My first Free Comic Book Day - finale

I know that I wrote in my last post that I´m going to look at the big two´s FREE COMIC BOOK DAY comics but that´s not entirely true. Because I already gave you my opinion on the DC KIDS SAMPLER and I´m also going to cover the FCBD issue of SAVAGE DRAGON.

Or at least that´s what I´m hoping for. I already thought I could pack these into my last post but making that post took longer than expected. So for this post I´m going over the books in the order of how well they achieved the task of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. Which for me means promoting the idea of reading comics as fun but also promoting the particular title and make the readers pick up the book.

WOLVERINE ORIGIN OF AN X - MAN


Fourth place belongs to this comic that has a nice cover by Ed McGuiness while the interior 22 page story is done by Gurihiru, somebody I never heard of. The first thing I noticed - besides the " great for all ages " and " not for resale " ( like anyone is going to pay attention to that ) on the cover - is tha format.

That´s because both this comic as the Avengers issue are in the POWER FREAKS format. Way back when I had the hopes of saving the title by participating we found out that if we use a somewhat smaller size than the standard US comic format you can print a 32 page comic on two maximum sized papers. Some of the german independent comics like Weissblech´s HORRORSCHOCKER have since then adapted the format since it was never our intention to keep that info for ourselves.


Now I´m not sure if the smaller size is really cheaper for MARVEL and they are trying to find a way to produce their comics for less money. The way they have made the most part of their books 3.99 books seems to contradict it. I also don´t know if it really makes a difference with the kind of numbers MARVEL is producing. What I do know is that it must be cheaper to ship the comics. I know if you ship one comic it doesn´t really make a difference if it costs 5 cents more or not. But it´s different if we are talking about 1,000 comics or 10,000 comics.

Anyway, unlike the american readers I have read quite a few comics in the smaller size so it´s really not that big a problem. If you read comics only in the US standard format this you have to adapt a bit. But if you read comics in the US standard formar as well as in the manga size and the magazine size it´s not a big deal. Heck, even if you only read standard US format comics you won´t mind the smaller size after the first five pages.


But let´s not dwell too much on the outer appearance and talk about content. The reason why this comic is only in fourth place ( of the four comics in this post ) is that while the art is really nice looking the story is kind of - meh. I guess the idea behind this comic was to promote the movie X - MEN ORIGINS : WOLVERINE or the regular WOLVERINE comic - or both. The problem is it doesn´t accomplish anything like that.

I haven´t seen the movie yet but from what I saw in the trailer nothing even remotely similar happens in the comic. And the same is true for the comic. I don´t know what MARVEL was thinking but they clearly didn´t think about the customer who reads this comic, goes to a comic shop to buy the next issue and all he can find is the latest issue of OLD MAN LOGAN. Which not only looks completely different but is also much bloodier.


Maybe the idea behind it was to give readers an out - of - continuity springboard to jump into the Loganverse but for that it doesn´t have enough background info. The story just covers the absolutely necessary basics and if it had come out in the 70s it wouldn´t even need that. Because back then ( and I´m totally dating myself now ) all the comics had a short written introduction at the top of the first page. So there would have been something on the first page like :

Brainwashed by a secret agency and turned into the deadly Weapon X the mutant Logan was found with total memory loss by canadian Departement H founder James Hudson who gave him the codename Wolverine. With a skeleton laced with Adamantium - the strongest metal known to man - and unbreakable claws from the same substance as well as a healing factor that lets him recover from any wound he fought for years alongside the uncanny X - Men always looking for his past and the people who did this to him. Now he got his memories back and he wants payback !


I know MARVEL doesn´t like to give stuff away for free but that´s the whole idea behing FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. So I can understand why they don´t want to hurt their possible sales of ORIGIN issues. But I think it would have been better to just put an issue of the current storyline OLD MAN LOGAN into the FCBD issue with an TO BE CONTINUED IN THE ONGOING WOLVERINE COMIC at the end.

And that´s why out of the four comics this one has the lowest grade.

THE AVENGERS


Now at first I thought this comic would be in the same position as the above. From what I read it´s much too complicated and confusing for readers to understand.


