Last week I rambled on about Free Comic Book Day and all the wonders you can get for free. I do hope you headed out to your Local Comic Shop and partook in some free comics. I headed out to Comic Carnival to pick up six titles that I wanted to read and then Sue and I decided to head to Dayton, Ohio first in order to hopefully complete the quest on the Aviation Trail and get a Wilbear. I had started this off on whim, getting some the the geocaches and Adventure Labs in Dayton. We had missed a few spots, so since we had a day, the idea was to pick up two more and get a Wilbear for our efforts. Unfortunately, the cemetery’s visitor center was closed and that was our first stop. Instead, we had a nice lunch and went out to Bell, Book, and Comic, a local shop, that happened to have a friend of mine as a guest. I was able to pick up a few more free comics and a couple of things I was interested in. So here are the free comics I ended up with by the end of the day:
Flash Gordon – I started reading Flash Gordon when I was in 3rd grade. It was the Kitchen Sink Press Volume 1 of the original Alex Raymond Sunday Strips… It was amazing and changed my life. I have always been a fan of Flash ever since. I watched Buster Crabbe, and the awesomely cheesy 1980’s film (which I also loved). Currently I read the Dan Schkade strips online over at Comics Kingdom. The art style is completely different, and that’s OK. The story he is telling is compelling and sheds a different light on Mongo. So now Mad Cave has gotten the comic rights to Flash and it is also a unique take on it. Starting with the defeat of Ming the Merciless. This comic, like many Free Comic Book Day options is just supposed to get you interested, it does not tell a complete story, and leave you at a massive cliffhanger. Characterize, the non-humans in this comic are more alien, Ming, who used to look like the last emperor of China, now is humanoid, but definitely not human as are most of the inhabitants Mongo. The war is over, but Ming has one last trick up his sleeve and Flash needs to stop him. Unfortunately, the cost may be too high. SO we need to wait until at least July to find out what will happen next. Mad Cave was kind enough to put a publishing schedule at the end of the comic along with som ads for Action figures and the like…
Spider-Man/Ultimate Universe – Major publishers with long histories tend to use Free Comic Book Day to introduce some new series or major event. Marvel decided to do a little bit of both in this issue. The first part is Target: Peter Parker which has poor peter on a date when he gets targeted by assassin robots and needs to be Spider-Man to save the day. Of course, his date doesn’t understand and thinks Peter just left her to fend for herself… The next part deals with the new Ultimate Universe as seen in the new Ultimate titles, the big one missing right now would be the Avengers or as they were know in the ultimate universe the Ultimates. This seems to be a heist storyline where a group of heroes go into a secret base to steal something… They end up in a battle royale with bad guys and end up activating a long lost hero which should make things interesting. Finally a few pages to introduce Venom War which look like a summer event to beat all summer events… because all summer events are ones that beat all other summer events. I did not pick up the DC Summer event prequel, because I’m old and am tired of summer events.
The Night Librarian – The concept is books have power.. and sometimes that power escapes. Basically, if you were a character in a book would you want to live the same scene over and over and over and over again? No, you’d want to get away too. Night Librarians keep the world safe from these things. So we are introduced to the world, and the main characters who happen to be apprentice night librarians. One is anxious, a rule follower the other, of course, isn’t and hence hijinks ensue. This looks like a great book (probably a planned series) for young readers, but like many books for young readers can be perfect for readers of all ages.
Unicorn Crush – The next book in the Phoebe and her Unicorn series. This was a series that tended to disappear off my classroom shelves. so basically think of a buddy story where one is a girl and the other is a unicorn, both with attitudes.
Boom! Box 10th Anniversary Extravaganza – This is an anthology of four different titles celebrating the old and the new series produced under the Boom! Box label. Lumberjanes, Giant Days, Zara, and Midas. Lumberjanes was an amazing series about a girls summer camp and the adventures the girls have. You would thing “ho hum” except for the compelling characters and the fact that the camp was surrounded by weird and strange stuff. Giant Days is about a group of people away at university (that’s a hint it happens in England). Basically a group of people who become friends even though they come from different backgrounds. I recall when I picked up my first issue and was supposed to be a limited series, it was successful enough that it just kept going… Both of these mini stories had to do with music and bands. the complete series for both titles have been put together in trades. The last two stories where introductions to new series
Katie the Catsitter and Max Meow – Katie the Catsitter is a great story about a girl who ends up in the world of superheroes and really amazing cats! One of those ‘Strong female protagonist” comics that is AWESOME! This offering for FCBD joins Katie with Max Meow a cat super hero due to s dimensional portal. It’s a great introduction to both titles.
Snoopy Beagle Scout Adventures – A collection of Charles Schulz Peanuts cartoons dealing with Snoopy and the Beagle Scouts. Being an old Boy Scout myself I had to pick this one up. Peanuts was one of the first comic strips I read so it definitely hits all the nostalgia buttons.
Ultra Duck – Introducing a new world and character- Ultra Duck! A duck with amazing superpowers and his world. Interesting that I was initially thinking this was some kind of a Disney related title. While the artwork definitely reminds me of Disney… it isn’t as far as I can tell.
