A Quick ‘Free Comic Book Day’ Post…

Because I’ve spent most of the day, y’know… reading through a bunch of free comics and stuff :o) I've also been looking at a book that tells you how to make zombie cupcakes but I think that's a post for another day ;o)

I’ve missed ‘Free Comic Book Day’ pretty much every year since I started the blog and would have missed it this year as well if it hadn’t been for an email from a mate. I turned up at Forbidden Planet, at about half nine this morning, to find a queue stretching halfway down the street. Sue and Hope went off to grab a drink while I stood in the cold hoping that my phone had enough battery to play games and call Sue once the queue started moving (there was!)

Once the doors opened I totally lucked out comic book wise, scoring what I think might be a limited edition ‘Mouse Guard’ hardcover anthology (really had my fingers crossed for a copy). That’ll probably get its own review here in the next week or so. I got a bag of free comics. Sue turned up a few minutes later and got another bag of comics for me plus a bag for Hope. I lost them both at one point and when I came back into the store, to keep looking, found myself being given yet another bag of comics! Not that I’m complaining… :o)

I haven’t read ‘Comic Book Marketplace’ yet, looks very interesting though (all about horror comics), but made my way through the rest. IDW’s opening for their new ‘Transformers’ series looks like it could be worth picking up in trade (took me right back to the eighties and reading my little brother’s ‘Transformers’ comics) while Marvel’s ‘Age of Ultron’ looks like it might be good place to jump on board without getting bogged down in too much continuity.

Dark Horse’s ‘Two in One’ comic books made for some mixed reading. ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Serenity’ didn’t do an awful lot for me (although I could be persuaded otherwise with ‘Serenity’) but ‘Buffy’ and ‘The Guild’ rocked a lot more than I was expecting them to. I really need to check out ‘The Guild’ a lot more I think, ‘Buffy’ too (the more I read/watch the more I wonder why I never gave it a chance until now). What I really enjoyed though was the little two part ‘Alabaster’ story that ran between two issues and has really whetted my appetite for more (probably in trade as well).

The highlight for me though (apart from the ‘Mouse Guard’ anthology that I still need to read) was the free copy of 2000AD. There was nothing new here but there didn’t need to be, I’ve never read a bad issue of 2000AD yet and this issue was no exception. I wouldn’t mind finding out more about ‘Ichabod Azrael’ for a start…

‘Free Comic Book Day’ is over for me and it was a day packed full of new comic books, which I’d never read before along with a few old friends to get reacquainted with. I’ll be back next year and you should take advantage now if there’s still time left in the day. All the publishers are in on the action and I’d be very surprised if there isn’t something out there that feels as if it was written especially for you.