Which may be the case for Today´s comic readers. Because let´s face it : they are already out of their depth if they start a new book with issue 2. At least that´s the impression you get on the internet. Be that as it may I found the Avengers FCBD comic to be a really good jumping on point.


Unlike the wolverine comic this one has the actual writer of the Avengers franchise Brian Michael Bendis onboard as well as star artist Jim Cheung - even if the latter one isn´t on any of the Avengers books. Jim Cheung is one of the artists who had their big break on CrossGen and who became a superstar when he went to Marvel when CrossGen went bankrupt - along with ( among others ) Steve Epting, Paul Pelletier or Steve Mc Niven. Which by the way contradicts the rumor that CrossGen folded because it didn´t have good art.


But back to the Avengers comic. For me the story was entertaining, funny and it does a good job of presenting the status quo of the Avengers. There are two Avengers teams : one good and one bad. The bad Avengers team is lead by Norman Osborne who is America´s darling right now and it´s members are all villains. The issue even tells you which villain plays which hero. And at the end of the issue the reader knows that there is going to be a confrontation between the two teams. What more do you need ?


I know some reviews are like " Oh no, two teams of Avengers ? That´s way too complicated! " but come on. That´s only a problem if you don´t read the comic. And that´s not the idea behind FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. So we should not base our evaluation of a comic on the basis of what happens if somebody just flips through it ad doesn´t read it. I know that a lot of comics out there are not very reader friendly. But it isn´t so that the reader has to be spoonfed with everything.


Way back when I started reading comics you read them because you didn´t know everything about it after reading one issue. If I would have read this comic then I wouldn´t have said : " Two Avenger teams ? And one is composed of villains ? And Spider - Man and Wolverine are with the good guys ? I don´t understand. " No it probably would have been something like : " Two Avenger teams ? And one is composed of villains ? And Spider - Man and Wolverine are with the good guys ? That´s totally awesome ! I have got to find out more. "


So this comic gets two thumbs up and the third place because it does everything right that the Wolverine comic does wrong.

BLACKEST NIGHT 0


Now this is how you start a big story. Not an event. Because DC does stories while MARVEL does events. I don´t know if the 12 pages are from the first issue of BLACKEST NIGHT or if they are a FREE COMIC BOOK DAY exclusive. What I do know is that DC brings their a game with the creative dreamteam of Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis and Dough Mahnke. While Ivan Reis delivers his usual vibrant art Geoff Johns gives you everything you need to know to understand the story. Yes, if you haven´t read FINAL CRISIS there are some spoilers in it - as some spoilers from FLASH REBIRTH like the fact that Hal Jordan is talking to Flash Barry Allen ( Duh ! ). But whose fault is it if you have been living under a rock ?


Additionally you get a few words from the writer about his plans for the ongoing story as well as some pin up pages of ALL the players involved in BLACKEST NIGHT. So the whole comic is one big advertisement. But unlike UNIVERSE ZERO it is totally free. It seems that sometimes the powers that be learn something from their mistakes.




Not that it has done many in the Green Lantern universe since ONE YEAR LATER. From REVENGE OF THE GREEN LANTERNS to WANTED : HAL JORDAN to SINIESTRO CORPS this has been one incredible rollercoaster ride which only got better and better. And it seems that the best is still to come.




I should also mention that this FCBD comic as well as the Avengers comic and the next one are all on the same level as far as succeding in promoting the title. The reason why it is on second place while the Avengers comic is on third is that it is much better structured to give the reader all the necessary information. yes, the Avengers comic does a good job and provides the reader with the current status quo. But Blackest Night 0 provides score cards on top of that.

blackest night 0 review

There is also an episode on ComicGeekSpeak about Blackest Night 0 to which you can download the episode

SAVAGE DRAGON 148

Yes, that´s right. Erik Larsen gives you a whole issue of SAVAGE DRAGON for free ! Which is the reason why it is the number one. It has the current writer and the current artist of the book. It´s from the current storyline so if you read it and you like it you can buy the next issue in the comic shop without having to fear any surprises. It is a full length issue ( without the back up stories and the letters pages of course ), the story explains everything you need to knoew and it´s free !

