Free Comic Book Day 2014: Where You Should Go and What You Should Read

So, another year has come and gone, and we are once again back at that most amazing day! Yes, it's International Werewolf Day! What is that you say? I'm mistaken and there's no such thing? Oh, well, I guess I just have to talk about Free Comic Book Day instead. I wrote a similar post to this last year, but what's good to do once is good to do again, so here we go.

Free Comic Book Day is an industry wide holiday of sorts, held the first Saturday in May every year, where comic retailers buy special comics available at a tremendous discount to give out to you, the comic reading public, for free. That's right, FREE. I can't speak for every retailer, but my store, Dewey's Comic City, really tries to do it up right. Other than having one of the widest selections of free comics, we also have goody bags for the first hundred or so customers, raffles, cosplayers from the local chapter of the 501st Legion (the Star Wars costume guild), face painting for the kids, and our biggest Artist's Alley yet, including Dewey's favorite Fernando Ruiz (Life With Archie and the lead story in this year's FCBD Archie digest), Charles Paul Wilson III (Wraith: Welcome to Christmasland), and Keith Giffen (More credits to count, including the current Justice League 3000 and this year's upcoming New 52: Futures' End, the 0 issue of which is one of this year's FCBD selections from DC). My boss likes to say that nobody gives you more on FCDB than Dewey's, and while I can't say that quantifiably, I know it sure feels that way. So you should come on by. Check out the details HERE; we'd love to see you.

Now, I know you love free stuff. I love free stuff too. But Free Comic Book Day is about a lot more than just free comics. For retailers, this is a huge investment of time and money (just 'cause they're free for the customers, it doesn't mean it's free to the retailers), but it's worth it to bring people who might not usually come in to a shop to come by and pick up some comics. And it's important to the industry because it allows publishers and creators to get their books into the largest possible number of hands, hands that might not normally try that kind of comics. I personally discovered one of my favorite series of all time, Atomic Robo, on its first FCBD outing. So what I'm saying is, if you're a DC/Marvel sort of reader, pick up an indy. If you usually would never touch a super hero comic, pick up something from the Big 2. It's not costing you anything, and you might discover something you really like.

So, below find my recommendation for eleven books I think you should try. I haven't gotten around to reading all of them, I admit, but this is a decent cross section of the books I enjoyed so far.

2000 AD

2000 AD is the long running British anthology series that is probably most famous in the US for spawning Judge Dredd. Every year, there's a great collection of classic 2000 AD stories as part of the FCBD selections, and this year is no different. Headlined by a story featuring Dredd, there are also stories about the barbarian Slaine, Dredd's sometimes partner, psychic Judge Anderson, supernatural copper Absalom, and more. If you've never tried these, gritty UK comics, you should. It's not like anything we have here in the States. This one is very much for grown ups only.

Atomic Robo

As I said above, I discovered Atomic Robo on his first FCBD appearance, where he first fought his archnemesis, the deranged Dr. Dinosaur, and has been the free comic I look forward to most every year since then. Usually, FCBD Robo stories feature the mad raptor, but since this year's mini-series for Robo was a Dr. Dinosaur story, we instead see Robo once again confront the cryptid called the Yonkers Devil. Action and comedy ensue. The issue also features pages from Red 5 Comics series Haunted (the first issue hit this past Wednesday) and a very funny story of Bodie Troll, the troll too adorable to scare anyone. The issue is appropriate for readers 12 and up, mostly because the preview of Haunted is creepy; both Robo and Bodie can be read by all ages.

Avatar/ Itty Bitty Hellboy/ Juice Squeezers

I'm recommending this one not for the main story (which is good, but Avatar isn't one of my core fandoms), but for the two back ups. The first is a fun two page Itty Bitty Hellboy story where Hellboy tries to get the ghost of Rasputin to act a bit more ghostly, and then a new short tale of the Juice Squeezers, the kids who protect the town of Weeville from giant bugs. Here, we see exactly what happens to a bully when he picks on one of the Squeezers. As a high school nerd, there's some wonderful wish fulfillment there. This is a all ages book.

The Dumbest Idea Ever!

This issue is an excerpt from the recent graphic bio by cartoonist Jimmy Gownley, best known for creating one of my favorite all ages books of all time, Amelia Rules!. I'm ashamed to say I have this book on my shelf of to be read books, and have since it's publication a few months back, waiting to be read when I have time. After reading this charming excerpt, I am unsurprised that this has moved right to the top of my read pile. A perfect slice of life for anyone who remembers being in their teens, no matter how distantly. This is an all ages book.

