Review- FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 offerings, Episode I

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 offerings, Episode I

I get emails with links to review PDFs all the time, but to be honest with you, if it is not a dead tree edition I will likely not review it. I have read a few comics on my computer but nothing compares to holding a comic in my hand and reading it. It is one of life's simpler pleasures. I don't own a tablet and have no desire to read comics on my phone. In short, if someone wants me to review something for them, give me a physical copy...like publishers do on Free Comic Book Day every single year!

Mouse Guard, Labrynth And Other Stories: A Free Comic Book Day 2014 Hardcover Anthology (Archaia, cover date May, 2014)

The winner for the fanciest Free Comic Book Day offering once again goes to Archaia with their beautiful hardcover with sewn binding (Smyth sewn binding with 5 stitches per signature for you OCD types out there). This features samplings of six different Archaia titles: Mouse Guard, Rust, Labrinyth, Bolivar, Will O' The Wisp, and Farscape. My wife and kids enjoyed them all, especially Mouse Guard. She has talked about dipping her toe into the collected editions of that title. These titles were all tolerable to me but I won't be picking any of them up.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.75 out of 5.

Red Giant Entertainment Free Comic Book Day four pack (Red Giant Entertainment, cover date May, 2014)

The winner for the most bang for your FCBD buck goes to Red Giant. I thought that this comic which was shrinkwrapped to a piece of cardboard maybe had explicit content or something, but once I set out to crack it open I soon realized the truth: It had four split/flip comic books in it! So you get introduced to eight new titles all for the same low low price.

Giant-Size Action #0 features Tesla on one side and Wayward Sons on the other. Tesla features the heroic exploits of Nikolai Tesla. While well done, it was not my cup of tea. Wayward Sons is highly entertaining and might bear further investigation when the eventual collected edition is released.

Giant-Size Adventure #0 features The First Daughter on one side and Magika on the other. The First Daughter is comic book amateur hour and a complete waste of time. Magika has that highly polished, all ages, aimed at Scholastic Book Fair “graphic novel” vibe to it. Go where the cash is, I suppose. It's not horrible but it's not something that I would ever pay for.

Giant-Size Fantasy #0 features Pandora's Blogs on one side and Duel Identity on the other. Both of these are well written and well drawn ready for prime time concepts.

Giant-Size Thrills #0 features Darchon on one side and Shadow Children on the other. Darchon is the winner out of all eight of these concepts. A marriage of Doctor Strange, Doctor Spektor, Nightmask, and The Phantom Stranger, this has stuck with me a week or so after I read it. I will definitely pick up a trade paperback of this if it ever surfaces. Shadow Children has that all ages vibe and, like most of these Red Giant concepts presented here, has good production values.

I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of this line of comics. Now I have one, possibly two more books to pick up in the future. Dear publishers: Stop making appealing new comic books! You are killing me (and my wallet)!

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The Intrinsic: Singularity Zero Free Comic Book Day (Arcana, cover date 2014)

Hey, it's The X-Men featuring Hellboy! Fail.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 1 out of 5.

Free Comic Book Day 2014: Sherwood, Texas & Boondock Saints (12-Gauge Comics, cover date May, 2014)

Another split book. Sherwood, TX was forgettable while Boondock Saints was enjoyable enough that I might check out a trade paperback if one ever surfaces.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Ipso Facto Free Comic Book Day Issue One (Automatic Press, cover date 2014)

Interesting well polished and entertaining stuff.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

Fubar Free Comic Book Day MMXIV (Fubar Press, 2014)

This comic features two comics: The Ace Of Spades by Chuck Dixon and Zero Dead Thirty. While mildly entertaining and most certainly readable, there is nothing here that would make me buy either one of these black and white zombie mash-ups. Quite frankly, all of these zombie themes are getting tired.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.75 out of 5.

I will have plenty more FBCD reviews in the weeks and months ahead. Stay tuned!