Now with a lesser talented writer there would be the danger of boring the reader with expository dialogue. But by introducing a new superhero into the world of Dragon it´s just an ordinary case of two crime fughters telling each other their life story. It also gives you some historical bacground about the new old hero Daredevil.


Savage Dragon is one of the best superhero books out there that nobody reads. No other comic has such a long run by one and the same writer / artist / inker and an ongoing storyline that always manages to surprise it´s readers while staying fresh without the need of retcons. No other comic is constantly experimenting with the artform comic book and with this issue you really have no excuses. So if you want to read wett written and well drawn realistic comics you ought it to yourself to check it out !

larsen on free comic book day

So with this shameless plug for a comic that really deserves a bigger audience I can finally end the report on my first FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. There were some good comics, some not so good comics and some really great comics. Some of them even made it on my pull list like LOVE AND CAPES of which I have already gotten the first trade ( although I can´t read any trades with my injured shoulder right now ) while there are others I will try to avoid. All in all it was a wonderful experience and I can only recommend it to everybody who likes comics. I know I can´t wait till the next FREE COMIC BOOK DAY comes around.

That´s all for today and next time we will talk about DC destroying Power Girl´s cleavage window. And not in a good way.


Power Girl picture by Ryan Kinnard

Colors by powerbook125

edit : When I did the post I forgot to put in this info for the Power Girl picture above. There is also a link included for powerbook125´s deviant art gallery ( which is NSFW as I should mention ) where you can see the uncensored version.

As there have been some complaints about this kind of things before I have opted for a slightly altered version. I wanted to do a direct link to the uncensored image as well but as you will be redirected if you are not a member of deviant art I think you can use the gallery link. Once again, sorry for not including this earlier and thanks to Ryan Kinnard and powerbook125 for the excellent picture. Nice work guys ! Now if only DC would...naaah

powerbook125´s deviantart gallery ( NSFW )

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My first Free Comic Book Day - part 2

It´s been longer than a week since my last post which is in part because my recovery has not gone as well as I expected. After leaving the pre - surgery effects behind me I thought the worst was over. Well, as it turned out once the healing begins it all starts over again and you have to keep fighting every day.


I thought I could continue the daily schedule I had worked out but you know how it is about the best laid plans.....On some days I was so weak that reading comics took too much effort. And reading stuff on the computer screen or even writing something was totally out of the question. On some days I didn´t even THINK about reading comics. That´s hard.

Of course there were other days when I was brimmimg with energy just waiting to be let loose on the unsuspecting internet community. Which were the days my computer decided to go crazy. Just the other day I tried to do a post but every time I uploaded a picture the internet program completely shut down. But Today there seem to be no problems, I have slept a little, I had something to eat and to drink and my shoulder doesn´t hurt too much. So let´s continue where we left off last time.

I was writing about my first FREE COMIC BOOK DAY reviewing the issues I got. The topic is not that current since a few weeks have passed but I wanted to finish this before starting on some other topic. In hindsight it might be fate that I didn´t finish this the last time. Because I have been to the comic shop since then where two new FREE COMIC BOOK DAY comics were waiting for me : the MERCY SPARX issue and WILLIAM SHATNER PRESENTS which brings my total quota to 13 books out of 15 I ordered. Not too shabby.

MERCY SPARX - UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT


After actually reading the comic I can say that it´s a good lead - in to the Jenny Sparks universe....I mean Mercy Sparx. Dammit, I keep writig Jenny Sparks. Anyway, the comic gives you a good recap of the story so far while presenting the new status quo as well as end with a cliffhanger for the new storyline. But I also have to say that my last analysis of the story and art of the series was only reinforced. As someone who reads a lot of sci fi / fantasy stuff the overall plot seems just too unoriginal to me. And the hot chicks who beat the crap out of each other wear way too much to be of interest to me. Not really my scene.

pdf preview fcbd issue

preview pages issue 1

WILLIAM SHATNER PRESENTS


I ordered this mainly because I have no idea what TEK WORLD is all about. Here in Germany William Shatner is always dubbed a one trick pony by the media that proclaims that STAR TREK was his only success. I don´t know but I seem to recall that he also starred in the hit tv series T.J.HOOKER and TEK WORLD which was based on the books he wrote. Anyway, for some reason I missed the series when it was aired in Germany and I therefor never had any interest in the comics. Which brings us to WILLIAM SHATNER PRESENTS.

