This week’s Top Comics to Buy for June 3 is led by the unique excellence that is FML, Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez’s magic family drama comic that is also about Portland. Lean in and love this one, crossing your fingers that it comes back soon. But that’s not all, obviously! There are some other true gems this week too, including a must-read Deadman series launch, a lowkey big fun Iron Man run settling in, and more.
You can find my five favorite comics of the week below, along with 10 other books I liked, plus the usual set of release lists … enjoy!
Top Comics to Buy for June 3
Deadman #1
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Good Old Neon
Publisher: DC Comics
The Deadman enters the Next Level! In the millisecond following his murder, the soul of shifty circus aerialist Boston Brand was commandeered by the goddess Rama Kushna, who deputized the erstwhile performer’s ghost with a sacred spectral assignment: the Custodian of All Souls! Now Brand floats — begrudgingly — through this bluegreen purgatory we call Earth, upholding the Laws of Spiritual Math and protecting humanity from evil — even if they can’t see or hear him.
Why It’s Cool: DC Comics continues to make great use of the creative team from the hit indie horror series, Ice Cream Man, deploying them on the absolute perfect character for their sensibilities. And the result is a must-read first issue that seeds an exciting series long-term.
Price: $3.99
Estuary: A Ghost Story #1
Writers: DB Andry and Tim Daniel
Artist: Maan House
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Oni Press
Reeling in the wake of their discovery about the Mission’s past and Maris’s connection to the place, she and Hunt are called back to the church by Father Saul. As they rush to learn more about the mystery, they find themselves instead the latest witnesses of the Lady in Lace, who seems bent on claiming Maris as her own. Free of the ghost’s grip, Maris returns to the hallowed ground above Arbués Point with fresh eyes and deep suspicions.
Why It’s Cool: If you haven’t been paying attention, Estuary is a moody social media-skewing comic set on the Northern California coast and tangled up in sex and Catholicism. Its plot is bringing its ingredients together really well, and it features some of the best horror cartooning of the year.
Price: $4.99
FML #8
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: David Lopez
Colorist: Cris Peter
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
The STFU kids fight for their lives and their futures in a Convention Center-turned-post-apocalyptic-battleground, setting the stage for the OG Riot Grrls to relive and resolve the anarchic spirit of their Gen X heydays with steel-toed boots and battle bats in hand.
Why It’s Cool: This whole series has been amazing, start to finish, from the art to the flexible approach to the laws of reality the script adeptly deploys. This last issue (for now…hopefully!) brings it all together in a way that is both satisfying and deeply hilarious. There’s a back lane joke in this book I liked so much that I tried to explain to people, it was that funny. Just a delight.
Price: $4.99
Iron Man #6
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Juan Cabal
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
SPIDER-MAN MUST SAVE NORMAN OSBORN… FROM IRON MAN?! Tony Stark and Norman Osborn have history. They’ve known each other longer than you might know. And when the IRON PATRIOT ARMOR is stolen, all signs point toward the former Green Goblin. Only problem is IRON MAN has just one, little, tiny thing standing in his way to take down Norman: the AMAZING, SPECTACULAR, FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN!
Why It’s Cool: This book has really felt like an old-school (late 90s / early 00s!) Marvel Comics superhero romp in the best way. I also appreciate how it feels like it’s leaning in for a long run, in an age where so many Marvel books are viscerally nervous they won’t get another arc. All good things in this one, which is quickly becoming my favorite Marvel Comic.
Price: $4.99
The Jungle #4
Writer: Keenan Marshall Keller
Artist: Tom Neely
Publisher: Uncivilized Books
While Johnny recovers from last issue’s beating, we get a glimpse of the world beyond The JUNGLE’s walls, in this Queenie-centric issue! A slice of life in mid-70’s L.A. as Queenie struggles with family issues and her shitty job while trying to devise a plan to help BUST The HUMANS out of The JUNGLE!! Plus a LETTER FROM DOC and KARNS from sun-soaked Florida!!
Why It’s Cool: There’s a case to be made that this is one of the best comics of the year, a book that never slacks on cartooning and storytelling, and also is doing a super cool, backwards-looking California in the ’60s thing…plus also a prison story. There’s just such a sense to this book that the creators are doing everything entirely on their own terms, and I love it.
Price: $10
10 Other Comics I Enjoyed This Week
- 2000AD #2483
- Batman #10
- Exorcism at Buckingham Palace #3
- Lucky Devils #8
- Poison Ivy #45
- The Ring: Man Who Beat the Man #1
- Rook Exodus #10
- Royals #3
- Supergirl Survive #1
- Twilight Zone #7
New #1s and One-Shots
- Adventure Time Pride Special PB & Marcy’s Infinite Mixtape #1 (one-shot)
- It’s Jeff Brand New Week #1 (one-shot)
- Junk Punch #1
- Just Spectacular Collection #1 (one-shot)
- Justice League Dream Girls – A DC Pride Event #1
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Vol. 2 #1
- Only The Savage Are Left #1
- The Ring: The Man Who Beat the Man #1
- Star Wars Rogue One: Jyn Erso #1 (one-shot)
- Supergirl Survive #1
- Transformers The Movie 40th Anniversary Edition #1
- What If Cyclops Had Stayed With Madelyne Pryor #1 (one-shot)
- X-Men ’97 Season 2 #1
Graphic Novels and Trade Collections
- All the Cameras In My Room HC
- Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Vol 13 Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut TP
- Batman 1 Vol 1 Daylight HC/TP
- Batman Detective Comics The New 52 Omnibus Vol 2 HC
- Beast Vol 2 HC
- Conan The Barbarian Vol 7 The Conquering Crown TP
- Cyberarchy TP
- DC Super Hero Girls High School Reunion TP
- DC Vampires World War V Vol 1 TP
- From The World Of Minor Threats Library Edition Vol. 1: The Alternates And Barfly HC
- GI Joe Deluxe Edition Book 1 HC
- Incredible Hulk Return of the Monster Omnibus HC
- Lore Olympus Vol 10 HC/TP
- October Girl Vol 2 TP
- Palookaville Vol 25 HC
- Revolution Trilogy The Graphic Edition Vol 1 The British Are Coming HC/TP
- Run TP
- Saga Deluxe Edition Vol 4 HC
- Sleep HC
- Spider-Man Brand New Day TP
- Spider-Man Noir The Gwen Stacy Affair TP
- Supergirl The World HC
- Superman Adventures Compendium 2 TP
- Superman Red Son TP (DC Compact Comics Edition)
- Virginia Woolf TP
- The Visions TP (Marvel Premier Collection)
- We Are Pan TP
- Wolverine Not Dead Yet Ominbus HC
Read past editions of the Top Comics to Buy!
And check out the Beat’s most recent comics reviews!