Giant Size 4 Comic Bundle

This is one of the two "most bang for your non-existent buck" books this year, since it's technically four comics in one pack! Red Giant Entertainment is looking to start releasing weekly, ad supported free comics, and this pack has one issue of each of the four. The four individual books (with two stories each) are Giant Size Action, Giant Size Adventure, Giant Size Adventure, and Giant Size Thrills. They vary in quality from book to book from just ok to pretty darn great, and my favorite was Giant Size Action, since one of its features is Tesla, a Nicola Tesla action story, and I love me some Tesla. Other highlights were the crime/superhero/conspiracy mash up Duel Identity in Giant Size Fantasy, and the all ages fantasy story Magika in Giant Size Adventure. The ratings on these range from a teen and up to an all ages. Probably best to look each one over before you hand them to the little ones.

Mouse Guard, The Labyrinth, and Other Stories

And the next big value is Archaia's free hardcover, featuring a headline story from David Petersen's Mouse Guard. The story is a beautiful place to start if you've never read Mouse Guard before, a perfect microcosm of the series beautiful art and poetic language. Other stories include one set in the world of Farscape, Jim Henson's Labyrinth, a tale of a boy and his friend a dinosaur called Bolivar: The Golden Door, and others. I'd place the age recommendation here to be ten and up, but if you feel you seven or older year old can handle a little bit of scary, go for it.

Project: Black Sky

Project: Black Sky is the name of mysterious organization and the event that is tying together Dark Horse Comics various superhero titles this year, and this issue serves as a sort of primer, giving you an idea of what the project is up to, and who some of the heroes who will be facing them. The heroes here are Captain Midnight, the time displaced World War II era flyer, and Brain Boy, the psychic secret service agent. Written by Fred Van Lente, who has been writing the mini-series that chronicle Brain Boy's adventures, it's a light, fun super hero adventure featuring heroes fighting genetically altered apes. And we all know comics are better with apes and monkeys. I'd go with a ten and up on the reading age here.

Rocket Raccoon

The sure to be star of this summer's Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Rocket Raccoon gets to star in Marvel's all ages offering this year. It's a breezy little story of Rocket, along with his fellow Guardian, Groot (I AM GROOT!), and his fellow anthropomorphic animal Wall Russ (I Am The... oh, I get it!), rescuing a princess from captivity by a group of mercenary rabbits. The story fits better into the pre-Marvel Now! continuity, but is completely not dependent on any continuity for your enjoyment, and is a great introduction to Rocky and Groot. The issue also features a fun back-up from the world of the animated Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon with some excellent Ty Templeton art. This is an all ages book.

Scratch 9

I wrote an advance review of the new Scratch 9 series a couple of weeks back, and now's your chance to get your own sneak peek. The first half of this issue is some pages from that issue, while the second half of the Scratch segment features Scratch teaming up with First Pet Bo Obama to help save the president from an evil robot. The other side of the flipbook features a new story by Scratch creator Rob Worley, Run & Amuk, featuring a young boy nicknamed Run and his giant friendly monster companion called Amuk travelling through time. It's as fun and crazy as it sound. This is an all ages book.

Sherwood, Texas

The beginning of a series that is resetting the classic Robin Hood story in modern times, this is sort of Robin and the 7 Hoods (which if you've never seen, look it up on Netflix. It's the Rat Pack as prohibition era Chicago Robin Hood and his Merry Men) meets Sons of Anarchy. It's got that neo-western vibe that I like, and it's playing just fast and loose enough with the classic Robin Hood story that I'm not exactly cure where it will go when it becomes a regularly published comic. This is a book geared for adults.

Skyward/Midnight Tiger

Action Lab's ongoing Skyward gets a FCBD issue that, like last year's, gives us a glimpse into the future of the series. If you've never read Skyward before, it's a fantasy series, and this issue features new characters that I assume will play a part in the next arc of the series, so this issue is a fantasy adventure history of a tribe of barbarians. It's a good backstory, and I'm excited to see where this goes in the ongoing. Midnight Tiger is the origin of a new superhero who will be getting his own title from Action Lab this summer. It's a very Peter Parker/teen hero sort of origin, but there are some interesting aspects that will be fun to watch play out if I choose to pick up the mini-series. If not? It's a good self contained origin that does a lot of world building. This is all ages, unless you're one of those people who wants to ban Bone, in which case it's not all ages and what are you doing reading my blog?

