Comic Book Resources

You really have to hand it to Atomic for going all out with a nice mix of mainstream and indie talent. I've never been out to Arizona, but I met the crew last year at Wizard World Chicago and they seemed like class acts, plus I won a gift certificate for use with their mail order program. Woo-hoo!

I'm really pumped for FCBD because my shop generally has a huge sale, which should allow me to pick up some titles I haven't had a chance to check out yet like Welcome to Tranquility, Stormwatch PHD, and Iron Fist.

Wow, I missed that edition of the Back Issue Box. Yow. Mychaels actually got worse after Brigade.

I'm going to miss Free Comic Book Day because I have to finish my stupid dissertation otherwise I'm going to fail my stupid Degree. Damn you George Orwell! This makes me glad you're dead.

Dammit! I thought you wanted to meet Spidey!
Oh, well...
(But just in case you see him; ask him what it was like to work with Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman! Oh, oh, oh!
Ask him if Paul the Gorilla is related to the Suns Gorilla!)

I'll admit--I don't go to Free Comics Day events, because somewhere along the line, I've developed this irrational logic that Free Comics Day is a way to attract new fans to comics with these giveaways, and since I already go to the comics store weekly, the event isn't intended for me, and if I go and leech up free comics, some poor new fan will walk in and say, "Hi! What's going on here? Something to do with free comics?"

And they'll say, "sorry. a long time fan just took the last one."

And that person will never get into the medium.

Does anyone else have this issue, or is it just me?

I’ll admit–I don’t go to Free Comics Day events, because somewhere along the line, I’ve developed this irrational logic that Free Comics Day is a way to attract new fans to comics with these giveaways, and since I already go to the comics store weekly, the event isn’t intended for me, and if I go and leech up free comics, some poor new fan will walk in and say, “Hi! What’s going on here? Something to do with free comics?”

And they’ll say, “sorry. a long time fan just took the last one.”

And that person will never get into the medium.

Does anyone else have this issue, or is it just me?

Yes, I totally do. This will be the first year I am attending but only because my son is finally old enough to go and appreciate it. He's six and a half now. While he is busy trying to decide to take home Legion or the Marvel Adventurs free edition, I will be hoping to snag either Kirkman's Wolf Man book or the Dynamite offering, and I do feel a pang of guilt over it (for me, not my son!)

I feel the same way, John. I have gone to FCBD (and I might go tomorrow, but maybe not, despite the draw of Mychaels), but I usually don't end up getting any of the free stuff. Some places have sales, and it's always fun to check the people out, but I agree with you on the purpose of it.

Oooh please do! Bring a video camera also so we can all revel in the delight of you telling him what a ridiculous, over-the-top, ludicrous, crappy comic that was. I mean seriously, porn in a history museum, there is just no explanation in the world that can justify that.

Argo - the flip-side is, it gives you the oppurtunity to maybe check out a new title or creator you haven't checked out before because comic prices are too high.

Also, for me, the one time I went, I got a free issue of 'Stray Bullets' which had the on-line only David Lapham "Matrix" story printed in it. For a creator-completist like me, that was golden.

No guilt here.

But I don't read as many new comics as I used to. FCBD has been an opportunity for me to snag a handful of new comics which, after I'm done reading a couple, will be mailed to my mother back in Chicago for her to pass along to a boy she tutors after school (who doesn't like reading much), and his sister.

Last February, I was in Chicago and took my mother along to a comics shop I used to frequent when I was a teen. She bought a few comics for Zach and his sister and --needless to say -- they loved them. That said, FCBD really can be a guiltless pleasure.

Hurray for Free Comic Book Day. =)

I found a simple solution to the problem of "I want to read the FCBD comics" vs. "They're not really meant for me"--pre-ordering almost every single one through my local store cost me less than $11. I didn't bother with the JLA #0 because I already own it, and if the MA Iron Man/Hulk was available for pre-order I missed it, so that was the only title I got for free from the store (they had plenty).

Wow! Spider-Man is coming? All this time I thought he was a fictional character but Spider-Man is actually coming! Isn't he afraid SHIELD will be waiting for him when they announce it like that? Or is it Ultimate Spider-Man?