CBD 5/20/2009

This week is a cheap date - Tiny Titans, Agents of Atlas - Quality, not quantity

Tiny Titans #16 - Baltazar & Franco - I will stop buying this when it stops being wonderful. This time 'Coach' Lobo assigns an around the world race as their fitness assignment. You will never guess who wins! More cute, more funny, more absolutely the kid friendliest funny book you will find. Also, it is an affordable 2.50... buy it, give it to an actual kid and let them read it, enjoy it, and even cut out the pin-ups for their walls.

Agents of Atlas #5 - Another pretty great issue. This comic comes at you from a different angle than most other things (at least the stuff I am reading) You have a team of good guys operating under a sort of front in order to get into places they wouldn't be able to otherwise. This means they have to go up against other good guys sometimes. This is a smart book as well as a fun one. The sequence with the new avengers is really great. Spider-Man figures out what is going on and defuses the situation... a new situation immediately pops up negating that, but for a few seconds everything was cool. The art is pretty great, the writing is superb. It baffles me that I am getting and enjoying this much, a book with Dark Reign plastered on it, but this title makes absolute sense under that mantle.

CBD 4/13/09

Mini-reviews- The Unwritten, Umbrella Academy, Echo, Jack Staff, Green Lantern, Human Torch Comics

Human Torch Comics #1 (Snyder, Wegener, Pattison) - This is from last week, but the Wegener reaction didn't happen until this week. I am sure you understand what that is, that's the reaction where you go... Holy crap! Scott Wegener did the art for this!? Here... have my money! Fortunately for me, the story is great as well as the art, and Ronda Pattison's colors of course. I am not a particular fan of the old Human Torch, but this story is very well done. It touches on everything it needs to, hitting all the right beats as it were. We see his humanity and heroism, his android, other-ness, Human Torch as celebrity and monster and ultimately hero again. Ultimately ending up with a date with someone who accepts him as he is. The second half of this book is a reprint of what I guess is the first appearance of Toro from 1940. The book is 4 bucks, but It's a nice buy if you like this sort of thing.

Green Lantern #40 - This is what it is. I am liking it enough to keep getting it, but with this issue I have no specific points to recommend it on other that it will hopefully some day result in the blackest night event. The art looks great, and the writing isn't bad or anything, I just am not sure that it accomplished anything really important.

Jack Staff #20 - Pretty great stuff. If you haven't given Jack Staff a read yet, I recommend you pick up the first trade. It's well written and distinctively drawn. It's funny and... clever as well. In this issue the focus is on a very X-Men like group of young people in a very Xavier like School.

Echo #12 - Every issue I say it is great, and every issue I say I wish it were longer. This one is particularly good in my opinion. There is one page that stands out as probably my favorite in the series based solely on Julie's facial expressions. We also get some advancement with Pam (Julie's sister), Ivy is closer than ever to our 'heroes', and Julie is sporting more of the 'suit' than before.

The Umbrella Academy: Dallas #6 - I really liked this series. I think this issue was great. I had read a review saying it was a weak ending, but I thought it worked really well. I thought that the twists in this were interesting, I didn't see it coming, really. I love the characters enough, that as long as something is going on with them I am happy. I hope we get more of this from this team.

The Unwritten #1 (Mike Carey, Peter Gross) - I like Mike Carey as a writer. I enjoyed Confessions of a Blabbermouth, and really like what I have read of Lucifer so far (I have a lot of the trades but have not read them all yet. I love this title. The Unwritten focuses on a reality where Literary geography matters, where just maybe literary characters can step out of their literary world and into ours. The main character Tom is the son of a writer who achieved even greater success with a series than JK Rowling did with Harry Potter. Tom spends his days finding work that pays him for exactly that fact. His father disappeared, or abandoned him, depending on who is telling the story, and he is still bitter about the fact that he himself doesn't exist as much as the character named for him does. One day, everything changes. A reporter suggests he is not who he says he is. Evidence supports the idea that Tom was never really born, so who is he? The uproar that this causes is almost as out of control as the uproar that occurrs when it is suggested that Tom IS the character from the book, that perhaps TOM is a messiah of sorts. It is an excellent premise. The book suggests that our reality may just be stories built upon stories. It is well written, the art is great, and this issue is ONE DOLLAR!!! It just can't get better than that. I am excited about continuing to read this.

