Ten Cent Takes

Just in time for Back to School Season™, this week's theme is "Kids." Jessika read Thud #1, where an artist's life blurs together with a comic character he created as a kid. Mike, meanwhile, read Action Comics #466, in which Lex Luthor founds the Baby-Sitters Club. 

This week we're looking at Robotix, Marvel's adaptation of a 1980s Hasbro property that desperately wanted to be the next Transformers. The comic is better than the cartoon, but it is missing the rad theme song. 

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery is Futuriffic, with two very different visions of what the future looked like from the 1980s. Mike checked out Captain Power & the Soldiers of the Future #1, while Jessika explored Alien Worlds #1. Put on your shades, the future looks bright. 

Put on your smartypants and warm up your pipes, we're going to the opera and checking out Ariane & Bluebeard! A comic adaptation by of a French opera, readers are in for a visual feast thanks to P. Craig Russell's incredible art. 

It's time to brush up on your foreign accents, because this week's DBD theme is "International Delights." Mike got into some very polite superhero action with Alpha Flight 130, while Jessika broke out her language mastery and read the French comic  Les Sauveurs d'Esprits.

It's time to go back to the 1980s, when giant robots ruled the pop culture landscape with rocket fists, and talking about Dynamo Joe! A love letter to Japanese media like Robotech and Gundam, we talk about how the comic is mostly a successful send-up to its source material

For this week's Dollar Bin Discovery, we're Just Visiting and checking out comics with prominent guest stars.  For Mike's pick, robot versions of the Justice League tussle with Hourman in Hourman #6. Meanwhile, over at Marvel, Jessika watched the X-Men crash the party in Death's Head II #1. 

This week, we're tapping into some 1980s gold with Ex-Mutants, one of the wildest post-apocalyptic stories we've ever read. This book's got it all: A nuclear apocalypse, mutants turned into humans, and a surprising creator who went on to do truly great things in comics.

For this week's Dollar Bin Discoveries, we're piling on the pouches in surprising ways. Jessika dug into untold historical riches with Duck Tales #4, while Mike explored a pouchful of espionage with Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D #1.  

Slip into your ballgown and slap on a tiara, because this week's Dollar Bin Discovery theme is "Pretty Pretty Princess!" Mike checked out some action-intense royalty with Xena: Warrior Princess #1, while Jessika opted for more precious content with Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld #1.

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery theme is Brothers. Mike checked out a super-powered family feud with Brigade vol. 2 #2, while Jessika revisited The Beagle Boys #28, starring Duckburg’s criminal band of bumbling brothers. 

Today we're checking out American Honda Presents: Supergirl #1 & 2, a pair of promotional comics created in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Safety Belt Campaign.   Just how effective were these at convincing readers to buckle up? No idea. But they are two of the silliest comics we've read in the history of the show.

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery is Neon! Everything is louder, brighter, and just a little more extreme. Mike got into some vibrant sci-fi with Radical Dreamer #1. Jessika, meanwhile, checked out Deadpool: Back in Black #1, proving that black costumes can still deliver colorful action. Grab your sunglasses! 

Our next deep dive tackles Howard the Duck... not the character so much as infamous 1986 movie and Marvel's adaptation. We're talking about what's arguably Hollywood’s strangest comic-book movie and whether its tie-in comic it improves on the source material. Spoiler: It doesn't. 

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery theme is High Octane, where speed comes in more than one flavor. Mike took a lap with Legends of NASCAR #6, bringing plenty of racing action and ’90s promotional energy, while Jessika dove into action-packed seas with Captain Nauticus & The Ocean Force.

This week we're taking flight with our most niche comic yet, Engel: Pandoramicum. Originally designed to promote a German RPG, the comic expands one of the most fascinating tabletop settings of a fallen future with mixed results. 

This week, we're channeling Prismatic Power with two comics that couldn’t be more different. Mike suffered through Judgement Day #1 from Lightning Comics, while Jessika uncovered adventure and mysticism in Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny #4. One shines with pulpy treasure-hunting energy. The other mostly shines because of the foil cover. Guess which is which. 

