Today was a day comics fans in the States enjoy.
On the first Saturday in May each year, comic book companies give out (well, the store owners actually do pay for them) special books that highlight the products they sell. All this helps attract old and new comic fans to their local specialty shops, and that will hopefully keep the industry surviving and hopefully even growing.
This year, I felt there was a significantly improved level of quality compared to previous years. In the last several years, I felt that the different companies were pushing — well, stuff that sucked, as a friend of mine would say.
One trend that has been happening in the past few years, especially by DC Comics, is the using of the “holiday” to provide important books as far as big events go. In 2009, for example, they released issue #0 (I still hate that numbering–for a “zero” comic to exist, there should be no comic at all) for Blackest Night, which has been a huge boon for the company.
This year, a critical chapter leading up to the War Of The Supermen came out, and it was a good one! You don’t often see Superman actually slug someone, but he does in this issue! It includes a synopsis of what has happened in the Superman comics over the past two years. This was the book I enjoyed reading the most, so I hope comics’ fans got to read it. If you didn’t, I’m sure it will be included in upcoming trade paperbacks/hardcovers.
Other comics I enjoyed sampling/reading included:
1. Marvel’s Greatest Comics–The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz #1. I already have the complete hardback version of all the issues in this series, but it was good to see the first chapter again. Great work by Eric Shanower.
2. Red 5 Comics–Atomic Robo/Neozoic/Box 13. I love Atomic Robo, and so I was happy to get another new short story featuring the character. I also liked Neozoic, so again that’s worth getting. I didn’t make a lot of sense out of Box 13, but we’ll see if I carry on with it later.
3. Oni Press–The Sixth Gun #1. One of the folks in a local comics store told everyone he could how much he liked this book, so each person coming into the place today asked for it. Who says advertising doesn’t pay? I liked it well enough, but it is always hard to judge a story that is just getting started. But the pacing was good, the characters and setting interesting, so I’ll keep up when the regular issues hit the stands. And isn’t that what Free Comic Book Day is all about?
4. Dark Horse Comics–Doctor Solar, Man Of The Atom/Magnus, Robot Fighter. Jim Shooter is back reviving once again the classic characters from the 1960s. This is apparently a reboot, with Shooter tapping into the interesting themes of both characters (although I am again glad that Solar does not sport the green face he did way back when. Again, a keeper!
5. Radical Comics–Welcome to the Radical Universe. Lots of painted art in this one that highlights Driver For The Dead, The Rising, After Dark and Time Bomb. I’m particularly drawn to that last one since Paul Gulacy is providing the art for a story by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. I might sample all of these.
6. Archaia–Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock. I remain completely enchanted by Mouse Guard, which I tremendously enjoyed. Fraggle Rock, a Muppets creation, also intrigues me.
7. Dynamite!–Green Hornet. This comic gives the initial few pages for each of five comics in the franchise, including Green Hornet: Year One, Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet, The Green Hornet Strikes, and the two Kato flavors. I love the original characters, so I’ll continue to buy these books.
Not a bad haul for a Free Comic Book Day!
Here’s today’s video, with Horatio Caine from CSI: Miami delivering his one-liners!
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