The Imaginary Boys

Review of the Zuda webcomic with a focus on its creator 'Yamatai' aka Carlos Lopez Bermudez

The Imaginary Boys was a Zuda 'Direct Winner' It was picked up by Zuda without going through the competition voting, and is an ongoing series there. Here is the synopsis from Zuda.

It has been said that when we die, we go to Heaven or Hell. After passing away, Elise Dawn finds that there are many other places to go in the afterlife. Prepare to enter the breathtaking realms of Otherworld; alive with strange and wonderful creatures, where a stray thought can become reality.
Join Elise on her magical, escapades, exploring all the worlds between life and death with her pet Robert and newfound friends, Trauma Boy and Young Jack. Thrills, chills and dangerous adventures await them. Elise will have to rely on her quick wit and these new friends to get her through the serious challenges that await her.
Death is not the end… it’s just the beginning.

The style in this comic is far and away different from any of the other ongoing Zuda offerings, and pretty different from anything else that has even been in the contests as far as i can tell. It is not exactly a children's story, at least not for the very young, although it is filled with plenty of elements that would appeal to kids, and so far, overall would be fine in my opinion to be read to kids by a parent. In addition to that, it has plenty of levels to it that make it work perfectly as an adult read as well.

The art is very clean. The colors are perfect and simple. The character design is fantastic. This is a beautifully designed and produced comic. Yamatai (he uses that designation after a manga and anime magazine he produced with friends of his.) Is a life-long lover of comics who teaches Graphic design (which really makes sense when you see just how gifted he is in terms of the design elements of his comic). This is only his second comics project, but hopefully won't be his last. He brings a smart eye, and an interesting approach to his work.
From the artist's web site:

The Imaginary Boys is a comic made by computer using advertising designing programs. This confers it a clean style, of plain colors, and the possibility to reproduce the images at the desired size without losing quality.

This is just a good and interesting comic. We start at the funeral of a young girl named Elise. We follow her into the afterlife where we meet a fallen angel who may have made it out of hell, but may or may not be redeemed yet. We find out from him that while Heaven and Hell are certainly options, there are many other potential destinations for the departed. Young people who die and find themselves in this place are called 'Imaginary Boys' regardless of their gender. We also find out that the nature of reality is very flexible there, and that it is possible for one's imagination or belief to shape things there.

Elise is joined shortly by her dog Robert who preceded her in death. He protects her and serves as a companion and guide. She meets a variety of characters on her travels, some that may represent potential threats to her, and others that become friends, or serve to show her more about the complexities of the afterlife and of heaven and hell and good and evil.

I don't want to give too much away. Go to Zuda, at least read the first 20 pages. Remember to read it in full screen mode for maximum effect. This is a quick read, and this will bring you to the point where you have covered some important milestones. If you aren't compelled to keep going, that's fine, but it you are, you will be rewarded with an almost non-stop stream of new characters and situations. It starts out good and just keeps getting better.

I'm not gushing, I'm sharing. Go, Read, Let me know what you think!

Popgun Bullets v3 p2

- Bulleted mini reviews of the entire contents of Image Comics anthology Popgun Volume Three (the next 100 pages)

• p105 Crow Rooster - Connor Willumsen - This entry has good art, a real sense of mood about it, and is evocative of a scene from a mob movie. I don't really love it, solely because I don't really understand it. I don't think it tells a complete story, and it ends with what looks like a cover that features a character I assume is dead, and i don't know if we are going back in time, or if that is just an unrelated cover(endpage) or what. I like the elements a lot. I think it's pretty good stuff, but as an anthology piece it leaves me a little flat.
• p120 Twig & Cassius - Ulises Farinas, Ben DeRosa - Maybe it's just me. I'm not the deepest guy, or the smartest, but I am inclined to like comics. This is another one I just don't understand. The art is interesting, but I don't know what I am supposed to take away from the square headed guy and the giant crow, and what looks like a giant baby mouse. There is dialog that suggests a larger story than we are seeing, but again this feels like a piece of something, and not enough of a piece to be in a story anthology, assuming that is what popgun even wants to be.
  
