Current mood:	peaceful
Current music:	"Don't Speak"--Clueless
Entry tags:	comics

Free Comic Book Day
So, Free Comic Book Day.

Having been burned last year, I took the precaution of arriving at the Source (they have the biggest selection in town) early on.

In addition to the usual free pop and cake, everyone got an Iron Man Heroclix figure. And of course, some free comics (an edited bag for the kiddies.)



Arcana Presents: Several different titles, actually. "Kade" is about a demon hunter who apparently has special senses that allow him to see demons in human disguise. Or maybe he's just hallucinating. Anyhow, he's in India and a local girl thinks he's not crazy.
*"Burn" is a mangaesque feature about a cyborg, the story is a glimpse of his life just before the bad things start happening.
*"The Gwai"--Peaceful furry sentients live in the Canadian Pacific Northwest, fearful of the encroaching humans. Have you seen Bambi? Same shocking plot twist.
*"100 Girls" is evidently about young women with special abilities who aren't necessarily thrilled about having them or willing to use them constructively. This is the only complete story in the issue, going into the background of Jessica, who has electrical powers.

Comments: Kade looks very "Nineties Anti-Hero" so if that's your cup of tea, it should work fine for you. I'd actually like to see more of Burn's world outside of the cyborg fighting action that's probably going to dominate the series. (Slice of life stories set in the future are underrepresented in comics.) The Gwai doesn't sit well with me--the combination of artstyle and story direction clash. 100 Girls might be interesting, but I'd have to see a story with a little more sunshine to get a better picture.


Atomic Robo: The title character is a sentient robot created by Nikola Tesla, who investigates the unknown. In this particular story, he is asked to look into a possible new superbomb created by the Soviets. Good stuff!
*The back-up tale is "Neozoic", which is set on an alternate Earth where the dinosaurs never died out, but humans still evolved. A couple of scouts encounter a carnosaur that's been raiding their stables. The heroine's a little over the top for me, but maybe she just needs a partner who's more in sync with her personality.


Bongo Comics Free-for-All!: All Simpsons-related stories. In the first, Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl are sidelined when Springfield outlaws superheroes. Then Bart refuses to take a bath until his TV privileges are restored. And finally, a tale from the "Japanese manga" version of the Simpsons. Bart's hair works very well as anime hair. Bongo's stuff is pretty consistently funny, so if you like the Simpsons, go for it.


Comic Book Diner: A sampler of kids' comics. First up is "Roboy", a robot hero who's escaped from the amusement park where he was one of the attractions. The story recaps the premise from the perspective of a cynical big sister to a fan. Cute, perhaps a bit light-weight, and even the villain isn't really a bad guy.
*"Patrick the Wolf Boy" is just what it says on the tin, a boy with the mannerisms of a wolf. Sweet-natured, and the creators have recently landed a gig doing "Tiny Titans" for DC.
*"The Dreamland Chronicles" is a generic-looking fantasy epic done in what looks like CG art--in an attempt to look like an animated movie. I found the look kind of creepy. Not even a complete chapter, either.
*"Banana Tail" features a banana-obsessed monkey and his surreal friends. Meant for the younger kids. The story is Banana Tail having a dream about bananas. Kind of one-note, but the little ones may enjoy it.
*"Buzzboy" is a pre-teen action hero dealing with adults who want to keep him down. In this case, the Silencer, who believes firmly in censoring all voices but his own. Perhaps a little heavy-handed on the politics.
*"Tbyrd Fearlessness and Hopalong Cassowary" is set in a funny animal version of the Old West. Con ostrich Tbyrd and his hapless sidekick attempt to scam some free food. I'm pretty sure I've seen the art style before, if so the artist has been around quite a while, since I saw previous work in the early 80s.
*There's also a list of other comics that kids might like.


Comics Go Hollywood: Mostly text pieces with a few pictures. A story on storyboarding the "New Frontier" movie, an interview with Jeph Loeb (highlighting his "Heroes" work), a look at the X-Men movie that was planned in 1984 but never got made, a Jack Kirby Tinseltown retrospective, and a long piece on the Joker's changes over the years. Worth a look if you're interested in looking behind the scenes of movies and comic books.