The comic presents three teaser stories of upcoming series. The first one, TEK WAR CHRONICLES is about TEK WAR and suffers from the usual movie / tv series franchise illness : mediocre art.


Throughout uncounted millenia the powers that be in Tinseltown have applied the rule that if you have a successful franchise you don´t need good art in the comic adaptions. I think their reasoning for that is that the non comic fans who watch the series are a bigger target audience and they will buy the comic in spite of the art. Because most comic muggels can´t tell good art from bad.

Which is the reason why having Walter Simonson on ROBOCOP VERSUS TERMINATOR, Kelly Jones on ALIEN or John Byrne on STAR TREK or ANGEL are the exception and not the rule. I know : the TOMB RAIDER comic sold probably pretty well. But can you imagine the numbers if it hasdn´t sucked ? They probably only sold because of the covers by babe artists like Adam Hughes. But back to TEK WAR.

While the artist is capable enough to transport the story it´s too filled with cliches to hold my interest. I don´t know why so many writers seem to think that having a main character with a drug addiction makes them more interesting. It only diminishes them by showing how weak they are. Because let´s face it : if someone has a problem to just say no he´s not a big role model to begin with. I swear if I have to see / read one more story with a corrupt cop that has a drug addiction but a heart of gold and is the only good cop in town ( despite being corrupt and abusing illegal substances ) I´m going to.......well, I ´ll think of something drastic to do.

The second story MAN O´WAR - which follows two pin ups - has an old comic veteran on art : Pat Broderick.


I don´t know on how many books this guy has been on. Just from the top of my head I remember him being on BATMAN : YEAR THREE, RAGMAN, ALPHA FLIGHT, SPIDER - MAN X FACTOR, MICRONAUTS, FIRESTORM, SWAMP THING, GREEN LANTERN and DOOM 2099. As for the story for my taste it´s way too short ( 4 pages ) to present the lay of the land or to spark any kind of interest for the main character.

Last but not least we have QUEST FOR TOMORROW and the less said about it the better. The art looks like KIM POSSIBLE gone wrong and let´s leave it at that.


So the verdict on this free comic is also that it works pretty well to give you an introduction to the franchise although it would have worked better if they had included the series synopsis from their website instead of the pin ups. I know they look nice and are there to promote something but they should concentrate on the three titles they want to push. Here are some links for more about them ( like what they are all about ) :

tek war preview

man o war preview

quest for tomorrow preview

bluewater productions homepage

Again, the time is up sooner than I thought and because I only managed to review two titles there will be a third part. In this part we had two smaller comic companies who seem to have a very clear vision of what FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is all about. The next installment will take a look at how well the big two fare in that departement.


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Warren Ellis promotes webcomics !

I know I said that there would probably be no posts for one week but I just had to make an exception for this one ( but I have to keep it short because I´m still recovering ) :

Warren Ellis has started a thread on WHITECHAPEL for comic artists to promote their webcomics.


So if you want to get a bigger audience for your online comic or just want to discover hundreds of new ones, here´s your chance. Remember : this thread is not to post a list of your favorite webcomics it´s for promotion purposes only. So if you want to show your work to the world don´t forget the link and keep it to no more than two pictures so the pageload doesn´t take too long. Here´s the link :

warren ellis wants your webcomic

And for all you bloggers out there : spread the word !

That´s all for Today and I will be back for the ( better late than never ) second part of my first FREE COMIC BOOK DAY when I´m feeling better.

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Legacy is not about preserving the ashes. It´s about passing on the fire.

My first Free Comic Book Day !

Because I have to undergo surgery Tomorrow and will most likely be out of comission for a week I thought it´s time for my post on my first FREE COMIC BOOK DAY ( I will write this in small letters from now on because that´s easier if you type with one finger ) that I have already postponed twice.


The free comic book day has been around a few years but so far I never really participated because my old comic shop never really had any interest in it. Sometimes I would find an issue or two but mostly I saw the issues at comic fairs.

