This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Comics not in Diamond’s top 100 sellers for February 2019

---

It has been a a while since we’ve looked back at the previous month’s sales numbers in Underrated, so this week we’re going to be jumping back to February. March will follow once the numbers are available on Comichron, but we’ll just ignore the fact we never looked at January.

This week we’re going to be looking at a list of comics that are all pretty good, but don’t get the attention that they deserve. Now I’m not even going to pretend to have a definitively exhaustive list of underrated comics here, because we’re hoping  that you decide to check at least one of these series out next time you’re looking for something new either online or at your LCS, and giving you a huge list to check out would be counter productive to that. Instead, you’ll find four to six comics that are worth your attention that failed to crack the top 100 in sales. The only hard stipulation for this week: not one of the comics made it into the top 100 for February’s comic sales, according to Comichron, which is why they’re Underrated.

---

Grumble #4 (Albatross)
Sales Rank/Units Sold: 354/2,356*
Why You Should Read It: Think Constantine mixed with Howard the Duck. The first issue was good, but the next ones have been batter. At only around 2,500* (reported to Diamond) sales, this book has been criminally under read. It’s easily one of the most enjoyable comics being published at the moment; one free from the constraints of a major line, huge crossovers and editorial oversight, allowing Rafer Roberts and Mike Norton free reign to blow your mind with the off beat humour and surprisingly powerful emotional undertones.

• 

• 

*I had originally noticed this book in the rankings at #473 with 749 sales. It turns out that was a second, more expensive, version of this book, but since I had already set the top of the column up, I decided to break the descending format and leave Grumble at the top once again because it’s such a brilliant comic.

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #1 (Valiant)
Sales Rank/Units Sold: 324/1,986
Why You Should Read It:  I may be slightly biased toward this book, seeing as how the series was, and remains, one of my favourite runs of all time, but this reprint of the first issue is only $1. A DOLLAR! You can’t buy (half decent) coffee for that price anymore, and as an exploratory step into the world of the Earth’s immortal guardian you can’t go wrong with this.

Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero’s Journey (Tokyopop)
Sales Rank/Units Sold: 289/3,194
Why You Should Read It: Who doesn’t love a Christmalloween themed comic in April? Plus, it’s pretty enjoyable.

Black Badge #7 (Boom)
Sales Rank/Units Sold: 280/3,370
Why You Should Read It: Boy scouts trained as assassins. That’s what sold me on the comic (and I think I started with the sixth issue before circling back), although finding out Matt Kindt wrote it would have had the same effect. As with any Matt Kindt book, there’s more layers to this than a tiramisu, and part of the excellence here is that you get to slowly unpack all of the details on multiple readings.

God Of War #4 (Dark Horse)
Sales Rank/Units Sold: 244/4,880
Why You Should Read It: Because it’s a video game tie in comic that’s actually pretty decent, amazingly enough. I’ve been enjoying the ride so far.

Incursion #1 (Valiant)
Sales Rank/Units Sold: 184/7,613
Why You Should Read It: Valiant’s miniseries are frequently some of the best published, and the first issue of Incursion was utterly sublime. One of the most accessibly awesome entries into the Valiant universe with a story about an immortal trying to save his ward while simultaneously preventing the world being drained of its life force. But which is his priority?

.

---

---

Unless the comics industry ceases any and all publication look for a future installment of Underrated to cover more comics that aren’t cracking the top 100.