• p132 EEKS! and SHRIEKS: A Brief History - Josh Parpan - This is a good example of something that isn't a story, but is a complete piece, and works fine in an anthology in my opinion. The art is pretty awesome. It is a bit on the grotesque side for my tastes, but it is very well done. It is a series of panels representing events in world history, re-enacted with monsters more or less.
  
• p137 Swordsman Monster Slayer: Monster Revenge - Frank Stockton - Relatively short and fairly funny, this isn't my favorite bit, but it certainly isn't bad or anything. I at least smiled at it. decent art but not my favorite style
  
• p141 Max!! Get out Of My Room! - Mike Dawson, Antonio Campo - Brotherly hijinx between a teleporter and a telekinetic. It's really funny stuff, as in 'MOM! MAX TELEPORTED MY ARM OFF!!'. I liked this one a lot.
  
• p153 Agents of the WTF in Would You Like to Dance, Papi? - D.J. Kirkbride, Adam P. Knave, Matteo Scalera, Antonio Campo - I also liked this piece a lot. The art is great. The best part of it being the dynamic action and layout/ panel design. This is a well done entry.
  
• p159 2 Copper Pieces: Gotcha! - Jim Zubkavich, Chris Stevens - This is another example of really well done art that just isn't a style I love, but I acknowledge that it's really well done. It is also an entry that gives you just a piece of what seems to be a bigger story, but it is perfectly packaged so that it is complete in and of itself. Great anthology piece!
  
• p163 The Last Voyage - Scott Hallett, Thomas Mauer - Can't say I get much out of this, but the art is pretty great. It's a boat full of viking like guys who go and get eaten by a sea monster. Really, it's like 'here's some guys, here's a monster, chomp, the end'
  
• p167 One In Every Box - Jim Zubkavich, Jason Ibarra, Matt Moylan - What if you were a fantasy world witing for the chosen one to arrive from another world to save them, but when the chosen one arrives they decide they would rather finish their breakfast instead... This is really pretty funny and well done. I enjoyed it.
  
• p176 Superhero Bobby - Dennis Brown - This entry is stupid and lazy. I Saw this someplace, and I can't recall where that was. There is some cool art here, The guy has a ton of talent, but this bit just isn't anything.
  
• p181 Nudging Buddy - Ron Turner - Amazingly well done backgrounds and scenery, etc. The art is very good, the story isn't bad, but it is really just packed with dense narration, in a sort of hard to read small font. The art and the story go together, and the art certainly enhances and reinforces the story, but man this is wordy.
  
• p189 Bastard Road: Cockfighter Blues - Brian Winkeler, Dave Curd - I said of a previous Bastard Road from a previous popgun, that I didn't want to like it, but it grew on me. This one has the benefit of it having already grown on me, as well as the fact that it is extremely funny, with exceptionally distinctive and humorous art. This comic is filled with as many penis and vagina references as you can fit into one comic without actually talking about penises or vaginas. If this took itself seriously for a second, none of it would be funny, but everything about it is tuned to make it work. Very funny stuff.
  
• p203 Error - Jeik Dion, Dominique Carrier - I flat out love the art in this. Limited color palette, post apocalyptic look and feel,cool character design, etc. I would almost like it better if it had no text at all, rather than the one or two word text boxes scattered about that read sort of like poetry. I guess post apocalyptic sci-fi poetry comics are a completely valid art form, but I may need some time to get used to it as an art form.
  

Zuda - May Competition

Toughest month ever. There are 3-5 entries that I swear would be winners in any other month but this one. Get yourself to zuda now. Read, Enjoy, Vote. You owe it to yourself.

Here are the competing entries for May (Alpha order)


As is evident from just the small ad icons, This month has absolutely fantastic art, and wildly varied styles and genres. There are no entries that I felt were awful, no premises that I thought were flat out awful, etc. Some of these aren't developed in a way that gets you hooked completely in eight pages, and that is the first criteria by which I thinned the field for my vote.

That was the easy part. After reading and re-reading, I finally thinned the field to my personal favorite three. For me that's Sides, Freak City, and Clandestino. Each of these is great, and certainly deserves to go on. I hope they all continue somewhere, as I would love to keep reading them (among other entries as well). I finally based my vote on what I thought was the most unique when viewed against past Zuda winners. In that regard, for me, Clandestino is the one I would like to see win the contest for this month. That was not at all my initial thought when I read it. It was in the running, but didn't move to the front for me before I had read everything a few times and started to work out what made a winner for me.