Well, this time I asked at my new comic shop how they handled the thing. They have the policy that you can order as much different free comics as you want ( only one copy of each ) but they can´t guarantee you will get them all. The first five comic are free every additional comic costs 50 cent ( that´s EURO cent ). At first I wanted to order them all but then I managed to thin it down a bit.

In the end I ordered 15 of which I got 11. Not a bad quota. I went to the comic shop to pick them up because I planned to read them after surgery but since that turned out to be later than I thought I have already read most of them. I´m going to split this up into two posts since I still haven´t read them all and I don´t want to write about comics I haven´t read. But it´s really high time to do this post since free comic book day is over for a few days now.


First of all I have to say that it´s just three kinds of cool to go home with 11 comics for two bucks. That kind of reminded me of my beginnings as a comic reader when comics in general were 50 Pfenning or 1 Deutschmark.

After reading the comics I have to say that not all of them are successful as a free giveaway comic which main purpose is to promote the material inside. I know one of the reasons is to promote comics and how much fun comics are in general. To get kids to read. But it should also take the reader by the hand and introduce him to the particular part of comic pop culture within it´s pages. And not all of the comics I got mange that. So I´m doing a small rundown of the comics I got and how I would rate them.

MERCY SPARX


This is one comic I ordered but didn´t get. The only reason I´m mentioning it at all is that my brother had an issue of the series in his last comic order. So I´m not too sorry that I didn´t get this. The idea of a bounty hunter / lost soul / antihero who has to bring in soul / angels / devils / demons who have escaped hell / are on earth without permission to get revenge / redemption / his soul back ( choose your plot ) is not really original. Especially now that REPO is on tv which has kind of a similar plot. And the art is not really that good to make it all worthwhile.

I will probably read the following issues ( if my brother gets them ) but so far it sounds like the standard manga story and is not on my radar.

IMPACT UNIVERSITY


This is not really a free comic but more of a catalogue. Which is the reason I ordered it in the first place. I had never heard of Impact University and this book gives you a good sample of the art tutorials they offer. As somebody who dabbles in art myself ( when I´m not suffering from an injured shoulder or carpal tunnel syndrome ) I´m always looking for good how - to books which are usually hard to find. With this comic you can see what they offer, what you need and what you don´t. And it also includes the webadress which nowadays is a must.

So this is rather informative than entertaining but I got what I wanted so that´s okay.

ARCHIE PRESENTS THE MIGTHY ARCHIE ART PLAYERS


Okay, I ordered this one out of pure nostalgia. A while back I wrote something about the MV Comix I used to read when I was a kid which included ARCHIE. Which in turn made me realize that I haven´t read a single Archie comic since then. Somehow I was always much more focused on Batman or Green Lantern which is why I never know who is Betty and who is Veronica. And why Archie has such a hard time choosing - just throw a coin man. They´re both hot. And when in doubt go with the girl who has money. That never hurts.

Anyway, this comics includes four stories and while the art was not done by classic Archie artist Dan DeCarlo ( for his hotter work check out his pin up books from FANTAGRAPHICS )


it still has the Archie house style - although I heard somewhere that they are publishing some books where they try to avoid that look. All in all I now know why I don´t read Archie comics. I don´t know if the stories only work at a certain age or the play of words are just not funny to me but I found it kind of boring. If you are already a fan you will probably like this comic but if not then I doubt that this comic will convince you.

I´m not sure how this would rate on the basis of promoting the franchise but let´s face it - if you don´t know Archie comics you´re living in another galaxy. On the other hand you have to remind some comic readers that there are still Archie comics published.

BONGO COMICS FREE FOR ALL


Another comic where I´m unsure how good it promotes the franchise - or in this case - the publisher is the Bongo Comics Free for all. Even I have some comics of the Simpson or mostly of Radioactive Man. Aside from the occasionally Futurama comic that does a rip off of a superhero story most of the Simpson comics I have are in spanish.

The thing about " holiday comics ", the comics you buy when you´re on holiday, is that sometimes availability is the most important parameter. So when the only comics that are available in Torredembarra are some superhero comics you already have and some Simpson comics you don´t know you go with the Simpson comics. Most of the german Simpson comics I got are from the dollar bin since they have a large readership in Germany - ten times as many as in the states. You can practically find them at every newsstand, train station or supermarket here.

