Review- Free Comic Book Day 2014 offerings, Episode III

Free Comic Book Day 2014 offerings, Episode III

Epic #0 Pilot- Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Comix Tribe, cover date 2014)

I always try to consider the mythical “new kid” who might pick up comics and be turned off by inbred, self referencing fanboy pandering. Then again, are there really any new readers these days?

While some of the jokes seemed adolescent, the writing and artwork are decent enough that I would be willing to read more if someone gave it to me to review.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

Free Comic Book Day: 2000 AD (2000 AD, cover date 2014)

2000 AD is a weekly UK anthology magazine, and this FCBD issue is more of a greatest hits affair with a smattering of new material thrown in.

You get a brand new Judge Dredd story, a classic Slaine story, an early Rogue Trooper* story, a vintage Anderson, Psi-Division tale, two more reprints, two more original stories, and a few classic Judge Dredd newspaper strips. I recently tracked down the old Judge Dredd strips UK hardcover, and was dismayed/delighted to learn from them on Twitter that 2000 AD is going to issuing the complete run in hardcover later this year! Watch your local solicits, kiddies.

*I am knee deep into Rogue Trooper: Tales Of Nu-Earth Vol. 1 trade paperback and am loving it.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

Skyward/ Midnight Tiger- FCBD 2014 (Action Lab, cover date 2014)

All ages friendly it's not, but this is some decent stuff. The artwork reminds me of Todd Nauck for some reason. I would consider buying a trade paperback of Midnight Tiger, as it was a lot of fun.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.25 out of 5.

Transformers Vs. G.I. Joe #0 (IDW, cover date May, 2014)

I am almost 41, which means that I was the prime age for both of these concepts in the 1980s. I had a bunch of G.I. Joe toys and a handful of Transformers (as well as their precursors,The Gobots), watched the cartoons after school, and bought the comic books. I knew these properties inside out as a kid, both their comic book and nearly identical animated counterparts. I have tried reading modern stuff, both the Dreamwave and Devil's Due's take, and found them lacking. I am content with my Marvel nostalgia, and own complete runs in trade paperbacks as well as many of the original comics.

This was complete crap. It flew in the face of established continuity while trying to show the early days of both properties. When you can't create, you ret-con or reboot. It's a lame copout. Worse still is the crappy faux-vintage look to the color and paper. I had heard that IDW had done some great things with these properties. Judging by this comic book, this is patently false.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 0 out of 5.

Uber FCBD 2014 (Avatar Press, cover date February, 2014)

Wow, talk about a wasted opportunity. I am a fan of pretty much anything that Avatar Press puts out, and I was looking forward to dipping my toe into this title. Instead of an appetizer we get a boring, text heavy summary of sorts that I honestly couldn't be bothered to read. Am I intrigued by this title or concept? I couldn't tell you, since this was too boring a read for me to get past the first page.

Junk Food For Thought rating: N/A out of 5.

Anti/ Ride: FCBD Edition #0 flip book (12-Gauge, cover date May, 2012)

Dealers turn leftover stock into the ghost of Free Comic Book Day past. I went to seven shops this year, so I grabbed anything that I hadn't grabbed before. Anti is mediocre while Ride is interesting if disturbing. I wouldn't buy these but would review them if someone gave me free trades. I refuse to review digital comics, even though I get PDFs and download links all the time.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.