Obviously, no-one is obligated to put that much thought and effort into their vote, but taking it seriously is part of what makes it fun for me.

Remember kids... Comics on Zuda are best viewed in full screen mode. If you have the skills to reach the website, you have the skills to enjoy Zuda.

TPB Review -

Phonogram: Rue Britannia (Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie) - I have been intrigued by Phonogram for a while, and finally picked up this trade a few weeks ago. I will admit that I had some issues getting into it, despite how badly I wanted to read it and love it.I tried several times right after I picked it up, but I just couldn't break into it. Finally, a few weeks later, I was able to pick it up and really get into it. This was not an easy read for me. That has nothing to do with my enjoyment of a work, though, but more with how I process things, and my comprehension of them. There is a lot to take in conceptually in this book, and it took me a few tries to get it.

Music is a primal force, it is magic, divine, soulful and sexual. It is memory and emotion, power and vulnerability. It exists around us and runs through and around everything. It's no wonder that something so essential has people who understand it on such a level that they can use it as a basis for magic, or that the element of music has it's own pantheon. It certainly makes sense to me. I define periods in my life by the music that shaped them, and the songs that served as the soundtrack, and the pull and sway of the artists that transfixed me at those times. This book takes a look at all of those things.

David Kohl is a phonomancer who is losing his sense of self. Memories are changing and shifting under him and he knows it. After he is accosted by a goddess in a nightclub bathroom he sets himself on a quest to find an aspect of the goddess herself that he is linked to, in order to stop whatever it is that is interfering with her.

It is a very well done comic. The art is very good black and white fare. It is perhaps a bit too realistic for me, but it is good art. The writing is pretty great. There is an obvious love of music, and a real curiosity as to all of the ways that music affects and impacts us. It is interesting and really gives you a lot of opportunities to think about your own experiences as they relate to music and as music relates to you. This book is pretty dense with references to bands and songs, and thankfully the trade comes with a pretty great glossary to explain just about anything mentioned or alluded to in the story.

I recommend this, as it is pretty different, and well done. Once it clicked* for me, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it really made me think as well.

*Again I have to note that this is not uncommon for me. I have started books many many times that I just have to set down, or restart many times before one day I am ready to read them and I pick them up and read them straight through and love them. It is not in any way suggesting the book is bad, but it is worth noting in any review that I am writing. If I can't read something because I hate it or think it is awful, I would just say that.

CBD 4/6/09

Atomic Robo,Power Girl,New Mutants, Supergirl CA8G,Agents of Atlas - mini reviews

That is me, trying a new format for Twitter friendliness.

Atomic Robo: Shadow From Beyond Time #1 - Clevinger,Wegener,Pattison,Powell - I don't always include everyone's name when I talk about comics. I am doing so for this, just to emphasize how perfectly every aspect of this book is done. If you aren't reading Robo, you need to start right now. If you don't have the money to pick up the first two trades (each one a must have), then at least pick up this issue. This series is filled with action and humor(this issue has less action, but is still a page turner). In this issue(set in 1926), Charles Fort and HP Lovecraft show up at Robo's door looking for Tesla. The writing is perfect, the art is perfect, the color is perfect, even the lettering is perfect. This series honestly has a dream team working on it, whether anyone knows it or not. (I know I am gushing, but at this point they could call it *All Star Atomic Robo* and they wouldn't be out of line.) I hope we continue to see a long line of top notch mini series from these folks for years to come (and movies and toys and anything that will get them paid as a reward for excellence)

Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th grade #6 (Landry Walker and Eric Jones) - I am so sad to see this end. I sure hope there is something else coming up soon to fill the void it will leave. This has a definite kids comic feel to it, but not in a way that diminishes it in any way. The path to the resolution is filled with the bizarre stuff that litters the Superman mythos. We have crazy dimensional beings, Super-Pets, cosmic ramifications, time travel, etc. and it all works. It is a bit crazy, but really, it works and is fun and cute and nice at the same time. It is a comic where things work out because people ultimately make the right decisions. Very nice indeed.