Now this comic includes two Simpson stories, one Futurama story and one superhero story. Like the Archie comic nothing really spectacular that draws new readers to the titles.

DC KIDS MEGA SAMPLER


Now this comic really is one of the better free comics of this year. With material from BATMAN THE BOLD AND THE BRAVE, TINY TITANS, SUPER FRIENDS and BILLY BATSON AND THE POWER OF SHAZAM it gives you a hint of what the books are like while at the same time makes you want to come back for more.

Now I would have preferred to get some story pages of Super Friends but I guess they wanted to show diversity. In the Shazam story I found it really annoying that most of it was written in the " secrect monster society of evil code " which you have to decode. That was something that annoyed me in the Jeff Smith story and I really hate it when they use kryptonian or interlac in comics without translating it.

I mean for decades it was okay to use all the " translated from russian ", " translated from klingon " or " translated from skrull " without ever bothering to come up with a language to decode. And now it´s all like school or stuff. Sorry, but that takes me out of the story which a good comic writer should avoid.

Aside from that it´s a good sampler and while I won´t buy any issues of the Brave and Bold the Tiny Titans part is just gold.

LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES


If you are a Love and Rockets fan you just have to get this free comic book day comic. Although if you really are you probably already know that the new stories are out and you don´t need it.

Another one of the better free comics of this year it shows samples of different stories appearing in the new stories which for me is also the crux of it. Ever since I started reading Love and Rockets I have always been ambivalent about it. While I really love the parts by Jaime Hernandez I´m not too thrilled by the stories of his brother Gilbert. Jaime´s stories are always fun to read with a light and classic looking line.

Gilbert´s comics just are mostly so filled with human drama that I´m exhausted after 20 pages and at the end I feel like some giant dog has been chewing on me and spat me out. So since the Palomar trilogy I´m trying to avoid Gilbert´s stuff which means I will be waiting for the trade on this one to see if I can get the Jaime stuff in a seperate collection.

Still, some beautiful stuff especially the Penny Century story that let´s Jaime flex his superhero muscles.

FIST OF JUSTICE


Speaking of superheroes Fist of Justice doesn´t reinvent the wheel but the main reason why I ordered it is that it´s published by Digital Webbing. Now Digital Webbing is the comic book creative community where people like INVINCIBLE´s Uncle Wya started. Back in the days when I had a functioning computer I was pretty active there writing lots of posts on the message boards and interacting with the community.

Ever since they announced their print comic DIGITAL WEBBING PRESENTS I have been meaning to get an issue but somehow that never worked out. So when I saw this I just had to order it. Like I said this comic is not revolutionising superhero comics but it tells a solid story that is a good introduction to the world of Fist of Justice. You can find all the necessary information in the story without lots of expositionary dialogue. Althpugh I have noticed that all mangas like YUGI - OH or NARUTO use it very heavily. So I´m not entirely sure how out of date it really is.

Fist of Justice offers a nice package with a full story and I´m definitely going to look for more issues. In fact I think there´s an issue in the newest PREVIEWS.

LOVE AND CAPES 10


My favorite free comic book day comic is the tenth issue of the book Love and Capes. While it may sound risky to take an entire issue of an ongoing series for free comic book day in this case it really works out. I ordered this on a whim without any big expectations and I was totally blown away.

The idea of combining romance with superhero with ordinary life is not really new but in this case it all meshes together so well it´s astounding. The characters seem familiar right away and the art evokes a classic feeling that makes it timeless. The story in this issue has Abby - fiancee of Deco City´s defender The Crusader - getting superpowers through magical means to better understand that part of her significant other´s life.

While it has some in - jokes ( like ALL of the superheroine costumes in the computer look slutty ) and some really funny stuff ( like Abby asking why bank robbers throw their guns when they run out of bullets ) there´s a really touching story beneath it about what it really means to be a superhero and the price you have to pay. A bittersweet superhero love story that everybody should read.

I know I totally recommend it and I have to see where I can get more of it.


