By Zack Quaintance — I’m (finally!) done moving, which means after last week’s skip week, I’m back giving my full attention to the new books coming this week for my Top Comics to buy for April 7, 2021 list. This week sees a handful of new books that are really doing it for me combined with one of DC’s best recent experiments and a Big 2 tentpole book. Lot’s of good stuff this week, so let’s get to it.

Enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for April 7, 2021

PICK OF THE WEEK
Dead Dog’s Bite #2
Writer/Artist: Tyler Boss
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Questions begin to arise. Like what exactly is going on here? Joe decides to get into local politics and takes a field trip to a candy factory after hours. All that and a bag of sweets in the second chapter of this thrilling, chilling mystery.
Why It’s Cool: I have to admit, with everything I’ve had going on of late (moving! and having a meltdown about moving!), Dead Dog’s Bite #1 fell through the cracks for me. In prepping this week’s list, however, I caught up with both issues of the book so far, and I have to say — this might be my favorite new comic of 2021. It’s so clever and so well-done on every level, from the visual storytelling to the relentlessly clever and distinct bits of dialogue doled out perfectly to each of the story’s many interesting characters. This book has a special voice, borrowing from ideas like small-town sheriffs, misfit detectives, and metafictional framing devices to create something wholly new. Pick up this comic this week, and if you missed the first issue (as I did!), try to track that one down as well — you’ll be grateful you did.
Price: $3.99

Batman #107
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Jorge Jimenez, with Ricardo Lopez Ortiz
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
Tensions are sky-high in Gotham City following the events at Arkham Asylum, and public opinion and unrest are starting to boil over. The Dark Knight has his hands full juggling the investigation of the reappearance of an old enemy and the rise of a new gang in Gotham called the Unsanity Collective...Gotham City is getting more dangerous by the minute!
Plus, in part one of “Legend of the Ghost-Maker,” James Tynion IV and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz tell the most insane tale of action and adventure featuring Batman’s frenemy Ghost-Maker! This one is not to be missed!
Why It’s Cool: Look, I’ve written this before, but it is true that I was a skeptic coming into this new era of Batman books, which are constant and loaded with reliable-sellers like The Joker and a steady stream of first appearances to juice sales. It is also true that picking the Batman flagship monthly comic for a comics to buy list is a little like suggesting diners check out this thing called pizza — it’s already absurdly popular. All that aside, I have to recommend Batman #107 this week. It’s not that it’s a standout (or even especially memorable), but this is roughly the point I have now realized that the new status quo of the Gotham line is really clicking for me, with its new-yet-understated aims and complex degree of cohesion across titles. I dig it. It feels like old school serialized storytelling with a 2021 sensibility. If you hopped off during the aggressively commercial Joker War storyline, I recommend hopping back on.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Digitally: Batman #107

ENIAC #2
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
Colorist: Diego Rodriguez
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: Bad Idea
Seventy-seven years ago, the United States unlocked the key to defeating the Axis powers, but, in their desperation to end the war, accidentally created a far more powerful threat: ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Designed to be a cutting-edge breakthrough in supercomputing that could deliver a decisive victory to the Allies, ENIAC did just that...by ordering the bombing Nagasaki without human consent or approval. A fully autonomous A.I free from the bounds of programming or morality, ENIAC spent the decades since manipulating global superpowers from the shadows, secretly shaping everything we thought we knew about the history of the geopolitical order. And, throughout it all, one classified question has plagued presidents and prime ministers, generals and spymasters alike: "What is ENIAC planning next?"
Now, after years of silence, ENIAC has re-emerged with a 72-hour countdown until it unleashes every weapon in Earth's atomic arsenal. Its motives? Unknowable to humankind. Its endgame? Destruction on an unthinkable scale. As ENIAC's clock rockets toward zero, it's down to two covert operatives to infiltrate a Russian black site and free the one man alive who knows how to kill the machine...before it erases mankind, once and for all.
Why It’s Cool: Widespread Internet grumbling about availability aside, Bad Idea’s first comic, ENIAC #1, was excellent. A taught and complicated read that never feels slow or bogged down, the book was one of the best comics I read last month. I see no reason why this second issue won’t maintain the momentum, perhaps even building upon it.
Price: $3.99

Far Sector #11
Writer: N.K. Jemisin
Artist: Jamal Campbell
Letterer: Deron Bennett
Publisher: DC Comics
Everything is coming to a boil as we lay the groundwork for the Far Sector finale in this, our penultimate issue! Riots are breaking out across the City Enduring as its citizens realize that there are political shenanigans disrupting their way of life and subverting the will of the people. To quell this unrest, @BlazeofGlory is threatening to unleash a terrible weapon upon her own people. Jo has to race against the ticking clock of a Green Lantern ring that is rapidly losing power to bypass the city’s entire defense forces and stop this attack from above.
Why It’s Cool: It’s almost hard to believe that Far Sector is this deep into its story (11 issues of 12), and the book is still operating with a high rate of revelatory new ideas. It’s also unveiling new sci-fi concepts in a way that feels organic to its narrative, rather than forced or gimmicky. On top of that, Far Sector #11 conveys the most action and the highest stakes that this book has seen to-date, putting not only the future of one far-flung planet at its center, but the future of the entire galaxy, which includes earth (obviously). This is also perhaps the issue that makes the most use of its central character being a Green Lantern, which will surely be of interest to some fans.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Digitally: Far Sector #11

The Silver Coin #1
Artist/Colorist/Letterer: Michael Walsh
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Eisner-winning artist MICHAEL WALSH (Star Wars, Black Hammer/Justice League) teams with an all-star lineup of collaborators—CHIP ZDARSKY (STILLWATER), KELLY THOMPSON (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), ED BRISSON (Old Man Logan), and JEFF LEMIRE (GIDEON FALLS)—on a new horror anthology miniseries for mature readers. Each issue will tell a tale of terror in a shared supernatural world. The story starts in 1978 with a failing rock band whose fortune suddenly changes when they find the mysterious Silver Coin. Little do they know that fame comes with a cost, and a curse is always hungry.
Why It’s Cool: You can (and should!) read a full review of this comic by Keigen Rea, but if you are into the whole brevity thing (man), let me just tell you that The Silver Coin ranks as both an interesting experiment (Michael Walsh is illustrating each issue with a different one of his pals as the writer), and a great, well-done comic on its own merits, with extra points if you also happen to have a special interest in bands and music.
Read It Digitally: The Silver Coin #1

Others Receiving Votes

Commanders in Crisis #7
The Dreaming: Waking Hours #9
Engineward #9
Fear Case #3
Hollow Heart #2
Immortal Hulk #45
Marauders #19
Nocterra #2
The Swamp Thing #2
Vampire: The Masquerade #7

New #1s and One-Shots

Aggretsuko: Meet Her World #1
Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory #1
Bloom #1
Geiger #1
Green Lantern #1
The Impure #1
Magic (MTG) #1
The Next Batman: Second Son #1
Project Patron #1
Resistance: Uprising #1
Rise (Heavy Metal) #1
Squadron Supreme: Marvel Tales One-Shot
Tankers #1

Trade Collections and Graphic Novels of Note

Dark Nights: Death Metal
Dear DC Supervillains
Earth Boy
Lonely Receiver Vol. 1
Save It For Later (read our interview with Nate Powell!)
Superman’s Greatest Team-Ups
The Vain

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.