Review- Free Comic Book Day 2018

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2018

I was suffering from seasonal allergies on this year's Free Comic Book Day. The pollen kicked my butt and I felt like I was dying from the bird flu. I don't know what the bird flu actually feels like, but it couldn't be any worse than seasonal allergies. Spring was late and came on with a vengeance, with every pollen known to man killing my sinuses. I took very few pictures this year because of this.

My kids and I hit five shops this year:

Time Travelers in Berkley, MI

Warp 9 in Clawson, MI- They had a line wrapped around the building before they opened due to their offering 10 free comics per person.

Abbas Discount in Sterling Heights, MI

Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, MI

Big Ben's Comix Oasis in Allen Park, MI

A huge thank you to all of the shops who participate in this event. I tend to buy something at each shop that I stop at, as the comics are not free to retailers and nobody likes a vulture. I'm bummed that I was not feeling good this year. 

On to the reviews. None of the stores listed above endorse these reviews. All opinions on these comics are my own. I am doing this one in a pellet review style.

Barrier #1 Free Comic Book Day Edition (Image, cover date May, 2018)

Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin bring us this intriguing landscape-format comic with 50+ pages of story. This is timely, dealing with a Mexican drug cartel and aliens, both illegal and extraterrestrial, and it poses many interesting questions.

While this is extremely well done, my major gripe is that much of the issue is written in Spanish. Why Vaughn couldn't write the dialogue between <brackets> like this and have a * with a box stating Translated from the Spanish is beyond me. This is standard operating procedure in comics for translation in scenes. It soured me on wanting to read more of this series. I guess that my not being bilingual makes me not educated enough to read BKV's work. That's okay, my money is just as green as anyone else and I'll be keeping it in my wallet.

Junk Food For Thought rating 3 out of 5.

Relay #0 (AfterShock, cover date May, 2018)

Wow, this is absolutely brilliant. I am 100% in for the inevitable trade paperback.

Junk Food For Thought rating 5 out of 5.

World Of Aspen 2018 #1 (Aspen, cover date May, 2018)

Split book, with Dissension: War Eternal being enjoyable and Nuway being kind of blah. There's nothing here that is going to make me open my wallet.

Junk Food For Thought rating 2.75 out of 5.

Silver #1 (Dark Planet, cover date, 2018)

Black and white comics live and die by mood. Silver is a Crime/Noir series, but the cartoony artwork does the story a bit of a disservice. It's not bad but it's not great, either.

Junk Food For Thought rating 3 out of 5.

Scout Comics Presents: The Mall #0 Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Scout Comics, cover date May, 2018)

A highly entertaining coming of age period piece, The Mall has a strong enough hook for me to read if I came across it at the library or if I had a free copy to review.

Junk Food For Thought rating 4 out of 5.

Die Kitty Die! FCBD 2018 #1(Chapterhouse, cover date May, 2018)

An Archie/Harvey character spoof riff done with enough gusto that I can dig it. Entertaining and fun.

Junk Food For Thought rating 4 out of 5.

There were no true cover scans available online so I made one. 

Ann Arbor Comics Art Festival (Fifth Avenue Press, cover date May, 2018)

Local artists doing a FCBD tie-in to help promote the former Kids Read Comics Festival (now the A2CAF) which takes place every June. This comic wasn't my cup of tea but it wasn't awful, either.

Junk Food For Thought rating 2 out of 5.

Valiant Icons Sneak Preview (Valiant, cover date September, 2017)

Valiant has a lot of passionate fans. While the stuff certainly is readable enough I don't have any ties to due to the fact that I was on sabbatical from the hobby their first time around. Solid stuff that doesn't click with me for whatever reason.

Junk Food For Thought rating 3 out of 5.

There were no true cover scans of the Green Brain Comics variant anywhere online, so I made one. 

DC Nation #0 (DC, cover date July, 2018)

Since the FCBD powers that be blackballed DC due to DC's lazy efforts over the last few years which comprised of reprints, DC instead flooded retailers with this bargain priced comic which ties into three upcoming events. From what I've read, the wholesale cost of this .25 comic was less than the wholesale cost of any FCBD comic, making it a favorite of retailers to stock up on weeks ahead of time and hand out en masse. Well played, DC.