So this is the end of the first part of my first free comic book day but I can already say that it was really fantastic and I can´t wait till next year. I got some comics that were okay, some that were good and some that surprised me and will go directly on my pull list. I´m not quite happy that I have to end this now but I still have to prepare stuff for the hospital. If you want to find out more about FREE COMIC BOOK DAY and this year´s free comics here are some links :

all you need to know about free comic book day

the beginnings of free comic book day

all free comics of 2009 with pdf previews

postmodernbarney´s free comic book day reviews

comics worth reading´s free comic book day picks

weekly crisis reviews with spoilers

some short reviews from mania

fist of justice preview

love and capes homepage

interview with jaime hernandez

dan decarlo pin up art

Well, I hope you had a fun free comic book day and I will hopefully be back with my usual ramblings in one week.

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One thing I found out because of my injury is that floppies have one advantage over trades : you can read them with one hand. You need a table but you can still read them with one hand.


Now Today I´m not feeling so good so instead of the FREE COMIC BOOK DAY post I´m doing another one of my patented " random comic stuff " posts. During the last few weeks some interesting links have accumulated that I either wanted to comment on to post or both. And since I still haven´t read all my FREE COMIC BOOK DAY comics I´m going to pack them all into one post.

state of the industry

Kleefeld on comics has some interesting points on his article about what the comic industry can learn from the newspaper industry although as an one armed comic reader 22 - page pamphlets are all I can read. So I still need them.

what comics can learn from newspaper

Over at Weekly Crisis an interesting series has started about what Marvel is doing right and wrong. Unusual is that it dissects every point methodically with point and counterpoint, looking at the problems from both angles. So far there are two entries : one about Marvel´s imprint - or better their nonexistence - and one about their business practices like increasing the price to 3.99, flooding the market with variant covers ( on which I have a little rant of my own coming up ), random renumbering of their titles and constant lateness. All very informative.

what marvel is doing wrong - the imprints

what marvel is doing wrong - business practice

L.E. Becker, owner of WARP 9 in Clawson, Michigan, also writes in to share his frustration regarding the ever increasing number of late comic book titles from big name creators :

comic book lateness

creator interviews

Here´s an interview with the makers of BATMAN IN BARCELONA a comic that is going to be released simultaniously in America, Italy and Spain on the 27th of this month - which is the opening date of the SALON DEL COMIC DE BARCELONA 2009 :

batman in barcelona

An interview from Graphic NYC with artist Walter Simonson :

walter simonson interview

Another comic creator interview from Graphic NYC. This time it´s legendary writer Denny O Neil who reinvented Batman and helped usher in the adult age of superhero comics :

denny o neil interview

Another artist interview, this time from Express Night Out with Art Spiegelmann, the father of the graphic novel. Funny, I always thought Will Eisner had earned the title because he did A CONTRACT WITH GOD which was the first one. Awww, those newspaper guys.

art spiegelman interview

top 10 comic lists

Just in time for the X - MEN ORIGINS : WOLVERINE movie here´s a list of the top 10 superheroes with traumatic origins although it´s kind of strange to see Lex Luthor on the list.

top 10 traumatic origins

Going from the traumatic to the psychotic here´s a list of the top 10 greatest mentally ill superheroes :

top 10 mentally ill superheroes

There´s a list of the nine least necessary female versions of male superheroes ( and villains ) over at Topless Robot. All good points although I have to veto on two candidates. First of all May " Mayday " Parker shouldn´t even be on the list. I mean she´s the only good thing left from the whole Spiderfranchise.

I mean in my opinion a female version is validated when her comic is far superior to the comic of the male original. So this could be a top 10 list because if it includes Spider - Girl we absolutely need to include Batgirl Cassandra Cain who is the embodiement of an unnecessary female counterpart if there ever was one.

The other one where I have to raise the finger is Laurel Kent because I just like the stripper outfit.


Come on, we´re talking 70s legion here. All the hot legion chicks were wearing similar outfits. I think at that time even women on the street were wearing such clothes.

And it´s not like Supergirl hadn´t one of those herself.


That´s what we need more of : stripper costumes in comics. Aside from that all good choices. Here´s the link :

The 9 Least Necessary Female Versions

And that´s all for Today. Next time : Free Comic Book Day. Promise.

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