To be honest, I'm a bit down on comics at the moment. Creatively speaking, the comic book industry is always one of peaks and valleys, and it seems that it's been in a bit of a valley for a while. I think the most excited I've been inside of a comic book store recently was a couple of weeks ago when I saw there was a new Hitman TPB out. In other words, a collection of comics from the 1990s that I'd already read a dozen times.
But that's the great thing about FCBD. It allows longtime comic book readers to sample stuff they otherwise wouldn't have seen (Love and Capes and The Sixth Gun were last year's best discoveries) and allows new readers to tip their toes into the great ocean of geekdom without spending a dime.
Area comic book stores celebrating FCBD include Big Planet Comics, Fantom Comics and Laughing Ogre Comics. Go down and stock up. Hell, pick up a Hitman TPB, too. It's not free, but it is maybe the greatest comic ever published.
As always, here are the best bets of what free comics to pick up:
Green Lantern: Flashpoint Special Edition: What's Flashpoint? If you don't already know, don't ask. It'll just make your head hurt. But you're probably going to see Green Lantern this summer, so you may as well familiarize yourself with the character in this origin story.
Super Dinosaur Origin Special #1: Yeah, I know. Super Dinosaur? Really? Frankly, I'm not overly optimistic, either. But it's the comics that have the dumbest-sounding premises that often turn out to be the biggest surprises.
The Amazing Spider-Man: I'm a DC guy, so am I willing to pay to read a Spider-Man comic? Probably not. But will I read one for free when it's written by Dan Slott, the guy who made me break my no-Marvel rule with his excellent run on She-Hulk, easily one of the best comics of the past decade? Yep.
2000 AD: Aside from the collections of Alan Moore stories, I haven't read much 2000 AD, the long-running British sci-fi series. What I have read can be described as either: 1) Pretty cool, or 2) I just don't get the British. Hopefully, this issue will be the former.
Bongo Comics Free For All: I realized recently that I don't watch The Simpsons anymore. I think I've seen maybe five episodes in the past two years. But for some reason, every FCBD I look forward to The Simpsons comic. There's also a Futurama comic if you're into that sort of thing. (I realize this'll cost me major geek cred, but I could never get into Futurama.)
Captain America/Thor: Cap and Thor get sent back in time to King Arthur's Court! Yeah, uh...I don't know what to tell you. Marvel kind of skipped over the goofy Silver Age stories that DC happily embraced back in the '60s and '70s. Maybe they're making up for lost time? Whatever. I'm sure it'll be fine. And hey, more movie tie-ins!
Misadventures of Adam West: I'm pretty sure Bruce Campbell already did this gag with My Name is Bruce. But come on:
"The Man, The Myth, The Amulet? Legendary star of the small and silver screen, ADAM WEST, has his career youth-enized in this hip-whimsical,trans-dimensional epic of an adventure. When a mysterious fan delivers an exotic amulet to Mr. West's doorstep he is Dorothy-fied on an odyssey that will change his career, his love life and inadvertently make him the man that saves the universe!"
How do you not read this?
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