Weekly Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 2/5

Archer & Armstrong: Archer #0
Story: Fred Van Lenter
Art: Pere Perez

After doing a whole recommended readings on Archer & Armstrong on Friday, I had to review this book today. This issue fills in the background of one of the title's leads, Obadiah Archer. It's a pretty harrowing story, with not a lot of humor, but every now and then, even a comedy needs that bit of gravity to stand counterpoint to the comedy. We see Archer's abduction, brainwashing by Project: Rising Spirit, time with the Archers, his evil foster parents, and him coming into his power. This ties this book a little more firmly into the Valiant universe; Project: Rising Spirit, a major mover in other aspects of the universe, has been dancing around the edges of the title, and now we see exactly how they tie into Archer's background. I'm curious to see if at some point soon the creators address the fact that Archer was stolen from his real parents, and if we see him go on a hunt for his roots. Archer has always been a sympathetic character, someone who clearly has this kind of tragedy in his back story, but really seeing it doesn't lessen that, as it sometimes does, but heightens it, especially at the end when he finally is pushed over the edge and savagely beats one of his fellow children of the Archers. The rewarding of this act shows exactly how poisoned his past is, and it makes the reader really feel bad for the kid. The end of the issue does indeed set up the crossover with Bloodshot and the H.A.R.D. Corps, so it's not just a book about the past, and it's curious to see how Archer is indeed the villain from, to quote one of my favorite movies of all time, a certain point of view. It has made me even more excited for that crossover, so bring it on.

Bad Blood #2
Story: Jonathan Maberry
Art: Tyler Crook

While Image has been getting a lot of credit for the launching of new series (and rightly so. Many of them are incredible), Dark Horse hasn't been noticed for a lot of its new works, which is a shame, because there's a lot of great work, especially in the horror genre. One of these books in Bad Blood, a vampire comic. And it's a great vampire comic. I'm not a big fan of vampires; give me a werewolf comic any day. But this book does some really interesting things with vampires. The book isn't about vampires, really, but about the life of one guy whose life has been affected by them. Trick is dying of cancer, and after a vampire attacks and bites him and is poisoned by the chemo drugs in his bloodstream, the vampire begins to exact revenge by killing his friends. This issue sees Trick going out to try to find the vampire and stop it from harming anyone else. This issue we get to know Lolly, a goth girl and stripper who wants to meet a vampire and be given its "dark gift." Lolly has a hard past, one that she doesn't really let Trick or the reader into until the end, and she is far more than that past. We spend the issue with these two characters, one who is sure that vampires are evil, the other who doesn't want to believe it. They're both very well rounded characters, especially after only a couple issues of exposure. Lolly takes Trick down into the depth of vampire culture, something that Trick finds frustrating, because he knows exactly what these creatures really are. For a book about vampires, it's a very realistic book, about people who are trying to escape: Lolly her past, and Trick his oncoming death. The supernatural does rear its head in the issue, but it's really a book about two people trying to connect and not really succeeding, like young people so often do. The thing that convinced me to pick up this book is the art by B.P.R.D. alum Tyler Crook, whose work is even better here, softer and dreamlike. I think next issue we'll see more vampires, and I have faith that we won't lose that strong character work as the book moves deeper into that realm.

Batman: Black and White #6
Art & Story: Various

The new volume of Batman: Black and White wraps up with this issue, and as with all the other issues, it's a gorgeous thing, full of great short stories by a murderer's row of creators. Under a great cover by Doug Mahnke, we get the following stories:

"Clay" by Cliff Chiang- This is a Dick Grayson as Robin story more than a Batman story. It's set in Dick's early days with Bruce, when the GCPD isn't taking Robin seriously and Dick isn't fitting in at school. It's narrated by Dick, and Chinag does a great job of making you understand Dick's feelings. The villain of the piece is Clayface, and Chiang does a great job of drawing the villain, which is not unexpected, since Chiang does a great job on everything he does.

"Bruce" by Olly Moss and Becky Cloonan- Becky Cloonan is an incredible artist. I've loved her work from the time she did Demo with Brian Wood, and was hugely impressed with the Batman issue she did with Scott Snyder. She draws great action, but even better people interacting, with wonderful faces, and so this story by Olly Moss seems tailor made for her. It's the story of a woman making her way out of Wayne Manor after a night with Bruce Wayne and meeting her friends. It's rare we see the point of view of people about Bruce Wayne without him being there, and I like the particular point of view given.

