FREE/BARGAIN - Comics - 2015

[TrevorViking]

Originally Posted by Andanzas

Thank you for your answer! You got me thinking about digital comics and DRM. The Humble Comics Bundle made me realize that it is a pleasure to read comics on my tablet, so I wanted to splurge a little and get some titles from this sale. But I also dislike DRM and I would prefer paperbacks instead, so I guess I'll have to visit a comic store next time I go to Madrid. I wonder if they sell comics in English.

Anyway, this DC sale doesn't look that awesome to me, as they are only discounting single issues and not whole collections. But maybe I am wrong and this kind of DC sale is actually rare?

DC usually has a weekly sale of ~100 issues; almost always singles and not the collections. I prefer singles actually, probably due to my physical copy collecting roots.

I'm a DC addict since 1972, so you don't want my advice on what to buy in this sale.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Andanzas

Thank you for your answer! You got me thinking about digital comics and DRM. The Humble Comics Bundle made me realize that it is a pleasure to read comics on my tablet, so I wanted to splurge a little and get some titles from this sale. But I also dislike DRM and I would prefer paperbacks instead, so I guess I'll have to visit a comic store next time I go to Madrid. I wonder if they sell comics in English.

Anyway, this DC sale doesn't look that awesome to me, as they are only discounting single issues and not whole collections. But maybe I am wrong and this kind of DC sale is actually rare?

The nice thing about the DC sale is that one gets a chance at affordable copies of old/obscure stuff that is severely out of print, hard to find in the back issue bins (assuming one lives where there's a friendly local comic shop that has a well-stocked back issue bin that hasn't closed down yet ), and unlikely to get collected, even digitally.

Though mind you, DC has gotten a bit better about doing physical TPBs of their good older stuff (but they go out of print pretty quickly and apparently don't get reprinted due to slow initial sales, leaving one with annoying gaps to try and fill if it's a long-running series that only hard-core fans seem to have liked).

Originally Posted by TrevorViking

DC usually has a weekly sale of ~100 issues; almost always singles and not the collections. I prefer singles actually, probably due to my physical copy collecting roots.

I like the idea of singles (what with letter columns and other original-printing bonuses) and I think they work out better in digital format, storage-wise, but I gravitate a lot more towards collections because usually there will be extras like sketches and behind-the-scenes stuff (and TPBs/HCs work out better for physical acquisition, IMHO, since they're easier to store/put on a shelf, and you can resell/donate them much easier if you wind up not liking).

Frankly, I kind of wish that there was some sort of tie-in promotion where purchase of all the qualifying singles in a collection would then give you a freebie (or at least deeply-discounted, if all the original issues aren't available as digital singles) copy of a collection which contains it, and vice versa, since it's nearly all the same material anyway. But that's not likely to happen.

[ATDrake]

Well, a DRM-free bundle that should make a number of posters here dance with delight (or jump up and down with frustration ):

For the next 29 days to celebrate Comic-Con, StoryBundle is presenting:

The Dynamite Comic-Con Omnibus Bundle, chock full of, you guessed it, Dynamite comics that mostly carry on from stuff that was previously offered in other Dynamite comics bundles, ahahaha…

To be fair, this time, there really do seem to be full story-arc continuations of series that we only got a few issues of previously, and a few new collections of stuff that doesn't seem to have appeared before.

At the pay-what-you-want level ($5 minimum), you get 7 collections of a minimum 11 issues each:

• Jungle Girl Omnibus of Season 1 & 2 (Frank Cho, entire thing was in the Dynamite 10th Anniversary HB)
• Project Superpowers Chapter Two #0-12 (Alex Ross et al., not from previous bundles which had Chapter One instead, IIRC)
• Vampirella Vol. 1 #1-12 (maybe some issues in previous bundles)
• Red Sonja Omnibus Vol. 2 (Michael Avon Oeming, issues #19-34 of the series)
• Zorro Vol. 1 #1-12 (#1-6 were in a previous HB)
• Miss Fury #1-11 (I liked the collection of the 1st 5-issue story arc that was in one of the Dynamite Humble Bundles)
• The Twilight Zone #1-12 (I liked the 1st 4-issue story arc that was also a previous HB, so I'm interested in seeing where these go)

