Well Free Comic Book Day has come and gone, and I hope all you good little comic book kids out there went and got yourself some nice free comics. I got mine and unfortunately for me, my store wouldn’t let me take one of everything. Ah well, I still managed to pick what I expected to be some of the better choices, deliberately skipping over what seemed like flagrant bullshit. Although I did pick up a couple of stinkers because hey, they were free.
Part of the delay up to this point on getting this out was the fact that I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to format it. Since I’ve basically run out of time (read: that damned Will G’s pestering me to post my WCCA picks), I decided to just lay it all out there and put it under a cut, so as to give everyone with slower connections cushion. Well, without further ado, here’s my Free Comic Book Day Roundup!
Amelia Rules is good stuff. This is the kind of thing that I’d have my own children read. It’s about a girl who moves with her mom into her aunt’s house, after the father left. Amelia has to adjust to her new surroundings as she makes new friends and deals with the divorce of her parents. This story hits home for me also, as my parents were divorced when I was young. What I appreciate also, is that the divorce stuff is an element of the story, and not the focus of the story. The story is mainly about the situational comedy with Amelia and her friends. And there’s these great moments where we see Amelia vent her frustration and confusion about the divorce. Anyway, I really enjoyed this one. Its awesome kids’ material, and non-pandersome to boot. But the extra bit, the WJHC thing… Yeah, that was a pretty trite story on “The Magic of the Library…” Sure, OK. Just like all those Public Library sponsored Spider-Man books.
I enjoy animated Simpsons more than print Simpsons, but this was good also. The real gem in this book was “Plasmo the Sorcerer,” this great parody of Dr. Strange and those arcane type books. Just a sample quote: “By the Agitated Alliteration of Agamop!” Nothing remarkable about this one, really. But it was good. Recommended for Simpsons fans across the board.
Pretty lackluster, this was. Cheap imitation, it made. While trying to mimic the great Tartakoffsky style, I think it didn’t succeed so well. It was pretty flat artwise, and the story was very simplistic. So, I suppose this would be a diversion of amusement for the youngsters. But I didn’t see anything that great about it. Damned shame too, as the Cartoon series was so motherfuckering hardcore.
An interesting assembly of Canadian and other non-American comics. Gave a good glimpse on the comics found inside, each given a two or three page slot to show off what it offers. Nothing left a lasting impression on me though. But I recommend this one for folks into the Indy comics scene.
I was pretty happy to get a copy of this one, as Flight is some artistic greatness. Half of this is the Bolt City mini-comic available online, and I assure you that it’s a lot more fun to have in your hands. The other half is this cute little story about a Robot who wants to fly. Flight is known for its great art and writing, and I don’t think I need to stress that any further. Recommended for anyone.
Y’know, for some reason… alternative comics rarely hold my attention. I don’t know why. I can’t say good or bad about this one, because I frankly just don’t get it. But I guess I recommend it for all you alternative comic heads out there.
I have some mixed feelings about this one, even if it is only a sketchbook. Apparently, there’s big ol’ crossover about to go on in the Marvel U. Based on the fact that The Scarlet Witch’s hex powers are altering reality, House of M obviously implies Magneto’s involved. And it’s a takeoff of Avengers Disassembled, which is a crossover I didn’t agree with at the start (read: I also know very little about it). But of course, I’m gonna read it. Because I’m a Marvel whore.
Quirky superhero/secret agent humor. The writing was structured a bit sloppily, but I can forgive. I like the spoofish heroes like “Pixelman,” and “The Beard,” who has a prehensile beard. It’s decent funny and decent art. Recommended for all ages super hero fans.
Ironic to me that this was the first to run out at the store, because everything in it is already free to all online. But I enjoyed this edition of KeenSpot highlight. It gave me a more time-effective look at the other KeenSpot major titles, and I might pick up a couple of them to read regularly. Recommended for all webcomic types, and anyone else who might read webcomics.
