Free Comic Book Day Review Part Two

Free Comic Book Day Review Part Two

I have been lackadaisical in my reviews lately 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. 

My hatchlings.

In part two of three of my overview and review of this year's FCBD festivities, I'll go over the next two stores that we hit on our journey across two counties as well as review for another eight comic books.

Warp 9 Comics in Clawson, MI had a huge line wrapped around the building even though they had been open an hour by the time that we arrived. They once again offered their incredible ten free comics per person. There was a guy in a Spider-Man costume who actually knew some character history. He was friendly and my kids loved him. I told him that he hasn't gained a pound since I met him (along with the Hulk and Firestar) at Wonderland Mall in Livonia, MI in October of 1983.

Free Comic Book Day 2017- Secret Empire #1 (Marvel, cover date, July, 2017)

My son is ten and thinks that all of these comics are great, whereas my vibe on Secret Empire is that it is lame. Maybe I am an old dinosaur, or maybe this just plain ol' sucks. You can't even tell what this so-called event is supposed to even be about judging by this preview alone. The sneak preview of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man is good and I can see me picking it up...for free from my local library. Everything is slick and professional but I can't buy everything. Lord knows I've tried.

Wonder Woman #1: Free Comic Book Day 2017 Special Edition (DC, cover date May, 2017)

Christ on a stick, how many times is DC going to retell and reinterpret Wonder Woman's origin??? Each time there are elements which contradict all previous versions. This time out it also flies in the face of the origin that civilians who only know the new movie continuity would understand to be true. Not syncing up your stuff across all platforms seems inefficient as well as a wasted opportunity.

This wasn't a bad read by any stretch, but endless reboots and retellings only muddies the water. This reprints #2 of the 2016 DC Universe Rebirth relaunch of the title. As a comic it reads well enough, but the point of these FCBD titles is to lure in new readers. On that count it might not work.

Free Comic Book Day 2017: All-New Guardians Of The Galaxy #1 (Marvel, cover date, July, 2017)

Not a huge GOTG fan but this was fun and reads close enough to the characters as the mainstream moviegoers and kids know and love them. It's not for me but it does what it's supposed to do. My son loved it.

And then the train goes right off of the rails and into the ravine with the wretched Brian Michael Bendis' Defenders, which has been rebooted for the thousandth time. It's your usual steaming pile of Bendis, and, like the rest of his work, stinks to high heaven. Go away, Bendis. Nobody likes you and you couldn't write a coherent superhero comic book to save your life.

Steam Wars: Strike Leader FCBD Edition (Antarctic Press, cover date April, 2017)

Next we have this...this...I don't know what this even supposed to be. Loving homage to Star Wars filtered through steam punk and WWII sensibilities? Calculated but poorly executed “IP” done in hopes to get “optioned”? Derivative, inbred drivel done only to kill trees and hopefully make some money? I suspect it's a bit of all three. The only purpose this comic serves is a recycle bin liner or to be used to prop up comics that are actually good in your boxes, protecting the ones by the finger holes in your boxes by taking the brunt of the wear.

The fourth out of the five shops that I hit this year on FCBD was Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, MI. I got there a bit late, as we stopped off for lunch with friends and it wound up taking a while. Green Brain has now expanded across the entire store. Dan and Katie are like the Captain and Tennille of comic shop owners, so stop in and say hi.

FCBD 2017 Catalyst Prime: The Event (Lion Forge, cover date, 2017)

This was well done on all levels (writing, art, and color) and has a solid concept that is intriguing enough. It is certainly worth a read.

Attack On Titan (Kodansha Comics, cover date, 2017)

I'm not the world's biggest Manga fan, but this was good stuff with an interesting message. It's probably worth a read if your library has it or if you are into Manga.

Free Comic Book Day 2017: The Looking Glass Wars- Crossfire (Automatic Pictures, 2017)

Wow. There are comic companies who over promote, and then there's this one. So modest are the publishers of this comic that not only is there no indicia indicating copyright or cover date, there is no name of the publisher found anywhere in the entire comic book. It wasn't very good, so maybe the publisher didn't want to sign it's name to it.

Malika- Warrior Queen: Chapter One (Youne3k Studios, cover date, 2017)

Polished and professional stuff. Production values on par with any of the larger publishers. I can see school age kids buying graphic novels of this at those Scholastic Book Fairs if they could get this book in front of them. It's good, but it's not my cup of tea.