Wednesday #66.2
The promised free comic book day edition. Each book will have three parts: a short summary, am I interested in following the story after reading it, and would somebody new to comics be interested in following it (which is a big part of FCBD).
War of the Supermen #0: A brief introduction to the War of the Supermen event followed by a brief review of Superman's essential history including why there are 109 planets with one is full of Kryptonians in the solar system.
Me: Hell, yeah I'm interested. The event should be good and I'm ready to move on to new Superman plots.
Newbie: This is fairly dense stuff. A better starting point might be the Up, Up, and Away arc from just after Infinite Crisis or waiting until Straczynski hops on in a month or so. Then again, I managed to get into Green Lantern and comics in general during GL: Rebirth, so maybe a newbie can work through it.
DC Kids Mega Sampler 2010: Three short bits from upcoming issues of Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam, Tiny Titans, and Batman: the Brave and the Bold. I'm assuming on the last one because nowhere in the book does it identify itself. Oops.
Me: The Shazam and Batman offering are much improved from last year, but I'm not that interested. Tiny Titans is always great.
Newbie: Tiny Titans relies a lot on knowing DC continuity to get all of the jokes (who is Match, who is the floating purple guy that Superman is talking to?). The other two books seem more accessible, but all three might interest new readers, especially the younger ones.
Owly and Friends: Three samples from three Top Shelf books. Owly attempts to fly a kite. Johnny Boo attempts to have a boring adventure. Sprout of Korgi attempts to get some sleep after eating too much.
Me: Yeah, no. Owly is a bit too cute for it's own good. Johnny Boo got a few laughs from me. Korgi is beautifully drawn, but the sample they gave us featured a seriously creepy dream sequence. Like Disney nightmare fuel level creepy. The rest the book might be amazing, but I'm completely turned-off by the sample.
Then again, I'm also freaked by clowns so maybe I'm just a wimp.
Newbie: Maybe for the littlest readers, though the bed-wetting nightmares from the Korgi story might not be worth it.
The Sixth Gun: Wild West/magic cross with a... yeah, I only read the first few pages of this.
Me: I only read the first few pages.
Newbie: If you're into westerns and the supernatural...go track down American Vampire.
Mouse Guard: spring 1153/Fraggle Rock: European medieval setting featuring...mice? On the flip side of the comic are two Fraggle Rock stories.
Me: It's mice fighting wolves, badgers, turtles, and the like with medieval weapons. I've been thinking about picking this up for a while. I also like the Fraggle Rock stories which is odd as I hated the show growing up.
Newbie: There are two Mouse Guard books that take place before this, but you don't have to have read them before jumping into this story. If you are a fan a medieval stuff, you might enjoy this version. The Fraggle Rock stories might appeal to the younger crowd and nostalgic folks my age.
Atomic Robo: The titular character goes bird hunting in a rainforest. Things don't go well. The book also has samples from Neozoic where a hot woman fights dinosaurs and Box 13 where...yeah, I don't know.
Me: I wanted to like Robo. I love the writer's work on 8-bit Theater (which I really need to finish reading one day), but this wasn't as good as I was expecting. Maybe I'll get a used copy of the first Robo book and try that some day. Same deal with Neozoic. It looks cheesecakey, like Fathom, but also like Fathom it might trip into a great plot and run with it. