Ahhh… good ol’ Free Comic Book Day. While it has plenty of naysayers, overall the first Saturday of May offers a fun time for children — a great way to get them away from their XBOX’s, iPAD’s, Pii-U’s or whatever high-tech gadgets these spoiled brats sport these days — and gets them into a good ol’ fashioned Local Comic Shop.
Sure, the events can be pretty gimmicky, like Shia Lebeouf appearing today at the Hollywood Meltdown Comics on the historic Sunset Boulevard. You guessed it: the Transformers star is now writing and drawing his own comic. In fact, three. So, of course, if you don’t buy any of his crap, you don’t get his John Hancock.
I think I bumped into him trying to look at the retro Batman t-shirts.
Big deal. At least Meltdown offered a healthy discount on many of their books, had a nice vibe to the place and lots of excited children (more for the books and less for Shia). Getting the kiddies into the store the primary reason why FCBD is at least a half-success. Let’s hope the attention-riddled youth of today continues to explore the greatness of floppy comics and keeps our private-owned stores alive.
- It wouldn’t be May the Fourth Be With You without a free Star Wars comic, so thank Dark Horse to dishing out a standalone store starring Darth Vader and Boba Fett…sorta. You see, Anakin has always been that big bad that everyone wants to take down but seemingly can’t. Imagine Lebron James’ teammates mailing it in one night and the dude still getting the win on his own. Yup. That’s Darth Vader. His captains hate him, his troopers envy him, his son wants to be him. There’s a particular moment in Star Wars ongoing scribe Brian Wood’s short-story that adds a new dimension to the Darth Vader lore. Unfortunately, the promised Boba Fett addition doesn’t quite pan out, as every nerd’s favorite hired gun barely makes a whisper. And, artist Ryan Odagawa doesn’t do the bounty hunter justice with his character build, either. Although the comic doesn’t look bad overall, Carlos D’Anda this Mr. Odagawa is not. I would have loved to see a juicier story involving these two Star Wars icons. But, hey, it’s FREE Comic Book Day.
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Mama’s Meatloaf back at it again! Avengers go Infinity. So, the cover to the prologue of the next big Marvel event looks pretty randy, and inside the FCBD Infinity you’ll read something nearly as cryptic as the scene after The Avengers end credits. We know Thanos is the next player to present some major white man’s problems and fans should be grateful that Johnathan Hickman is behind it all. His run on Avengers has thus far been pretty invigorating, building upon something so big that only this title could be aptly named. With the free comic, you’re not going to get anything more than a few cool, creepy-looking alien species from artist Jim Cheung (Young Avengers).
- It’s not all bad news. The Walking Dead free comic, written by Walking Dead comic creator and TV show executive producer, Robert Kirkman, and penciled by ongoing comic series artist, Charlie Adlard, is an actual fully-fledged 24-page comic book!!! This.. doesn’t happen. The story stars Tyrese, Michonne, and The Governor. It’s in black-and-white. People die. A man cries. Zombies appear. Total victory. And Meltdown had hundreds. Get you some.