"The Batman: Hiding in Plain Sight" by Dave Taylor- The most traditional story in this issue, it's a story about Batman investigating the statue of a giant robot that has appeared on land that might have been crookedly purchased outside Gotham. Dave Taylor has a lot of history with Batman, between a run on Shadow of the Bat and the Batman: Death by Design graphic novel with Chip Kidd. His art works really well on this story, and it mixes aspects of Batman, with him both being the detective and being the hero who fights a mad scientist's bat-themed robots.

"She Lies at Midnite" by Adam Hughes- If Adam Hughes was going to write and draw a Batman story, it only makes sense it would feature Catwoman, a character Hughes has a history with. I've never read anything Hughes has written before, but I feel like he has the voices of Batman, Catwoman, and Slam Bradley down pretty well. The story seems to take place in a continuity adjacent to Ed Brubaker's run on Catwoman, a favorite run of mine, so a little revisiting of the Batman/Catwoman/Bradley love triangle is fun to see. Hughes gets in a great line in Batman's narration, about his view of Catwoman as, "someone I could love, if one of us was able to change just a little bit," that I really loved and really speaks to the relationship between the two.

"To Beat the Bat" by Dave Johnson- Dave Johnson's story is a noir, told from the point of view of a three time loser waiting for Batman to come and hunt him down. The gritty nature of the story works perfectly with Johnson's style, best known for his covers on 100 Bullets. You see this guy go down a path to hell because of a femme fatale, like many great noir protagonists. I don't want to talk about the ending, since like many good short stories the end has a twist to it, but I think the end of the story shows the darker side of the fear Batman inspires; fear doesn't always scare a guy straight. I would be curious to see exactly how Batman would react to the events of the story after the last page, and that's also something a good short story does: it leaves you wanting more.

Bloodhound: Crowbar Medicine #4
Story: Dan Jolley
Art: Leonard Kirk

After the tragedy at the end of the last issue, Travis "Clev" Clevenger is even more driven to hunt down Dr. Morgenstern, the man who is giving out the chip that gives people super powers. Each issue of the new Bloodhound series has been building and building, and the explosions are just starting to happen. One of the great things about this book is that Clev looks like a big bruiser, even moreso now that he's shaved his head, but he's quick witted and smart. He deduces Morgenstern's location, and goes out on the hunt. The truth behind Morgenstern's history now bears a frightening parallel to Clev's own after last issue (something I really don't want to give away if you haven't read the series), but I don't think that is going to stop Clev from dealing out some justice. There's some great action as Clev and his partner, Saffrom Bell, find some of Morgenstern's custom superhumans guarding his compound, and not only does Leonard Kirk do a great job of illustrating it, but there are moments I assume writer Dan Jolley scripted in that show just the kind of guy Clev is; he fights dirty if he has to, and I like him all the more for it. With a little help from the mysterious superhuman Terminus, Clev and Saffron are on their way to confront Morgenstern. Seriously, folks, I can't recommend this book enough. If you like Gotham Central, Powers, Chase, Alias, or any super-hero/procedural, you're doing yourself a disservice not reading Bloodhound. You have time to catch up before next issue's finale, so what are you waiting for?

Juice Squeezers #2
Story & Art: David Lapham

David Lapham is best known for his noir masterpiece, Stray Bullets (something I'll be writing about in the not too distant future), so the fact that he's doing an all ages book about kids fighting the giant bug infestation beneath their town seems a bit out of character. But that book, Juice Squeezers, is turning out to be great fun. In the initial story in Dark Horse Presents, we met the Juice Squeezers, the kids who defend Weeville from the giant bugs, and got to see the giant bugs, although we also got hints that there's more to the bugs than the Squeezers believe. Issue one of this series introduced Billy Farnsburger, the new kid in town who has moved onto seriously bug populated land with his dad. This issue, Billy traps a giant bug, and makes it his pet. He spends much of the issue with Lizzy Beedle, the only female Squeezer, who is disobeying orders from her teacher/leader of the Squeezers, Mr. Kettleborne, by befriending him. Billy is the reader proxy, the outsider who is going to be learning about the secrets of Weeville with them. It's a fun comic, with lots of action and great character work. The Squeezers interact like kids would, not like little adults and not like adults imagine kids would; their dialogue is realistic without lots of slang that would date the book. I have to reiterate what I said when I was talking about Bad Blood, and say that I'm impressed with the breadth of books Dark Horse is publishing right now, and between that title, this one, and Bloodhound, we've got three comics with very distinct voices and string characters.