By Zack Quaintance — With that odd fifth Wednesday now behind us, this week sees the monthly direct market get back on track with its regularly scheduled releases, and the haul is mighty, indeed. In the Top Comics to Buy for April 6, 2022 we’ve got a substantial wave of relaunching X-Men comics, a new Batman main series issue, and the continuation of one of Image’s best books right now, Monkey Meat. There is a lot to pick from, and below (as always) I have done my best to narrow it down to five.

Check out the full list, and enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for April 6, 2022

PICK OF THE WEEK
The Thing #6
Writer: Walter Mosley
Artist: Tom Reilly
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
WALTER MOSLEY'S FORAY INTO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE GOES OUT WITH A BANG!
It all comes down to this! The secret power behind Mot is revealed at last - but with it comes a very personal threat to Ben Grimm! Can the Thing battle his way past the one foe that waits for all of us and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? And in order to do so, will it mean working hand-in-glove with Doctor Doom?
Why It’s Cool: I was looking forward to this issue so much, that I actually held this piece until the advanced review copy came from Marvel this afternoon (yeah, that’s why it’s late, totally, no other reason…). And friends? It did not disappoint. This series has just been so well-done start to finish, almost in a self-contained timeless sort of way that most superhero comics fail to achieve. I’m sad it’s ending, but the finale was great. Now, I can set about telling people to order (or pre-order!) the trade.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Digital

Batman: Killing Time #2
Writer: Tom King
Artist: David Marquez
Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
The epic continues, and blood will spill. Catwoman and the Riddler have pulled off the perfect crime and are now in possession of the most valuable object in the DCU. But how long can they hold on to it with not only Batman on their tail, but also a terrifying new villain known simply as the Help?
Why It’s Cool: It took me (I’m sad to report) two whole damn issues, but I finally realized that this series is called Batman Killing Time because the narrative conceit is that the whole thing is being structured around aggressively rooting the readers in whatever time it happens to be. Sometimes that plays out as letting us know the sequence of events during heist, other times it spans back into the ancient history of whatever it was that was heisted. It’s all great, though. This book looks amazing, and it’s fun to see a really interesting formalist experiment from King again.
Price: $4.99
Buy It Here: Digital
Read our review of Batman: Killing Time #1!

G.I.L.T. #1
Writer: Alisa Kwitney
Artist: Mauricet
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: AHOY Comics
Meet Hildy Winters, a tough, outspoken survivor of New York City's Upper West Side-with her very own time-travel portal. For Hildy belongs to G.I.L.T., the Guild of Independent Lady Temporalists. Their prime directive: Do not alter the past without co-op board approval! A snappy, stylish urban fantasy by novelist/comics writer Alisa Kwitney (Rogue: Untouched, The Sandman Presents) and artist Mauricet (Star Wars Adventures, Dastardly & Muttley).
Why It’s Cool: This one grabbed me right away, and I almost feel like I can’t quite do it justice by trying to explain why. It’s essentially the story of two women — both writers who lean journalistic — that fate throws together, and then they use witchcraft to play with time. That’s a nice angle for a comic, but I think what this book does well, is that it has really well-realized characters who feel real…but are still over-the-top enough to work in a monthly comic. Also, I should note this is a pretty dense comic. On my second read just now, I noticed a thing in the past timeline that ties to the future in a really fun way. Great stuff all the way around.
Price: $3.99

Monkey Meat #4
Writer/Artist: Juni Ba
Publisher: Image Comics
The love of a fan is pure, right? And nowhere is a fan's love more rewarded than at the Monkey Meat company!
When Monkey Meat's biggest admirer gets her dream job on the island, she isn't expecting a ghostly visit, a safari through monstrous lands, or a harsh revelation that her love may be misplaced...
Why It’s Cool: Simply put, because I love Monkey Meat so much. The singular vision of rising star cartoonist Juni Ba, this anthology series gets better with each issue, using new stories to enrich the lens through which all the past entries are told. I still think Monkey Meat #2 might be my favorite entry in the bunch, but this one is no slouch, featuring as it does some of the most grandiose set pieces that Ba has drawn for this book yet.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Digital

One-Star Squadron #5
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Steve Lieber
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: DC Comics
After an unfortunate accident at Heroz4U headquarters, all the employees are under investigation for the moment it all went up in flames! Now Red Tornado has stepped forward, ready to tell the truth. Could one of our heroes actually be a villain in disguise?
Why It’s Cool: This book has had a heartbreaking tone from its start, essentially endeavoring to show how capitalism has the potential to denigrate and dispose of even people with super powers who have chosen to use them to help (maybe especially people with super powers who have chosen to use them to help), but in this issue it gets even more heartbreaking. And it’s all incredibly well done. One more issue to go with this miniseries, but I can’t recommend it enough.
Price: $3.99
Buy It Here: Digital
Read our review of One-Star Squadron #1!

Others Receiving Votes

Apache Delivery Service #4
Batman #122 (Shadow War Part 2)
Buckhead #5
Cult of Ikarus #2
Devil’s Reign #6
Monkey Prince #3
Moon Knight #10
Radiant Red #2
Wonder Woman - Historia: The Amazons #2
X-Force #27

New #1s and One-Shots

Alice Ever After #1
Archies Anniversary Spectacular #1
Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #1
Captain Marvel Annual #1
Deadpool Bad Blood #1
Earth Prime: Batwoman #1
Joneses #1
Lego Ninjago Garmadon #1
Marauders #1
Ocean Will Take Us #1
Project Superpowers: Fractured States #1
Rocketeer: The Great Race #1
Spider-Punk #1
West of Sundown #1
X-Force Annual #1
X-Men Red #1

Trade Collections and Graphic Novels of Note

Annotated Sandman Vol 1 HC (2022 Edition)
Death The Deluxe Edition HC (2022 Edition)
EC Archives Gunfighter Vol 1 HC
Ka-Zar Lord Of The Savage Land TP
Mister Miracle The Source Of Freedom HC
Mr Colostomy TP
Poser TP
Robin (2021) Vol 1 The Lazarus Tournament TP
Venom By Al Ewing & Ram V Vol 1 Recursion TP

Read more great graphic novel and comics reviews!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He has written about comics for The Beat and NPR Books, among others. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.