Your Big Day is possibly the best Joker story that I've ever read. The two other stories aren't my cup of tea but your mileage may vary.

Junk Food For Thought rating 3.5 out of 5.

Marvel Rising #0 (Marvel, cover date July, 2018)

The Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel team up wasn't too bad. My daughter might like it.

Junk Food For Thought rating 3.5 out of 5.

Bob's Burgers Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Dynamite, cover date 2018)

The cartoon series always left me cold, but this was a terrific read. I especially enjoyed Where The Fried Things Are, a stylized spoof of my childhood favorite Where The Wild Things Are. I would read more of this if the library had them.

Junk Food For Thought rating 5 out of 5.

Free Comic Book Day 2018: General (Dark Horse, cover date May, 2018)

This split comic features an Overwatch story, which I was indifferent to. My son likes that game, I think. I don't let him play it at my house but I've heard him talk about it. The second half of the comic is The Quantam League, an interesting timeslip superhero riff. Might be worth a second look if the library has it or if someone wants to slide me a review copy.

Junk Food For Thought rating 3 out of 5.

Doctor Who: Free Comic Book Day 2018 #1 (Titan, cover date June, 2018)

Slick and polished stuff, but I am not a Doctor Who fan and it left me cold.

Junk Food For Thought rating 2.75 out of 5.

Papercutz Free Comic Book Day #12 (Papercutz, cover date 2018)

There are times when I feel old and cynical, like maybe I've been reading comic books for too long. That tends to come into play when I read stuff like this, which is such a retread and so regurgitated that it blends so many established concepts together that it's almost indiscernible. This is the comic book equivalent of white noise to me. If I were a kid and didn't know all of the reference points I might have liked it better.

Junk Food For Thought rating 2.5 out of 5.

The Metabaron (Humanoids, cover date 2018)

Great stuff from Humanoids. I was on quite a Humanoids kick years ago but had to cut some stuff out to stay in the game. This is a great read and if you are able to walk away from your core superhero stuff this will tickle your fancy.

Junk Food For Thought rating 5 out of 5.

2000 AD Free Comic Book Day Prog 2018 (Rebellion/2000 AD, cover date 2018)

What happened??? 2000 AD usually has pretty high standards, but this is all abysmal dreck.

Junk Food For Thought rating 1.5 out of 5.

Invasion: Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Chapterhouse, cover date 2018)

This left me cold.

Junk Food For Thought rating 0.75 out of 5.

Strangers In Paradise XXV: Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Abstract, cover date 2018)

This was incredible. I am a big Terry Moore fan, and this reminds me that I need to finish reading Rachel Rising. I want to pick this series up as well now. Crap.

Junk Food For Thought rating 5 out of 5.

P.S. The Omnibus is way out of print and is very expensive. It must be spectacular.

James Bond- Vargr: Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Dynamite, cover date 2018)

Outstanding stuff by Warren Ellis with fantastic artwork by Jason Masters and Guy Major. There are several of these books out if the advertisements are any indication. I will gladly accept review copies and/or gifts if anyone wants to send some my way.

Junk Food For Thought rating 5 out of 5.

Berlin: Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Drawn And Quarterly, cover date 2018)

Berlin was an unknown quantity to me until now. This fantastic historical fiction is set in 1928 with the echoes of World War I still present and the beginnings of what would become the Nazi Party bubbling up under the surface. There have been 19 issues published in the past 22 years, with a projected 22 issues needed to complete the story. It's been three years since the last issue was released. Crazy. This ranks up there with Age Of Bronze for timeliness in publication.

Junk Food For Thought rating 5 out of 5.

Shadowman: FCBDay 2018 Special (Valiant, cover date May, 2018)

I was on sabbatical from the hobby when Valiant had their first go 'round. Their relaunched universe has a lot of fans. I don't have any emotional attachment or nostalgia unlike people 5-10 years younger than me, so I am not in. This all seems well done and entertaining but I can't buy everything. Lord knows I've tried.

