Every time I do one of these I think, “This is going to be a light one!” Then, 4,000 words later and I realize once again, “Nope!” That’s certainly the case this month, as all you fine folks delivered some fun subjects to dig into, so let’s get straight into it as I answer subscriber and patron questions about the wider world of comics and beyond.

Whats been one of your favorite comic deal/find price-wise? Such as finding something amazing in a charity shop, garage sale, back issue bin, sale etc. – Jack Mayo

This is an incredibly easy answer, because when I was a kid — think…10, maybe? — I found The Avengers #1 in an antique store for $10. As in, the first The Avengers #1, and not a reprint. It’s in bad shape, of course, but I almost passed out when I found it. When I went up to the register to buy it, I tried to play it as cool as possible in hopes that they didn’t change their mind when they realized what they were doing. That’s undoubtedly the best cost/value find I’ve had, and it’s a real treasure of mine that I’m delighted by to this day.

After being a pretty faithful comics reader for some time, I got out of it about three years ago. Now I’m coming back to it. I’m already catching up on some of the high-profile hits of that gap time (Absolute Batman, North’s FF run) – but I want to know what else I missed. What five comics/graphic novels would you recommend to someone trying to get caught up on the best work of the last three years? (I’m talking everything here, not just Big Two, not just superhero stuff.) Thanks as always and congrats on the much-deserved Eisner!! – Elliot Metz

For this, I’m going to ignore the obvious picks like…well, the entirety of the Absolute line. I would also point you to my Comics of the Year lists from the past three years, as that’s a good guide. That said, if I had to boil my favorites down to just five print releases and I wanted to avoid the obvious ones, I’d go with…

Hirayasumi: Obviously. This is my favorite comic of this decade and one of my favorites of all-time. Keigo Shinzo rules, and it’s just an incredibly lovely comic, even if most would emphasize that it is actually manga (which is true, but they’re the same to me).

Frontier: Guillaume Singelin’s sci-fi/dystopia/environmental delight graphic novel was a big hit in France but was missed by a lot of readers. It’s both the second one I thought of and a clear #2 on this list. It rules.

Land: Another manga pick, Kazumi Yamashita’s excellent series about a land haunted by its gods, a pair of twins with opposite lives, and the shocking reality behind it all is essential reading.

Sleep: Eight issues, one trade paperback, all incredible. Zander Cannon just doesn’t miss, and he certainly doesn’t in this series about a man who becomes a monster that ravages his town when he goes to sleep, with its unique wrinkle being that it focuses on the times he’s awake, so we just get the times he’s haunted and/or trying to solve his problem, not when he’s terrorizing his town.

Nights: This Image Comics series/former Image Comics series from Wyatt Kennedy, Luigi Formisano, and friends is a one of a kind read, one that blends every genre into something magical, personal, and fully unique. It’s slice of life with a real genre edge, and I couldn’t love it mopre.

Pick one comic for each of the formats (you get the whole run, if necessary). This is the only way you personally can read that comic going forward: Omnibus; Hardcover Deluxe (The one where it is about 3 trades long); Softcover (Phonebook); Hardcover (TPB size); TPB; “Floppy” singles; Digital, PDF or .cbz; Digital, infinite scroll; Digital, smart panel; Any other format you can think of that I forgot? – Stephen Adkison

Oh boy. I misunderstood this at first and thought you wanted me to share my favorite format at first. This is much more comprehensive! I’m going to go first instincts on these so I don’t overthink it, and because it’s a lot!

Omnibus: The weekly DC series Countdown, because it’s terrible and I wouldn’t want to read anything in this format anyways, so that makes my decision to not read it even easier.

Hardcover Deluxe: The Wicked + The Divine, at least in part because I already own it in this format and it fits perfectly into this length as a 45 issue series.

Softcover (phonebook): The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. It’s one of the few titles that I’d actually want the whole run in one giant tome on.

Hardcover (TPB size): Kingdom Come. I have the TPB. One of these days I will upgrade to a nice hardcover.

TPB: Y the Last Man. It feels right.

“Floppy” Singles: Saga, because it’s probably the longest running single issue series I have actively going right now, so let’s just stay consistent.

Digital, PDF or .cbz: Ugh. Another way I don’t like to read. I will say…the Energon Universe, because I’ve moved away from single issues anyways, and it feels like a good fit.

Digital, infinite/vertical scroll: It’s Jeff, because it’s already in that format.

Digital, smart panel: I would never, ever read a comic like this. But if forced to, let’s choose something that sticks closely to a grid. Mister Miracle, I guess.

Digest/Compact: You didn’t mention this, so I will add it here. My pick is Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos’ Impulse, both because it would allow me to read it in a fitting format and because it would force DC to publish it in this way.