This week will test your budget

cnnradionews staff

1 day ago

I really had my hands full with the Top Comics to Buy for March 19 list. It was a lot to both read all my previews and then ultimately narrow my recommendations down to five. This happens every once in a while. Sometimes it’s coincidence and happenstance, other times it’s a sign of comics being strong right now. Despite sales and other market struggles, I actually think this week speaks to the latter, with monthly comics being as fun to read as they have been in a long while.

I mean just look at this week. There’s new entries from the Big 3 familiar character publishing initiatives right now, with two Absolute books, an Ultimate book, and a series within the Energon Universe. On top of that, buzzy superhero drama The Power Fantasy moves forward, long-time bookstore crossover hit Saga concludes its most recent arc, a pair of thoughtful new suspense stories in indie comics launch, and on and on. And while it’s logistically difficult for comics websites to cover, it’s all a good problem to have. Let’s hope this continues.

Check out the five recommendations I landed on below, followed by the usual release lists … and enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for March 19, 2025

Absolute Batman #6
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Nick Dragotta
Colorist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
Bruce Wayne, a young man who has built his entire life on leveling up, on becoming a bigger man than both his enemies and the obstacles that stand in his way, will have to break down the Black Mask and his gang of Party Animals. Will he be able to do this without the help of his unlikely new MI6 ally, Alfred Pennyworth? And how do his childhood friends–Edward Nygma, Waylon Jones, Harvey Dent, and Oswald Cobblepot (among others)–play a crucial role in Batman’s legacy as Gotham’s Vigilante? Absolute Batman’s first story arc, The Zoo concludes with this larger-than-life story, while introducing a few new elements to come in arc 2. You’d have to be Absolutely MAD to miss it!
Why It’s Cool: This is the finale of one of the buzziest superhero comics in some time, and it lives up to all the interesting ideas that series has been exploring from the start. The art also looks great, and there’s really enticing setup for arc two. There’s a lot of interesting stuff being done with Batman right now (and perhaps even more soon), and it feels like this series it the pack leader.
Price: $4.99

Crush Depth #1
Writers: DB Andry & Tim Daniel
Artist: Alex Sanchez
Colorist: Kurt Michael Russell
Letterer: Justin Birch
Publisher: Mad Cave
Two brothers locked in a sibling rivalry wrestle for command of a massive nuclear submarine, The Absolution, in a near future irrevocably altered by climate change. Chief Science Officer Liana Pearson finds herself not only caught between the Wilder brothers but drowning in her fear of the surface world. When something alien infiltrates The Absolution and upends the balance of power, Liana is left with only two deadly options–reaching the toxic surface world or steering the sub into the unforgiving abyss and crush depth–Breathe Deep!
Why It’s Cool: Claustrophobic horror in a submarine is scary enough, but this book goes the extra mile and does some great near-future apocalypse world-building on top of it. It all adds up to a moody and tense debut issue that will have you ready to climb aboard for the full series run.
Price: $4.99

New Gods #4
Writer: Ram V
Artist: Evan Cagle, with guest Bernard Chang
Colorist: Francesco Segala
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DC Comics
New Genesis. Apokolips. Earth. Three worlds in the warpath of the deadly interstellar inquisition known as the Nyctari. Three worlds on the verge of annihilation. Three worlds whose only hope of salvation may lie with a young boy imbued with incomprehensible power–a power beyond godlike. But is this boy truly a force for salvation, or the reincarnation of the greatest evil the universe has ever known? And will the forces of these three worlds be able to answer this critical question before it is too late?
Why It’s Cool: This title is a true must-read, a bold standout both in terms of its art style and the ideas that it conveys. And this week all-out war erupts. The forces inherent to the New Gods are sort of tough to wrap your head around — elemental evils, true good, etc. — but this title is so sharp and ambitious, that it does them justice.
Price: $3.99

Out of Alcatraz #1
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist/Letterer: Tyler Crook
Publisher: Oni Press
Convicts Frank Morris and Clarence Anglin have washed ashore in San Francisco after surviving their infamous escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in June 1962. They soon meet their gruff and disappointed handler, a mysterious young woman who’s also running from something, and hope to quickly get their way north to the border-if they can even make it out of Modesto alive. As a dogged federal manhunt and chance encounters threaten the desperate convicts, everyone involved is about to discover the same bloodstained truth: life on the run is an even more hellish prison than Alcatraz could have ever been.
Why It’s Cool: This book uses a real life incident in which convicts escaped from Alcatraz (and were never found) as a starting point for a new crime-suspense comic. The premise is great, but the execution of this series is absolutely perfect, from the art to the characterization to the plot twists in the first issue alone. The year is young, but this 48-page debut is already up there with best new #1 issues of 2025, no question.
Price: $5.99

When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #3
Writer: Gus Moreno
Artist: Jakub Rebelka
Letterer: Becca Carey
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Barrera is introduced to the practices of an obscure theory, prompting questions about Stygian’s exorcism methods and whether all is quite what it seems.
But before he can dig any deeper into his fellow priest’s practices, their investigation into claims that the dead apprentice has risen takes a sudden, deadly turn…
Why It’s Cool: This is a pretty straightforward, character-driven exorcist story that is absolutely greater than the sum of its parts. It’s definitely elevated by the artwork of Jakub Rebekla (who is always great), but more than that, everything is just done so well that it lifts the whole. This comic is one of my favorite surprises of 2025 to date.
Price: $4.99