Junk Food For Thought rating 3 out of 5.

Shadow Roads Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Oni Press, cover date May, 2018)

This is one of those things that scream “muh IP!”, something that is solely done to get a movie option. It was readable but unremarkable.

Junk Food For Thought rating 2.5 out of 5.

Free Comic Book Day 2018: Avengers/ Captain America #1 (Marvel, cover date May, 2018)

I feel guilty because I can't get into a lot of what Marvel is doing today. I read this comic, I liked it well enough, but I can't let go of my '60s-'80s versions of these characters. My guilt comes in because my 11 year old son really enjoys modern comics, and I wished that I still enjoyed Marvel with him. There are too many major changes to these characters for them to still feel like they are “mine”. Times change and torches get passed. My son is the future, not me. I can live with that, and it pleases me in many ways. I read them with him sometimes still, and I see it through his eyes and remember what it was like to be 11.

Junk Food For Thought rating 3 out of 5.

Free Comic Book Day 2018: Amazing Spider-Man/ Guardians Of The Galaxy #1 (Marvel, cover date May, 2018)

Oof. This was rough. Nick Spenser sucks and so does the art. This was downright painful for me to read.

Junk Food For Thought rating 1.75 out of 5.

Actionverse Featuring The First Hero #1 (Action Lab, cover date March, 2015)

Every year some store slips dead stock into the FCBD offerings. Since I do multiple shops every year I won't grab doubles of anything but will pick up stuff like this. This is kind of readable I guess. It's not bad but it doesn't make me want to throw my money at it either

Junk Food For Thought rating 2 out of 5.

That's all, folks! 25 comic reviews in one post. If any of you are still here, thanks for reading this far. I'll try to post my FCBD 2019 review in a more timely manner. This one fell between the sofa cushions.

Review- Free Comic Book Day Reviews Part Three

Free Comic Book Day Reviews Part Three

I have been lackadaisical in my reviews and did not do a Free Comic Book Day overview this year. Rather than do one at this late date, I'm just going to list two stores with each batch of Free Comic Book Day comic reviews. Please note that the comics reviewed did not necessarily come from the shop listed in this review, nor does the shop endorse these reviews.

Not all of the comics that I'll be reviewing over the three parts of my Free Comic Book Day reviews will be FCBD editions. Some are singles that I paid for on FCBD while others were offered for free as part of the FCBD festivities. I always pick something up at each shop, as those free comics aren't free to retailers and vultures are lame.

In this third and final part of my overview and review of this year's FCBD festivities I'll go over the last of the five stores that we hit on our journey across two counties as well as review for another batch of comic books.

Big Ben's Comix Oasis in Allen Park, MI, has been serving the populace for over three decades now, which is pretty crazy to think about. I remember the humble beginnings of this store as the Book Bank, when it had used books and few card tables filled with back issues and quarter boxes along with a few racks of new comics. I watched the place carry less books and more comics...move into the downtown area of Allen Park into a bigger store with still more comics...move two other times and finally into it's current incarnation, where it is arguably the largest comic book store if not in all of Michigan, then in the Metro Detroit area for certain.

My hatchlings.

Keyser Soze: Scorched Earth/ The Rift Free Comic Book Day 2017 (Red 5, cover date May, 2017)

Keyser Soze is a pretty cool concept, although you get very little about the gist of it across the 16 pages of story included here. Modern comics give the artwork plenty of room to breathe. The downside is that it takes multiple issues to hammer your point home. This is a risky game in the $3.99-4.99 age of comic books. Time is money, money is tight, and attention spans are short.

The Rift seems solid if unoriginal. A rift in time brings a WWII pilot into the modern day. It's nothing that hasn't been done a million times before. I'd read it for free from the library.

The Walking Dead #163 Cover A (Image, cover date February, 2017)

Unless you have just woken up from a coma, you know about The Walking Dead. It's as culturally pervasive as superheroes. I read the first eleven issues years ago and failed to see what the hype was all about, as I disliked Kirkman's decompressed style of writing.

