Twittering @nickawgomez
- This Week in X – 15/5/14 - 15 May, 2014
- FREE COMIC BOOK DAY - 3 May, 2014
- We want TRAILERS not SPOILERS! - 30 April, 2014
It’s the first Saturday of May! That most wonderful day for comic fans everywhere. What is it you ask? Why Free Comic Book Day of course! It comes but once a year…and I hope and pray that I’m near a comic book store when it happens. Alas this year, I will be far from my favourite little store, Dave’s Comics in Brighton.
However, shops and stores around the world will be hosting Free Comic Book Day with-what else-FREE comic books! Is there anything finer?
For those not in the know, Free Comic Book Day is almost exactly what it sounds like. You turn up at your store and they give you a few free issues of certain comics. This sadly doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all, grab-what-you-can sort of event but it is a good excuse to support paper copies and brick-and-mortar stores worldwide as well as pick up a few issues to enjoy.
In recent years, big hitters such as Marvel, have taken to producing special issues just for the occasion and they’ll only be available on the day. Today! These exclusive issues might introduce you to a new character, or add a little something extra to the rich history of your favourite heroes. The beauty of FCBD is that you never know!
But don’t just take it from me, have a listen to Stan The Man Lee:
(I know, he’s everywhere but we love him.)
Even more than Marvel, all sorts of independent publishers and small graphic novel houses will have comics to give away that’ll give you a flavour of something new, something that you might not normally think to pick up!
For more information, and to find your local store check the official website here.
If this is all sounds good to you, don’t forget that you can help support the comic book industry and keep it thriving (plus be ahead of the curve of what might be made into a TV show or movie in the next few years) by picking up one, or all, of my three recommendations below:
- Morning Glories by Joe Eisma.
Evil boarding school meets Lost in its prime. I cannot recommend this series enough. Eisma doesn’t just create a cast of intriguing, funny and cool characters; he has created an ongoing epic that gets even bigger and better with every single issue. Several volumes in and I’m still guessing, even though I know so much! You’ll love it and you’ll thank me.
- Pocketbook collections.
You’ve probably seen them but you might not have bought one. These little gems are collections of classic comic book stories from Marvel, including The X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk, Spider-Man and many more. Priced about £4-7 each, you get to see where it all began and enjoy some of classic art and stories. It’s not all about the shiny and new after all. This is history people.
- Doom Patrol
Lastly, but not least-ly; (and because DC was good before The New 52), I recommend Doom Patrol. Possibly the wackiest of creations, this team of anti-heroes were the first of a new kind of unglamorous heroes with the most randomly fathomable powers and ridiculous names-including Danny the Street (get it?): a man who is in fact a street, and The Chief. I mean, he’s called The Chief. Sold.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GET FREE COMICS AND BUY COMICS. EXCELSIOR!