Very cute, very charming. Wonderful all-ages material. Seriously, this book is cute as hell, and manages to tell its story non-verbally which is something I always appreciate. Recommended for anyone, except those who have aversions to cutesy things.
Not too impressive, but still better than the Clone Wars book. This one was a standalone adventure of Obi-Wan and Anakin, showing them kicking ass and engaging in their camaraderie. The art’s decent, and the writing was very similar to that of the prequels, but with a little bit more character and less… vapid, wooden non-acting.
I liked this one a lot. It was a very well executed journal type comic, telling stories of the author’s youth. This book was also very informative on the process of type setting, and I feel good actually knowing what it is. My only complaint with the book is that the cover said “All Ages,” and the S-bomb is dropped several times, along with some pseudo porn (while young Paul’s in the bathroom, he sees all the pinups the lecherous old guy left on the wall). But it’s a really fun and simple story, and recommended to anyone who like Indy comics.
Bad. Very, very bad. It’s based on the new cartoon, which is a terrible reinvention of Batman for “The Youth,” in the same method as those goddamned Loonatics. The Batman is a Batman cartoon done up by the studio who did Jackie Chan Adventures. And while I love Jackie Chan Adventures, and I love Batman, I do not love the combination. The toon had this awful rendition of the Penguin… who knew martial arts. This younger… “hipper” Bruce is into the Rock & Roll music those kids are listening to. Even Adam Westian elements are present. Guh. Bad Book. Not recommended for anyone.
Eh, I’m a lot more of a Manga and Anime dabbler. There’s only a few that I’m into. And the stuff in this preview book were pretty unimpressive. Especially the Warcraft “Manga.” I just grr to that one. Anyway, I suppose I’d recommend this one to Manga fans. But it wasn’t for me.
And that’s the roundup right there. Free Comic Book Day once again proved fruitful and bounteous. I hope I helped you find some good stuff. My writing’s a bit off today if you noticed, because my gal’s pestering me to get off the computer. But I promised you guys I’d get this done and I finally have. In a few days, I’ll put of my WCCA picks.
Perused the Warcraft “manga” in the store. FUCKING HATED IT. Ugh. Story is vapid, characters are entirely one-dimensional, art flow is obtuse and difficult to follow – and it doesn’t pay attention to the history of the Warcraft universe, which is the ULTIMATE no-no.
AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO MY BATMAN?! Oh bats, you’ll always be the dashing guy I remember from the early 1990’s series, with Mark Hamill as Joker and his DELICIOUS cackle. MUAHAH!
But dammit I should have gotten me some free comics. Poo.
The Warcraft comic is drawn by a Korean artist named Kim Jae-Hwan. Not too bad of an artist, but he’s a bit more style than substance. But then again, most comic artists here in Asia are. Not too different from back home, really. There’s also a Korean Starcraft manhwa here as well.
Blizzard pretty much owns Korea’s videogame world.
They just… they… BETTER WRITER. MADE EYES BURN. Character design was okay on the dragons, but very meh for humans… and obviously this guy wouldn’t play Horde, the way he draws orcs and trolls. Mbleh.
But seriously. One moment it’s like “oh no we’re surrounded!” and then there’s an explosion, and then there’s just this CHICK there, and where did the bad guys go, and wait how come the human chick has a little flying dragon with her now, and WAIT her parents JUST DIED why isn’t she fucking CRYING OR EVEN BEING SAD WHAT THE HELL! ::growls::
I would like to see the Starcraft one, though, provided it isn’t done by that guy… or has a better writer… or yeah. I just… one of the things that got under my skin is how little attention the Warcraft manga paid to the history of the series, which is one of its BIG things, you know. Not just “didn’t pay much attention to it” but “outright ignored some kind of important things, like WTF happened to the sunwell in Quel’Thalas” (which happens to somehow be a MAJOR point of the manga).
Me done venting now. Don’t mind me, I get this way when things disappoint me severely. Don’t even get me STARTED on the Star Wars prequels.