What I love about Free Comic Book Day is that it's basically the best shot most companies have at being visible to the average reader. For the folks showing up just for free comics, it probably won't make much of a difference. For the folks who show up to comics shops every Wednesday or in any other sense on a regular basis, it's a chance to find out what companies outside of DC and Marvel are doing (because let's face it, for the average fan, it's still basically just DC and Marvel). I don't know how many sales these free comics result in (for a long time, I bought Atomic Robo comics in part because Red 5 always included it in their FCBD releases, when Red 5
had Atomic Robo in its slate), but it says a lot about the companies, what they're willing to release for the annual celebration.
Here again is what I got, and what I thought after reading through all of it:
Animosity Tales (AfterShock)
Marguerite Bennett's comic is basically the flagship of AfterShock, another would-be Image in a crowded indy scene. What was more interesting than the story featured in the issue was the summary of the series to date, which reads a heck of a lot like
The Walking Dead. So if you want your zombies to instead be animals, this is the comic for you.
Bloodshot (Valiant)
I've been a supporter of the Valiant relaunch for years (not specifically from the start, but around the time
The Valiant came out). While I don't love
everything they publish, I still maintain that this is the discerning superhero fan's best bet for a coherent modern landscape to follow, the Ultimate version of the classic Valiant characters, the condensed version of what the New 52 attempted. And Bloodshot has been a part of it, and been a favorite of mine, for years. This take is from Tim Seeley, who's been an underrated star of the modern comics landscape whether in his DC work or elsewhere. But Seeley's take on Bloodshot feels hollow compared to what Jeff Lemire was doing. Lemire pulled off Bloodsquirt! He wants a Bloodshot that's actually the complete reverse of Lemire's, all action and no character study. I thought that was the
best part of the modern Bloodshot! Anyway, also included is the latest chapter of the Rai saga,
Fallen World, which reads a lot better. It's from Dan Abnett, who could
use a breakout solo project.
Deadly Class (Image)
I'd sampled the series previously, but this particular issue was a brilliant way to highlight what makes it truly awesome, and I'm glad all over again that there's a TV adaptation, which I hope to catch. Remender's a particularly busy creator, the hardest working concept engine not named Mark Millar, who takes all manner of risks with high concepts.
H1 Ignition (Humanoids)
Here's Mark Waid's latest attempt at a startup. Dude's been at this for twenty years now, and...has yet to find one that truly sticks (or as with Boom!...sticks
with). This one's all about straining for modern credibility, the social awareness that actually...turned off a lot of Marvel fans. Maybe it works better with new characters. I don't know. But this preview is somewhat poorly put together. I have little faith of it sticking any better than his previous efforts. I have no idea why Waid strayed so far from what he did so brilliantly in the pages of
The Flash. Maybe someday he rediscovers that spark.
Interceptor (Vault)
Donny Cates is another firecracker in modern comics, but one that's working equally hard at mainstream (with Marvel) as with his personal projects. Since this isn't a well-loved era for Marvel, fans haven't really rallied around him, but I like to see what he's doing. I like his storytelling in this issue. He's definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Punchline (Antarctic Press)
Here's the best comic I read from the bunch! It's a superhero book from other than DC/Marvel, which is always an interesting prospect. There will be great material done elsewhere (see: Valiant) and there will be shoddy stuff. This looks like great stuff.
Part of what makes it look great is the artwork, naturally. Matthew Weldon seems like the closest I'll get to classic Stuart Immonen, before he started adding detail into his clean forms. There's some rough work in there, but Weldon is like Patrick Gleason more interested in shadow than warm figures, a moody look at its best that the touch of reality Bill Williams seeks in a script that looks more to the human than superhuman.
I like the details Williams includes, like the fact that the Black Arrow is actually two people sharing a costume to evade seekers of secret identities. (I'd read
that comic, too, thank you!) It feels like a genuinely fresh take, just when you thought you'd seen everything. There's a collection already available with the rest of the story, which I think I might actually track down (read: order online). And I guess there's more new issues coming.
Stranger Things (Dark Horse)
As I've said, I haven't been initiated into the
Stranger Things cult, and this comic didn't make me consider reconsidering. Fortunately there was also a
Black Hammer backup, with Jeff Lemire presenting the "Cabin of Horrors," clearly an homage to
House of Mystery and such. Eventually we meet Jack Sabbath (familiar to
Black Hammer fans?), who has just discovered that his backstory might be different than he previously thought. Cowritten by Ray Fawkes, in defense of whom I sort of exiled myself from Millarworld a few months back. Also discovered that
Mice Templar artist Victor Santos has been working at Dark Horse recently, with a long-running espionage comic called
Polar, which might be worth checking out. See, Free Comic Book Day??? Success.
Year of the Villain (DC)
Again, not technically a FCBD release, but for the second year in a row a cheap DC comic meant to promote upcoming stories. Scott Snyder is the brains behind a new
Underworld Unleashed/
Forever Evil-type event headlined by the bad guys. I really wish Lex Luthor could just stay the antihero he's done so well in stories like
Final Night and Geoff Johns'
Justice League, but he keeps getting dragged back into villainy. This is one of those stories where "he's finally gone too far." More significantly, Brian Michael Bendis signals he may be interested in working on Batgirl comics, with a tale that finally allows Barbara Gordon to remember she was pretty badass as Oracle, too.
Star Wars Day: May the 4th Be With You (Marvel)
Again, not technically a FCBD release (but part of
another of the things last Saturday was culturally). Besides some previews for various comics, there are some creator interviews, including one spotlighting Kieron Gillen's creation of Doctor Aphra, whom he repeatedly describes as a Star Wars version of Indiana Jones. (Yes, yes, yes: Harrison Ford played both Indy and Han Solo, but Gillen's point is that Aphra collects artifacts...but with a more nefarious agenda in mind!) On the whole, I'm quite happy that Marvel got the rights for Star Wars back from Dark Horse (other than Dark Horse's brilliant adaptation of
The Star Wars), as it sticks much closer to film material and less creating whatever the hell it wants. I just can't decide if Aphra is closer to the Dark Horse mentality than Marvel's...
