Last weekend was a pretty amazing one for geeks. Friday was May the Fourth Be With You, The Avengers was released and smashed box office records, and Saturday brought Free Comic Book Day. The annual event takes place on the first Saturday of May, and it’s been going strong for ten years. Impressive, huh? Especially considering that free actually means free. It’s a day for comic book shops to dress to impress and attract new customers, a day when comic book creators are even bigger rock stars, and a day to introduce your non-comic book reading friends to the fun that is comics.
I visited three spots for the geek holiday this year, and as I expected, each location handled the day a little differently. I go to more than one store mostly because I’m curious to see what they all do to celebrate, and I don’t mind getting a variety of the available free comics. Speaking of that, I picked up seven free comics (including Archaia’s free hardcover) in my travels, and I devoured the stack as soon as I could.
Read about my experience along with a run-down of the stand-outs among the comics I picked up after the break.
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Apparently, the work above was part of a “tryout page” from an artist trying to break into the comics biz way back in the ’90s—preseerved for posterity by the Marvel Bullpen’s Steve Bunche and Darren Auck. The work was never printed of course—presumably because the earth shattering awesomeness would have set the bar far too high for all Wolverine books to follow.
The original artist is unknown, so we are left to wonder what he had in mind for this meeting. My guess is that that a battle ensued, but the otherworldly power of Freddie’s voice rocked and pulverized Wolverine’s supposedly “unbreakable” adamantium bones.
(via Comics Alliance)
The first Saturday in May is a beautiful holiday for the comic book world: Free Comic Book Day. You can get comics for absolutely free, no strings attached. You can start celebrating early with this preview of the Serenity comic from Dark Horse; Serenity will be sharing an issue with Star Wars. Yeah, it’s like peanut butter and chocolate.
Free Comic Book Day 2012: Star Wars/Serenity
Writer: Zack Whedon
Penciller: Davidé Fabbri, Fábio Moon
Inker: Fábio Moon, Christian Dalla Vecchia
Cover Artist: Adam Hughes, Daniel Dos Santos
Han Solo and Chewbacca have a falling-out after a deal with a shady customer goes bad. When the client gets designs on the Millennium Falcon, Han and Chewie present a united front that can’t be beat! “Mal” Reynolds, captain of the outlaw vessel Serenity, is no stranger to jobs gone wrong. But when the chips are down, he’s able to rely on an amazing, odd, and diversely talented crew for help!
See the preview pages after the break.
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I remember the days when Shia LaBeouf was just the cute and obnoxious brother on Even Stevens. Those were good times. Besides starring in films, it appears he’s also making comics. In fact, he made a surprise appearance at C2E2 in Chicago last weekend signing his work. Yeah, you read that right.
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Meet Aaron Castro. He just might be the nerdiest drug dealer ever. The movies always show drug dealers wasting their dollars on hookers and fancy cars, but Castro was into comic books.
Castro was captured in 2009, and authorities seized his collection of nearly 19,000 comics at the time of his arrest. Apparently, his plan was to use the comics to launder the drug money and establish a foundation for his own, legitimate comic books business.
In fact, Castro spent so much money on comics that it actually began to cause him financial hardship. Authorities estimated the value of his collection at around $500,000.
Castro was sentenced to 45-years in prison this past November, and U.S. Marshals auctioned the confiscated books off online this week. When all was said and done the lot went for $125,050. If the original estimation of value was right, whoever won the auction got quite the deal. Let’s hope it doesn’t go full circle with that person selling the comics for drugs. And if that does happen, let’s hope it gets made into a television movie.
(L.A. Times via Blastr)
If you own an iOS device and have been craving new reading material, you’re in luck. Marvel just released 80 graphic novels featuring popular characters like Captain America, The Avengers, Spider-Man, and more for the iBookstore. You can find some comics to enjoy from Marvel even if superheroes aren’t your style. The have a graphic novel interpretation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and titles from authors like Neil Gaiman. The books start at $7 (via the iBooks app), and to get you hooked Marvel’s offering The New Avengers #1 for free for a limited time.
(via Macworld)
Michael Rorrer inherited his great uncle’s comic book collection. He didn’t think much of it when he found the comics neatly stacked in a basement closet, but he moved them to his home for safekeeping. One day at work he mentioned having Captain America #2 to a co-worker. Fortunately, this co-worker knew a thing or two about comics and he noted that it would really be something if Rorrer had Action Comics #1, the comic in which Superman makes his first appearance.
Lo and behold, Rorrer found it in the box. Then he started to get curious about the rest of the comics. His great uncle had amassed an impressive collection and kept them in relatively good condition. He had a talent for picking up the rarest and most valuable comics from 1938-1941. The collection includes 44 of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide’s list of the 100 most valuable Golden Age comics. What does that mean? It means a big bundle of cash. The collection sold yesterday at auction for a whopping $3.5 million.
What do you think my Muppet Babies comic from the mid-80s is worth?
(USA Today via Blastr)
Engage. No, geronimo. TARDIS to warp factor 9.
Yes, prepare yourselves: IDW Publishing is releasing an official Doctor Who/Star Trek: The Next Generation crossover series this May. It will feature the whole crew—the Eleventh Doctor, Captain Picard, Rory, Amy, Worf, Data, Geordi LaForge, Deanna Troi, Will Riker and more. My doctor and my captain. I’m so in.
You can bet IDW will be divulging details at the upcoming Doctor Who convention, Gallifrey One, but until then you can feast your eyes on the cover art above.
(via Bleeding Cool)