At the $15 top tier level, you get an additional 8 collections:

• Mercy Thompson: Cry Wolf #1-8 & Homecoming #1-4 (others in series previously bundled, but these story-arcs seem new)
• Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Prodigal Son Vol. 1 & 2 issues #1-5 each (V1 was in a previous HB)
• Jim Dresden's Butcher Files: Welcome to the Jungle #1-4 & Full Moon Vol. 1 (some previous in this franchise in bundles, these particular story arcs seem new)
• Blood Queen #1-6, Annual, vs. Dracula #1-4 (looks new)
• Damsels #1-13 (Leah Moore, daughter of Alan, definitely new)
• Black Bat Omnibus (definitely new)
• Dark Shadows #1-9 (#1-6 seem to have been in previous HB, if "Year One" is the same thing)
• Sherlock Holmes: Trial of Sherlock #1-5 & Moriarty Lives #1-5 (Leah Moore, ToS was in a previous bundle, but not the Moriarty book)

It seems like there's actually relatively little overlap with previous Dynamite bundles (at least from the Humble Bundles and the previous StoryBundle Ultimate Heroes thing; I skipped the Comixology one and never saw that Groupees thing), and some good new stuff in it with complete story-arcs in it, so this is a definite top-tier purchase for me once I get my replacement credit card (for something I only use on a handful of very limited trusted websites and Paypal for the untrusted ones, my Amazon Visa card seems to fall prey to random fraud charges at places I've never even heard of on a depressingly semi-regular basis).

Enjoy!

[ATDrake]

X-link to the DRM-free megathread:

New Humble School's Out Bundle presented by No Starch Press is not for comics, but does contain at the basic level a cartoony illustrated guide to the periodic table, and also The Manga Guide to Databases, which is Exactly What It Says In The Title, translated from Japanese university-level works. I highly recommend the series, which I own in paperback. They might possibly add another to the more-than-average level later, as they did in the previous No Starch bundle.

However, if you're into LEGO® or DIY computer programming for beginners, or know some kiddies who would benefit from newbie-friendly guides for such, the rest of the bundle should be well worth it.

[Froide]

Today's free comics day at Comixology.com - click here: https://www.comixology.com/free-comics. I picked up a new one. Depending on how many (or few) titles you already own, you might pick up even more.

[TrevorViking]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Well, a DRM-free bundle that should make a number of posters here dance with delight (or jump up and down with frustration ):

For the next 29 days to celebrate Comic-Con, StoryBundle is presenting:

The Dynamite Comic-Con Omnibus Bundle, chock full of, you guessed it, Dynamite comics that mostly carry on from stuff that was previously offered in other Dynamite comics bundles, ahahaha…

To be fair, this time, there really do seem to be full story-arc continuations of series that we only got a few issues of previously, and a few new collections of stuff that doesn't seem to have appeared before.

At the pay-what-you-want level ($5 minimum), you get 7 collections of a minimum 11 issues each:

• Jungle Girl Omnibus of Season 1 & 2 (Frank Cho, entire thing was in the Dynamite 10th Anniversary HB)
• Project Superpowers Chapter Two #0-12 (Alex Ross et al., not from previous bundles which had Chapter One instead, IIRC)
• Vampirella Vol. 1 #1-12 (maybe some issues in previous bundles)
• Red Sonja Omnibus Vol. 2 (Michael Avon Oeming, issues #19-34 of the series)
• Zorro Vol. 1 #1-12 (#1-6 were in a previous HB)
• Miss Fury #1-11 (I liked the collection of the 1st 5-issue story arc that was in one of the Dynamite Humble Bundles)
• The Twilight Zone #1-12 (I liked the 1st 4-issue story arc that was also a previous HB, so I'm interested in seeing where these go)

At the $15 top tier level, you get an additional 8 collections:

• Mercy Thompson: Cry Wolf #1-8 & Homecoming #1-4 (others in series previously bundled, but these story-arcs seem new)
• Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Prodigal Son Vol. 1 & 2 issues #1-5 each (V1 was in a previous HB)
• Jim Dresden's Butcher Files: Welcome to the Jungle #1-4 & Full Moon Vol. 1 (some previous in this franchise in bundles, these particular story arcs seem new)
• Blood Queen #1-6, Annual, vs. Dracula #1-4 (looks new)
• Damsels #1-13 (Leah Moore, daughter of Alan, definitely new)
• Black Bat Omnibus (definitely new)
• Dark Shadows #1-9 (#1-6 seem to have been in previous HB, if "Year One" is the same thing)
• Sherlock Holmes: Trial of Sherlock #1-5 & Moriarty Lives #1-5 (Leah Moore, ToS was in a previous bundle, but not the Moriarty book)

It seems like there's actually relatively little overlap with previous Dynamite bundles (at least from the Humble Bundles and the previous StoryBundle Ultimate Heroes thing; I skipped the Comixology one and never saw that Groupees thing), and some good new stuff in it with complete story-arcs in it, so this is a definite top-tier purchase for me once I get my replacement credit card (for something I only use on a handful of very limited trusted websites and Paypal for the untrusted ones, my Amazon Visa card seems to fall prey to random fraud charges at places I've never even heard of on a depressingly semi-regular basis).

Enjoy!

I hate this about myself, but I think I've bought each one of the many Dynamite bundles. At the release of each one, they have had enough new content to be worthwhile, but I imagine at this point I should have waited for a few of the larger ones.

One of the comic regulars at GOG has been maintaining an awesome google docs spreadsheet of all the bundles and their contents.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...7qaew/htmlview

Now I just need to remember to download all these bundles and read them!

[TrevorViking]

Several newish foreign language sales at Comixology.
https://www.comixology.com/comics-sale

Those ~20 new Dark Horse freebies are gone now, so hopefully you all were able to snatch them up.

The new Dark Horse weekend sale will be up soon.
https://digital.darkhorse.com

New sale from Scholastic on Kristy's Great Idea, $2.99 instead of $10.99, unknown duration, book one of the award winning Babysitter's Club series.
https://www.comixology.com/Kristys-G...l-comic/238319

Magnetic Press sale on over 40 books, 50% off with code MAGNETIC, ends 6/21/14. I don't think I've read any of their books; anyone else?
https://www.comixology.com/Magnetic-...Sale/page/7030

From Image, another Chew sale, including a bundle, also ending 6/21/15.
Nine collections for $3.99 to $4.99 each.
A bundle of issues 1-49 (does not include the second #27), a script-book, and two one-shots for $44.99.
https://www.comixology.com/Chew/bundle/977
Individual singles for $.99 each, does not include issue 49 (that one is $2.99 individually) but does include the second issue #27.
https://www.comixology.com/Chew-Sale/page/7027

From Marvel, also ending 6/21/15, another classic Fantastic Four sale.
Issues 1-60 and the first four annuals for $.99 each.
https://www.comixology.com/Fantastic...Sale/page/7109

[Andanzas]

Thank you for answering my questions, ATDrake and TrevorViking. I appreciate it.

I have around 30 GB (give or take) of comics downloaded from Humble Bundle, most of them unread. I guess I shouldn't even think of buying that new Dynamite Bundle, especially considering that the next Humble Dynamite Bundle will probably be even more tempting, but I really enjoyed The Trial of Sherlock Holmes (the plot wasn't that great, but I loved the characters and the recreation of that period), so I guess it'll be worth it just to read more works of Leah Moore. I didn't know she was Alan Moore's daughter, by the way.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by TrevorViking

One of the comic regulars at GOG has been maintaining an awesome google docs spreadsheet of all the bundles and their contents.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...7qaew/htmlview

Cool, thanks! It's nice to see what's been offered already, and I'm liking the (seeming) trend towards offering collections and complete story-arcs instead of the partial-arc single issues that the earlier bundles have.