Agents of Atlas #4 - This comic skirted the edge of what I can take from a comic before it loses me (from an understanding sense of the word). Ultimately I think it did a good job for being a confusing concept piece involving memories and perception, and actions taking place or seeming to take place in two different times, etc. It maintained the wit and charm I enjoy from this series, even when I was scratching my head and re-reading bits of it. This issue reolves that skeletal pilot thing that popped up previously.

New Mutants #1 (Wells/Neves) - I was excited to see a new New Mutants series. I was a HUGE New Mutants fan when I was young. I moved right from New Teen Titans into New Mutants which is sort of a standard progression i would say. This issue looks great, and gives me back a lineup of characters I really liked at very different stages of their lives. Magick is extremely creepy in this, really creepy. Other than that (which isn't a bad thing) The characters are as I like to see them, and the first villain we get is one I think I hated. Actually, there were a lot of things I didn't care for in the run of New Mutants I read growing up, but I still loved the series and the characters. I will try to pick this up for at least a few issues.

Power Girl #1 (Gray, Palmiotti, Conner) - I really like Amanda Conners work. I Liked the Terra Mini series a lot, especially the title character's interaction with Power Girl. I am not sure if we will get anything like that in this series or not. It seems possible we will, as we get a good bit of Karen Starr in her civvies as well as some pretty good Power Girl action. Ultra Humanite is up first on the bad guy list, and he's making a pretty grand entrance. I am inclined to give this a few more issues if I can. The Team on it is pretty great, so I expect good things out of it.

Popgun Bullets (of pure love) v3 p1

I am finally at a point where I can start reading and posting bullets for Popgun volume three. I have sort of adopted this as the anthology series I read for now, so it makes sense that I treat volume three the same as the other two. You can click on the popgun key word to find the entries for the other volumes.

• Cover - Awesome Tara McPherson art. I really love her art. Another great popgun cover.
• Inside cover and p1 - Anjin Anhut - Very cool illustration
  
• p2-5 Kris Anka - fantastic stuff. I swear, if there is one thing that the popgun does as well or better than anyone else, it is putting absolutely brilliant art not just on the cover, but in the fornt and back pages of the book as well. It is independent of the anthology pieces, but it carries the feel of the book better than some of the actual entries do in my opinion. The picture of the girl dancing to the record player on page 5 is like... eating chocolate or something, it just elicits a great feeling.
• p10 Ed Kwong illustration - more good stuff, but not my favorite picture.
  
• p11 Carjacking!! - Guillaume Singelin - This is a funny short with a little twist in it. I like the art. The style is neat, the limited color palette works well in it.
  
• p15 Four Seasons - Patricio Betteo - This is sort of like a poem, and a color poem combined. It is 4 pages with good art, and color evocative of the season and mood. The text is very sparse, and visual narrative isn't really there. I don't hate it, but might not want an entire book filled with it. It would look good on a wall, though.
  
• p19 The Magnificent Zhao - Sam Bosma - This is another one that has a very spare but pretty artistic style to it. It's pacing is very deliberate, and has a feel of Asian myth to it. I liked it a lot.
  
• p31 Ghost Hunter - Celor - Another strong style at work here. The art is on the ugly side, but I don't mean that as a criticism. I swear there are perfectly good styles that are a bit on the ugly side, and it isn't a negative and is not because of a lack of ability, and doesn't indicate any such thing. This comic does movement really well. It is fast paced, has a cool style about it, and is really funny in the end.
  
• p39 Vertex - Juan Doe - This is bright and trippy and strange. Again this seems more like an 'art piece' than a comic. I don't think that just having pictures and words makes something a comic. It's not my thing, although the art is pretty cool.
  
• p45 Sushi Nachos - Andrew Szymanowicz - Great art, great story. It's funny and moves, but tells a full story. I like the fact that it starts with our main character at home and gives us a glimpse of him there before moving on. In a short anthology story we get a good bit of character development.
  
• p57 Pizza Monster in The Large Hawaiian - Joshua Agerstrand - This is hilariously well done. It makes me think of Brandon Graham for some reason, but not in an imitative way or anything(and I love Grahams work). Pizza delivery guy who is also a low level vigilante gets chased and attacked by a villainous restaurant grade dishwasher, and a bad guy that uses the word 'murderize' which is always worth extra points with me.
  