Drafted: Earth is about to be attacked by ravenous aliens. Other aliens, who are possibly benevolent, dragoon the Earthlings into preparing for the attack. This issue is more or less a synopsis of the first six issues cobbled together from significant pages. This makes it a bit choppy, but can still be followed. Could be good.


Gunplay/Hero By Night: "Gunplay" is set in the Old West, featuring a Buffalo Soldier who's been cursed to kill once a day or suffer the consequences, and the faith healer boy who travels with him. Just a couple of scenes from this one that don't really give a good feel for the continuity.
*"Hero By Night" is about a legacy hero who's found a Golden Age superhero's power ring and inherited some enemies as well as some other drawbacks. The story recaps his origin and his current situation. Has potential. (The previous hero's story is told online in webcomic form, and is well worth a look.)

Hellboy: Demon destined to destroy the world chooses to defend it instead. Mike Mignola's stuff is excellent. Three shorts in this issue; Hellboy discovers a mole on his hand, BRPD agent Kraus has some downtime and searches for something to do, and a story about the reason Dr. Eaton took up his career.


Ignatz: A selection of cartoonists from around the world. Just vignettes for each, not really enough for me to get a handle on it. "Babel" is about the author's relationship with his epileptic brother. In "Baobab", two South American cartoonists take different approaches to fulfilling their love of cartooning. "Grotesque" is apparently taking place inside someone's mind, as an outside entity explores it. "Sammy the Mouse" is about a heavy-drinking rodent and his buddies. "Niger" has a group of birds raising a doll-like creature. "Interiorae" is the lives of people inhabiting a high-rise. "Delphine" is a modernized retelling of Snow White from the prince's point of view. And "Ganges" appears to be about a low-level employee of a dot-com company during the bubble.


Imaginary: Stuff coming out from Radical Comics. It's all random pictures, no stories. Some of the art looks okay, but it doesn't make me want to run right out and buy the books.


Impact University: A smattering of "how to draw" tips. Sadly, I haven't improved in years.


Jughead: A full-issue ad for Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore. Archie gets a night watchman job, Jughead goes along for moral support, and they have a wacky misadventure. Baltimore appreciates the boosterism, I'm sure.


Love and Capes: Caped hero Crusader falls in love with a "normal" woman, and they try to pursue a relationship despite their very different worlds. In this story, Crusader prepares to propose. A good balance of heroic and mundane concerns.


Marvel Adventures: Essentially an Marvel Adventures Avengers story; Hulk, Iron Man and Spider-Man team up against the Mandarin, with guest appearances by Ant-Man and Grottu (an old-timey Marvel Monster.) These Avengers are much more likable than the versions appearing in the mainstream Marvel titles at the moment. Notably, there's a scene where the heroes and villain agree to move a fight away from a cultural heritage site so as not to wreck it.


NASCAR Heroes: Mild-mannered janitor Dashiell James is given powers by a chemical explosion, and becomes Jimmy Dash, NASCAR Hero. As such, he races against the dastardly Jack Diesel, who uses powers gained in the same explosion to cheat. In this story, Jimmy takes a starring role in a movie that's being haunted by a headless ghost. Not the worst tie-in comic ever.


Shonen Jump: Clips from Naruto, Bleach and Slam Dunk. The first two you should already know; the latter is a basketball manga. The early bits of Slam Dunk have more comedy and just a bit of romance, but eventually it turns into pure basketball competition.


Sonic the Hedgehog: A reprint of the first Archie Comics issue with a new cover. This comic has come a long, long way.


All-Star Superman: Reprint of the first issue. Morrison does good ideas.


Transformers Animated: Reprint of the first issue about the latest iteration of transforming robots defending/attacking Earth, which pretty much retells the first episode of the cartoon. I'm not a big fan of the art style, but I am not a diehard Transformers lover, so don't have the street cred to complain.


Walt Disney's Gyro Gearloose: An eccentric inventor in Duckburg. In this issue, Gyro attempts to rid Uncle Scrooge's money bin of rats, protect Scrooge's money from the Beagle Boys (only to have it literally blown away), create a sunny day from a rainy one, and prevent Launchpad McQuack from crashing airplanes (twice.) Gentle fun.


X-Men: Pixie returns to her Welsh hometown, where people are disappearing at an alarming rate, yet no one seems to notice. Only Pixie sees the monsters, but are they really there? Story is okay, art is...Greg Land.