And it does look like the StoryBundles we've been getting have had substantial amounts of totally new content (which admittedly is not comforting if one was in it for the overlapped stuff, or doesn't care about the non-series GNs and such), so they look to have been good value for money, regardless, even if not as good a deal as for a totally new buyer.

Originally Posted by Andanzas

I guess I shouldn't even think of buying that new Dynamite Bundle, especially considering that the next Humble Dynamite Bundle will probably be even more tempting, but I really enjoyed The Trial of Sherlock Holmes (the plot wasn't that great, but I loved the characters and the recreation of that period), so I guess it'll be worth it just to read more works of Leah Moore. I didn't know she was Alan Moore's daughter, by the way.

I don't know if it makes a difference to your potential buying decision, but only Trial of Sherlock (and the new Damsels, which is a fairy tale fantasy subversion which you may or may not be interested in) was actually written by Leah Moore.

The newly-offered Moriarty Lives was done by a different creative team, so YMMV as to how good their approach is. However, Moore did do another Sherlock mini for Dynamite, The Demon of Liverpool, which may one day show up in a future bundle.

Incidentally, if anyone's interested, there's a nifty interview with Leah talking about Alan's works and their differing experiences in the comic book industry over here at the official Watchmen movie promotional site (amazingly still up).

I like the bit where they ask her if she could get them an interview with him and she responds: "Are you high? He will probably disown me for even doing an interview with a Web site about the film of the book. Next you’ll be asking me if he’s going to write Watchmen 2!" It's funny because it's true!

[TrevorViking]

Holy crap!

comiXology (@comiXology) tweeted at 6:05pm - 19 Jun 15:

Coming Soon. [Shortened URL deleted - MODERATOR] (https://twitter.com/comiXology/statu...459750912?s=17)

[TrevorViking]

All of these Dynamite books should be in one of your several different bundles, but Comixology is having a Dynamite Recent Hits sale. 8 collections are at more than 50% off and 142 singles are at $.99; sale ends 6/26/15.
https://www.comixology.com/Dynamite-...Sale/page/7105

Marvel Monday is another Secret Wars Battleworld event.
New X-Men (2001+) 114-133, Annual 1
Avengers: The Korvac Saga
Avengers (1963+) 167-177, Thor Annual 6 (1977)
Legendary Star Lord (2014+) 1-5
New X-Men (1991+) 1-7
https://www.comixology.com/Secret-Wa...Sale/page/7113

[TrevorViking]

Only one new sale that I can see so far, another Ghostbusters sale from IDW; 9 collections and 36 singles are discounted, sale ends 6/29/15.
https://www.comixology.com/Ghostbusters-Sale/page/7036

[Andanzas]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

I don't know if it makes a difference to your potential buying decision, but only Trial of Sherlock (and the new Damsels, which is a fairy tale fantasy subversion which you may or may not be interested in) was actually written by Leah Moore.

The newly-offered Moriarty Lives was done by a different creative team, so YMMV as to how good their approach is. However, Moore did do another Sherlock mini for Dynamite, The Demon of Liverpool, which may one day show up in a future bundle.

Thanks for the info. I had assumed Moriarty Lives was also by Leah Moore. Anyway, since this bundle is going to be running for several weeks, I am going to wait and see what Humble Bundle offers next. Maybe it's another Dynamite bundle. As usual, I am going to try not to buy it and probably fail.

That interview with Leah Moore was awesome!

[Andanzas]

Originally Posted by TrevorViking

Holy crap!

comiXology (@comiXology) tweeted at 6:05pm - 19 Jun 15:

Coming Soon. [Shortened URL deleted - MODERATOR] (https://twitter.com/comiXology/statu...459750912?s=17)

So, are you disappointed or that's pretty much what you expected?

[TrevorViking]

Originally Posted by Andanzas

So, are you disappointed or that's pretty much what you expected?

Very disappointed actually. I thought they'd sync accounts, or purchases at least. Without that syncing, it is useless in my mind. There is no reason to buy any Dark Horse comics on Comixology when they are cheaper at Dark Horse.

Now, I just see it as yet another set of books with the potential of accidentally purchasing more than once.