• p71 Ramen-O-Rama - David Rubin - Great story, great art. This story has a start to finish story, has Ramen and giant monsters a breakup and reconciliation by young lovers, everything you might want in a comic. Constant flashbacks were cute, and used well in this.
  
• p83 Roadkill - Sam Mckenzie - Not so much a story here as a ... thing. It isn't bad, but it doesn't do much for me. The art is good, but it has a strange softness to it like looking at an old screen image of a cartoon or something. I can't describe it, but I imagine computers were involved.
  
• p91 The Knight Who Would Be King - Michael Dialynas - Awesome. Very cute story of the careful what you wish for variety. The art is lovely, and the twist made me laugh aloud when I realized what was going on.. Great stuff, great anthology piece.
  
• p101 Spirit Room - Peter Bergting - Some beautiful art in here, but the piece moves too fast to make it have any impact. There is a twist here that isn't bad, and has an old horror anthology feel to it, but it could use another layer or two in my opinion, or another page or two to develop. The art is awesome regardless.

There we go! First hundred pages down. I am hoping to do this 100 pages or so at a time just to keep down the number of installments, but we'll see.

Previews - Items of note!

A few things that you may not want to miss from this month's previews:

Festering Romance - Renee Lott (Oni Press p275) - I met Renee Lott at SPX last year, and picked up the 14 page preview of this Comedy/Romance/Paranormal edged comic. It gets a nice full page to itself this month. Check out her blog for some cool art and preview images, including pencils and inks comparisons (er... pencilled pages, as well as the inked versions of the same pages so you can see the progression). I really enjoyed the preview, enjoyed meeting Renee and now I have enjoyed looking at the listing in previews. Support new talent!

Marvel Divas #1 - This should be worth picking up for the Tonci Zonjic Interior art at the very least. The premise suggests a series that could be great. It's at least worth checking out the first issue... right? so you may want to lock it in now. Black Cat, Hellcat, Firestar and Monica Rambeau are featured in this series... It promises Romance, Action, and ex-boyfriends... a promise only ever made by one series I know of... a little book called... Scott Pilgrim!!! ok.. I am not really drawing a connection between the two, but ignore the cover art and give it a try.

Kid Colt #1 - If you like westerns, this is a pretty decent one. 21 pages or so have been put on Marvel Digital Comics as an exclusive, so I assume that is what you will get in this first print issue. It is written by Tom DeFalco with art by Rick Burchett, and come on... It's Kid Colt...

If you haven't been reading it as it is coming out, I also recommend the TP for Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil. It's pretty funny stuff.

North 40 #1 - Aaron Williams with art by Fiona Staples(Wildstorm p105) - 6 issue mini with a cool premise as if art by Fiona Staples wasn't reason enough to give it a look.

Wednesday comics #1-4(DC p68) - Yes, it's 4 bucks for 16 pages, but it is 16 14x20" pages. A pile of big name talent is on this, and the features include Batman, Hawkman, Kamandi, Adam Strange, Flash, Deadman and more! it's weekly for 12 weeks. I say it's worth picking up an issue or two at least. Looks great to me.

Free Comic Book Day - The Aftermath (ok it's just a recap)

My FCBD consists of running my girls out to our LCS and then coming home. My LCS has no particular celebration or sale around it, but they had an ok selection with a good number of kid friendly titles. This year, everyone that walks through the door gets to take up to 5 titles(no dupes) each. I think that's more than fair, and helps make sure everyone gets a taste.

The selection wasn't too deep this year, but we got out of there with only a duplicate or two between us.

Shonen Jump Special - interview with Stan Lee, Ultimo - Stan Lee & Hiroyuki Takei(20+ pages), Shonen Jump Lineup (picture and paragraph about each feature in the magazine)

The World of Cars (Boom Kids) - There is a nice preview of issue #1 of The World of Cars: The Rookie #1 (not my thing, but not bad for a licensed thing for kids), You also get a few pages from issue 1 of the incredibles.

Radical Comics NYCC (sampler) This one is labeled for NYCC, not FCBD, but it still looks cool. My oldest was drawn to it. I am already a fan of Hotwire. This isn't a comic, but there is a lot of great art, and an interview or two.