This week’s Dollar Bin Discoveries get Ooey Gooey with two very different kinds of comic-book sludge. Jessika dove into Warriors of Plasm #1 for a heap of malleable alien weirdness, while Mike checked out Captain America #395 (featuring the unforgettable “The House That Dripped Dough!”) Sometimes the goo is cosmic. Sometimes it’s pastry-related.

This week, we’re jumping into light speed with Star Wars: Infinities, Dark Horse’s trilogy of “what if?” stories that remixed the original films. Join us as we explore how these comics spin the classic stories from a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

Comedy comes in very different flavors this week, as our latest Dollar Bin Discovery theme is "Haha." Mike dug up Dead Clown #1 for the finest in edgelord humor, while Jessika cracked up with Funnytime Features #3.

Our latest deep dive looks at Mr. Monster: Origins from Dark Horse. A satirical throwback to Golden Age horror comics with a modern twist, it's an origin story that (mostly) works as a sendup to the genre it love.

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery is Shapeshifters, where nothing stays the same for long. Mike rolled out with Transformers Generation 2 #1 for some classic robots-in-disguise action. Meanwhile, Jessika stepped into the chaos of Shade the Changing Man #1 (1990).

It's time to take to the sky! This week we're looking at Storm Hawks, a short-lived animated series and toyline from the late 2000s. We're looking at the mini-comic that came with its DVDs, as well as discussing what we've dubbed "Schrödinger's Comic."

This week’s theme is Patriotic Personas, so we're mixing superheroes and national pride. Mike checked out Taskmaster vol. 3 #3, with the villain going against South Korean superheroes. Meanwhile, Jessika explored Captain Canuck Reborn #0, where a new hero steps in to wear the flag.

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery theme is Snacktastic, where comics and junk food collide in the most 90s way possible. Mike dug into Drake Snack Cakes Mini-Comics #1, while Jessika checked out the X-Men: Pizza Hut Collector’s Edition #1.

This week we're plugging into Cyborg! Based on the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, Cannon video made this freebie to hype the movie's VHS release.   The comic tries to make the movie seem cool, but neither comes out looking great.

This week, we’re celebrating Women’s History Month with some “Wonderful Women” comics! Jessika checked out the indie sci-fi adventure The Adventures of Theown, while Mike read Xena: Warrior Princess: Bloodlines!

This week we’re headed to the future with Trekker (1987), Ron Randall’s gritty sci-fi series. Spoiler: We loved this dystopian space opera series and its star, Mercy St. Clair.

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery is "Heroception." Mike chose Fantastic Four vol. 3 #60 for one of the best stories he ever read about Marvel’s First Family. Meanwhile, Jessika read Radioactive Man #679 for a multiverse story about Springfield’s superhero.

Remember G.I. Joe: Sigma 6? You’re not alone if you don’t! Today we’re looking at the tie-in miniseries for the toys that attempted to reboot the G.I. Joe franchise  for a new generation. Even though the toys and cartoon weren’t hits, the comic is surprisingly fun!

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery theme is Lovesick, and we’re looking at some VERY different comics. Mike checked out JLA #90 for superhero heartbreak, while Jessika explored Beta Sexus #2 for a super steamy sci-fi story. 

Today we're checking out Marvel’s Earthworm Jim, which has no right being as good as it is. Considering how wild the source material is, it's a miracle that Marvel in 1995 managed to capture the crazy humor of the video game.

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery theme is “feeling green,” so we dredged up cash and cackling villains. Jessika read 1st Issue Special #2 to meet the Green Team (a squad of kid millionaires), while Mike took on Green Goblin #1 for a dose of cackling chaos.

Today we’re checking out M. Rex, the two-issue oddity that inspired Generator Rex and somehow predicted Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. We break down how this tiny, strange series had both a small run and an outsized legacy.