Eye Lie Popeye – Popeye the Sailor Man done in a rather Manga style… An interesting way to bring a character up to date. This is a preview (and therefore has a massive (no pun intended) cliffhanger at the end.
Asterix – I have always felt a little behind when dealing with the classic European comics, Asterix and TinTin. I know of both of them, I’ve even read a bit, but I also know how big they are outside of the U.S. This is an introduction to the world of Asterix the Gaul through a “Sports Guide” bringing together classic scenes and comedic commentary. Definitely something to take some time to go through and maybe even pick up some other Asterix books afterwards.
Witches of Brooklyn – This Graphic Novel series is great! Another one of those that gets pulled off the shelves of my classroom. For Free Comic Book Day they have put together a short story and a bunch of activities to hook kids on the series. I highly recommend picking this series up for a child you like, or for yourself.
Pokémon – What can I say? It’s the manga even printed in the appropriate Japanese style (for those of us in the US- that would be backwards.
I realize that with Free Comic Book day long past you may not have a chance to pick up these comics, but I do recommend picking up the regular titles if you have the chance. I know I will be continuing using with Flash Gordon, The Night Librarians, Katie the Catsitter, and looking into some of the other books. Unfortunately not being in a classroom anymore, I really don’t have a reason to buy every all ages comic and graphic novel since I have no place for them to go when I’m done with them. If only my HOA allowed Little Free Libraries.
Finally, while not a “Free Comic Book” I did pick up Stuart Sanger’s “The Wise Old Owl” which since it is a limited run, blah, blah, blah I had a bit of concern even opening it since that would cause the value to plummet faster than a car the second you drive it off the dealership lot. I embraced Whimventure® and decided to gingerly read it as far away from greasy food, and stuff as possible. The entire comic is a homage to the classic superhero detective stories of the past.
As a Batmanesque character our hero is of course wealthy, brilliant, and philanthropic. I found it great that Stuart included the fact that he reverse engineers villain’s devices to create products for his company to sell and therefore makes his fortune from doing what the villains could have done. Stuart’s painterly style makes each page a work of art. If you have the chance I do suggest you pick this up so you to can enjoy the quips and playful take on the dark detective superhero genre.
This Weeks Comics:
It’s getting close to summer so that means it’s time for the Summer Universe Altering Mega Event! An event that will change the face of comics forever… like some of those other events that changed the face of comics forever. Things will happen, heroes will die (for about a month or two), costumes will change… the world as you know it will NEVER BE THE SAME (for at least a few months) until they change everything back to the way it was.
DC is going with Amanda Waller pushing for Absolute Power and Marvel is going Goth with Blood Hunt in which due to an extended solar eclipse vampires take over. 🙄 I personally decided after DC had their “Last Final Ultimate Crisis on Infinite Earths Identity War Battle Thingie” that I would no longer participate in these events. I continue to buy the comics I normally do and “miss out” on the whole event. This decision has changed my universe forever… or at least for a few months.
Batman #147 – While Batman is coming up with a plan to defeat is alternate personality, Zur En Arrh, Damian Wayne has come to the realization that this robot may not be his father (for a super genius this kid isn’t very bright, or maybe for a cold calculating assassin this kids is way too optimistic). Zur-Batman goes after Waller in a connection or set up for this summer’s mega event to end all mega events. Batman (Bruce) is staying off the grid and ends up with some unexpected help.
Amazing Spider-Man #49 – Hey! We’ve got vampires! Umm… didn’t we just finish up Gang War? so now we have “Blood Hunt.” 🙄 I really hope the Spider-Man writers could maybe tell stories that aren’t interconnected with other titles? Maybe just a Spider-Man story that deals with umm… Spider-Man?
Strange Academy Blood Hunt #1 – Wait a second, didn’t I say I wouldn’t get tied into any of these crazy Summer mega events? I lied (sort of) I really like Strange Academy and event though this is a tie-in I decided to see how those crazy kids over at Strange Academy handle themselves since they are junior masters of the mystics arts. Here we are introduced to a new student “Pia” and her familiar “Tito Peping” (who looks like a little French Lop bunny with a monkey tail and is translucent). Things go horribly wrong (as they usually do) when they seek out to confront what we assume is the cause of all this mayhem. We then discover things are not as they seem.
Captain America #9 – Cap goes in search of a change agent in Chile with his new sidekick, a penguin… literally a penguin. We learn a bit more about the importance of his mission and how this weird spiritual world he now deals with works. Also no vampires were harmed in the making of this comic.
Quested Season Two #3 – Time to learn what it takes to be a Quester. It seams the most important thing is embrace your own personal style… SO after losing King Varela, the crew go to rescue the king and things go just as you would expect.
I Hate Fairyland #14 – Larry’s cousin Bubba comes for a visit and regales them with tales of the Gertlin’s that destroyed his world… You wouldn’t believe what happens next! OK You probably would, and Gert comes to save the day or not.