Archie Presents the Mighty Archie Art Players - Four stories, not exactly with the times (one of the stories is 'High Noonish' because kids LOVE Gary Cooper parodies...) It all works, it's all Archie, and no... I don't really expect him to be hip. It's cute... It's Archie.

Blackest Night #0 - I am looking forward to this event more than I thought I would. I thought this was a good book, but that Hal Jordan is sort of a jerk to Barry Allen. I think the little breakdown of the various colored corps in the back is cool. I am not sure that death is an emotion though...

Bongo Comics Free-For-All - Good stuff. Fine for kids, funny for fans of Simpsons or Futurama. Several full stories in here

Sonic - Evolution of a hero - This is a 'datafile' and not a comic. There are a lot of pictures, but it seems like a 'saga-style' recap with pictures and a cover gallery (which is kinda cool, but not a comic). I wish this had been a real comic. If you are going to have an offering for FCBD you need to make it at least partially comics.

Dark Horse Comics - Free Comic Book Day - This is pretty cool. It's a flip book with a sampler on one side (Usagi Yojimbo, Emily the Strange Indiana Jones and Beanworld. The other side is Star Wars Clone Wars. Well done Dark Horse... No surprise here.

IDW - G.I. Joe , Transformers Flip book. Great idea here, well done.

Oni - Resurrection with a backup Tek Jansen story.

Savage Dragon #148 Free - Brilliant idea. I am looking for my free variant Obama cover... I applaud this tactic. It is what FCBD should be (the good flipbooks and samplers also get that accolade)

Avengers - Cool stuff. New Avengers, Dark avengers and Thor One Shot. Also good stuff.

Hope everyone was able to get out today and enjoy the spirit of the day.

My favorite part of the day was being in the store when a little kid (maybe 7) came running in asking about the free comics, and how excited he was when he ran immediately out to tell his mom it was true. It was very cute.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Verdict - Loved it. My daughters loved it as well.

• Was it a bad movie? On many levels, yes it was.
• Were the effects kind of cheesy? Yes, in many ways in many places.
• Were there a lot of done to death 'stock superhero movie' scenes? - Yes
• Were there things that made no real sense? - Sure
• Were there scenes that someone thought would look cool, but really just looked kind of dumb? - Yes
• Were there things that broke canon just to break it, since they could have been done in some other way? - Yes
• Did it make me laugh at things that were not intended to be funny? - Yes
• Will it inspire rabid fanboy rants about everything that was WRONG or every little detail that isn't directly from the books? - Probably, but if it does, I assume those people don't really want to enjoy any comic book movie that will ever be released. I figure their enjoyment comes from psychotic ranting, so on that level, they loved this movie too.

• Was it filled with characters we never thought would show up on screen? - Yes
• Did it have some cool effects? - Yes
• Did it have a sense of humor? - Yes
• Did my daughters giggle at shirtless(naked even) Wolverine and at sexy Gambit? - You stay away from my daughters Hugh Jackman and Taylor Kitsch!!

I enjoyed it, my 9 and 15 year old comics loving daughters enjoyed it(I am very proud that both of them were able to site some ways it broke canon). I feel some opportunities were missed, and some things could have been done differently, but this is the movie that was made, and I enjoyed it on a bunch of levels. Some special effects weren't great, but some of the ones that weren't great still worked for me. Aspects of the film were more comic book than movie to me. I am not diminishing comics by saying that. This was not the best comic book movie ever made, but I am pretty sure that as we were sitting there watching it we enjoyed it every bit as much.

Happy Free Comic Book Day!!

Use this opportunity to:
Find something new to read
Introduce a friend to comics
Introduce a kid to comics*
Get free stuff because it is free, and it is stuff

Have an IPhone? Use this cool app to find more places to go... Today may be the best day ever to see what other shops are in your area! (Thanks to the Beat for posting useful info like that at a nonstop pace.)



*They may only know the characters from movies and cartoons. They may not realize that there are comics for every taste. They may not be allowed to touch their parent's comics. There is no end to good reasons to stick an age appropriate comic in a child's hands... taking them with you to the shop is even better, but you may want to ask their parent's permission first...