic side of Marvel. Well, good news. Today's Comixology sale is based around Thanos, the villain behind the events of both the Avengers AND Guardians of the Galaxy movies. There's a typically confusing range of options, though, so as usual we've got a guide to help sort you out.