Free Comic Book Day 2017 pt.1

Free Comic Book Day 2017 – Art Bee

What comic book fan can argue with a holiday featuring the distribution of comics at no cost? Certainly not this comic fan! Whether the comics are great, mediocre, or completely horrid, the price is right…come on down! Did this year’s selection seem very similar to the previous year to anyone else? Part of me wants to look up the books offered last year to compare, but the fear of what I would find prevents me from doing so.

Last year my daughter was fortunate to win a drawing for one copy of every free comic available, which saved us from several trips through the store. We were not so lucky this year. Fortunately only two comics were of interest to her, so she grabbed a few for me. The bad side is now I owe her; the good side is, since I am Dad, I have a say in how this debt is repaid…muahahaha!!!          

My favorite comic I grabbed on FCBD was definitely I Hate Image by Skottie Young. This book featured Gertrude from I Hate Fairyland as she travels from Fairyland to the land of Image. The terrain of Image is the landscape of various popular ongoing titles from the company. Gertrude’s goal is to confront Image’s “partners”. This issue is a very clever way to serve up various titles to the reader on two levels: as a brief curiosity if the reader has not seen an issue and as something with deeper meaning and humor if you are already familiar with the title. On the surface you may wonder if Skottie Young has something against the people within Image, but that is far from the truth. This comic was a great delight to grab, and I was surprised it didn’t get snatched up faster. It was the first one I nabbed.

James Cameron’s Avatar screamed at me from the shelf at first sight. Like many other science fiction fans, the movie instantly became one of my favorites. The cover looked very attractive, and once it was parted the pages were even better…at least the first half of them. The first part of the book featured a scene left out of the movie. We see Jake Sully flying above the Toruk and his bonding with it to become Torukmakto. This scene provides some more depth to Jake’s character and is very enjoyable. The artwork and colors are very impressive, much like the movie. The second half of the issue contains a story called “Briggs Land”, has nothing to do with Avatar, and is truly a sad waste of paper. The only way I can describe it is plot-challenged.

I don’t know about everyone else’s LCS FCBD, but mine was flooded with The Walking Dead #163. Normally this title is not in my folder, but I have thought about acquiring the trades. This issue was pretty enjoyable, even though I felt a little lost at parts. The book drew me in and made me feel a bit excited. It’s sad I could not have been a part of it since the beginning. The artwork is superb and I really like how they include so much detail without using color.

One of my targeted grabs was Star Trek: the Next Generation. The television show was one of my favorites as a kid and still is. I have seen various comic books produced with the title but none have appealed to me until this one. This issue is based on the “Mirror Broken” in which we see the evil counterparts of the characters. This free issue is a very good sell and has me hooked. I want more! It was masterfully presented to the best effect. The story is told from the perspective of Reginald Barclay, who was a supporting character on the show, but this point of view allows the reader the best scope of the story. The artwork features exquisite likenesses of the actors and looks to be done in water colors. Bonus points!

My daughter grabbed for me an issue of The Legend of Zelda. This comic included excerpts from two different Legend of Zelda Manga graphic novels:  Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time. Manga is not really my cup of joe, and both of these excerpts give me more reasons to continue my no-Manga stance. The first story featured Link pulling a magically sword from a stone…hello, Excalibur. The other story made me literally say aloud, “holy giant, tree-eating, one-eyed spider Batman.”

Steampunk is normally supposed to scream originality and creativity. When I opened Steam Wars: Strike Leader, I was very saddened by the lack of these very qualities. Throughout the issue it was evident the creators were Star Wars fans, because they ripped off Star Wars designs left and right. X-wings, Y-wings, Astromech droids, and Tie fighters were just some of the designs stolen. On top of that the story was about as bland as tofu, as was the artwork. At least it was free, because I would not have paid for that crap if you lined it in foil.

The last FCBD comic I am mentioning is one of my daughter’s. Grumpy Cat (and Pokey) is definitely a kids’ comic, but she showed me the last page of it after laughing hysterically. The last page is fake ad for “Grump Ray Specs”. The ad is split into a top and bottom. The top half has a smiling woman and a half a glass of a drink saying, “Glass Half Full.” The bottom half has an angry woman with sunglasses and the same half a glass saying, “Glass Half Empty.” I have to admit that it made me chuckle a bit.

Free Comic Book Day is a wonderful holiday. It is nice to stand in line and be guarded by stormtroopers on a Saturday morning while waiting to be handed free comics. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks for Madman and Will’s exploits on their selections.