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery is all about Double Trouble: That means it's twice the fun and twice the chaos. Mike spun into Web of Spider-Man #117 while Jessika tackled the wonderfully weird Dragonfly and Dragon Man. When comics double up, things get stranger.

This week we're reading The Girl in the Bay, a supernatural drama about lost time, second chances, and the unsettling idea of someone else living your life. After vanishing in 1969, Kathy Sartori resurfaces fifty years later to confront an eerie double and the life she never got to live. It’s a moody, introspective story about identity, grief, and new beginnings.

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery takes flight with "Things With Wings."  Mike cracked open SilverHawks #1 and got in touch with his inner space cop, while Jessika checked out a winged menace in Rune #1. 

This week we're unwrapping Within Our Reach, the early ’90s holiday benefit anthology. Created to raise funds for Sempervirens and amfAR, the book features a mix of superheroes and social causes into one seasonal package. Festive, earnest, and unexpectedly weird in turns, it’s a holiday special worth reading.

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the bins, Not a hero was stirring without long undies underneath. This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery celebrates Long Underwear, so Jessika is checking out Herbie #1 from Dark Horse, while Mike read Glory & Friends Christmas Special. 

Today we’re going (back) to the future with Hercules: Prince of Power vol. 2. Will we get lost without the context of the prequel? Will Marvel’s biggest himbo in space win us over? Is Skyppi the Skrull a trans allegory? Tune in to find out!

This week, we're blasting off into Sci-Fi Crime, where the future is shady and everyone's moral compass is a bit off. Mike checked out the preview issue of Crimson Skies, a pulpy mix of air pirates and alternate history, while Jessika dove into the wonderfully chaotic Aristocratic X-Traterrestrial Time-Traveling Thieves #1. It’s heists, hijinks, and high-concept nonsense. 

Our latest deep dive tackles how comics confronted (and often struggled to confront) the AIDS epidemic throughout the 1980s and 90s. There's everything from groundbreaking moments of compassion to outrageously offensive books. We check out what the medium got right, what it got very wrong, and why these stories still matter. 

This week’s Dollar Bin Discovery theme honors Native American Heritage Month with a look at comics with Native characters across the decades. Mike read Avengers #682, where a legacy hero gets swept into a cosmic crisis, while Jessika explored the trippy, time-bending world of Timespirits #1.

This week we're diving into Garth Ennis’s 2007 Dan Dare series. It's a grim, yet surprisingly heartfelt reboot of a character better known for stiff-upper-lip sci-fi adventures.

This week on Dollar Bin Discoveries, we’re celebrating comics’ Elderly Icons... because heroes don’t retire, they just get grumpier. Mike visits a superpowered retirement community in Welcome to Tranquility #1, while Jessika rides into battle with Crone #1. 

This week’s #DollarBinDiscovery is serving up some Pumpkin Spice chaos! Jessika conjures up Curse Words #3, while Mike brews trouble with Wolverine & The X-Men #3. The perfect blend of magic, mutants, and cozy autumn vibes.

Greetings programs! We're downloading into The Grid and checking out Tron: Ghost in the Machine! A comic sequel to a video game that Disney would rather we forget. It tried to keep the Grid alive before the next reboot came along and derezzed it from canon.

Today, we’re turning down the lights for some "Horrotica" comics. Jessika dives into Chains of Chaos #1 from Harris Comics, while Mike explores Jenna Jameson’s Shadow Hunter #0. It’s monsters, mayhem, and just a little bit of questionable seduction. Listen anywhere but Spotify!

This week, we’re diving into one of DC’s most chaotic crossovers: Eclipso: The Darkness Within. It’s a 90s comic event where black diamonds turned heroes into villains, friends into enemies, and comic covers into storage hazards. 

This week on Dollar Bin Discoveries, we’re getting spooky with our Indy Horror theme! Mike braves the chaotic carnage of Scotch McTiernan’s Halloween Party, while Jessika dives into Spend the Night #1, a slasher throwback with serious scream-queen energy. Indie scares, dollar bin style!