Credit where credit is due: This issue is great. Worlds better than the earlier issues, both in writing and artwork. I have reassessed my opinion of The Walking Dead and now can see why everyone is gaga* over it.

*I was reluctant to use the word gaga, as Lady Gaga kind of ruined the word for me. But then I thought about how Lady Gaga admits that she stole the word from Queen's Radio Gaga, which is where I stole it from before she came around, so I will retain my homage to Queen and keep using the word.

Vampirella #0 (Vol. 4) (Dynamite, cover date, February, 2017)

I'm not a huge Vampirella fan (even though I own all 15 Archives), but this was some good stuff! I'm not hip to her continuity or story beyond the fourth Archive (where I stalled on my marathon) so I can't say what is what, but as far as picking up this comic book, reading it, and deciding if I liked it, this worked.

Free Comic Book Day 2017: General (Dark Horse, cover date, May, 2017)

Why on Earth would Dark Horse title this book General in the indicia?

The Avatar sequel is like Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy, promised and repeatedly delayed for so long that it has become a joke. Not only that, but expectations will be heaped so high on it that it can't help but disappoint. Nobody is going to care by the time that it comes out. That said, the comic is pretty good and beautifully illustrated. I like Avatar, I just think that it's James Cameron's white whale.

Briggs Land is not my cup of tea. Your mileage may vary.

Z2 Comics- Free Comic Book Day 2017 (Z2, cover date, May, 2017)

The Ballad Of Franklin Bonisteel (Or “The Shreveport Kid”) has a completely unique and fresh feel to it, even if the concept goes over well tread ground. I'll keep my eyes open for this one. The back-up feature, Murder Ballads, isn't awful but it isn't anything I would pick up, either.

Tex Patagonia FCBD Color Edition (Epicenter, cover date May, 2017)

While comic books are an American invention (comic books, not the comic strip), our friends across the pond have been exploring and blazing their own trail with fascinating results. European culture is of course different from American culture, so it should come as no surprise that their comic writers and artists approach the artform completely different than we do.

Epicenter has been bringing us colorized English language translations of European favorites. This is every bit as good as their other offerings, Magic Wind and Zagor, also both popular overseas but completely unknown in North America.

Tex is set in the 19^th century. There is a similar thread with Magic Wind in that he is an outsider of a different race who becomes equal to the indigenous population through a test or event. If you enjoy stories set in the Old West or Mexico then this is for you. European comics have a clear, brisk layout without sacrificing character development. American comics have aped this format over the past 15 years but haven't quite figured it out yet. Tex is definitely worth checking out.

Crossed + One Hundred #1-3 (Avatar Press, cover dates November, 2014- February, 2015)

I was a huge Crossed fan, reading it for quite a while until I got bored with it. Then I heard that Alan Moore was writing a new series set 100 years into the future of the original outbreak. The thing with comic books is that there are so many being fired at you from every publisher, week after week, that it is impossible to keep up with it all. I snagged these three issues out of a dollar box at a local comic store.

Without going into the plot or providing a synopsis (which is what most “reviews” really are: book reports), I'll get to the meat of the problem with this series, at least as far as the first three issues are concerned. There is zero sense of urgency. At no point in time do the Crossed pose a threat for more than two pages in any of these issues. It's your typical, boring post-apocalyptic scenario, with civilization rebuilding itself in the aftermath of a catastrophe. I expected better from Alan Moore. I expected more from Alan Moore.

None of the characters are the least bit engaging. I cared so little for any of them that I kept waiting for the Crossed to kill any or all of them off so that I wouldn't have to trudge through their story any more. Alan Moore has all of the characters speak in the newly evolved slang, which was neat for about five pages but quickly became grating.

I have no resolution for this arc, and I don't even care to go online and find a synopsis for closure. I simply don't care. Imagine a conversation with someone boring, where your mind trails off but they keep on rambling. That's what Crossed + One Hundred is. The fact that Alan Moore is attached to it only adds insult to injury. Oh well. At least I'm only out three bucks.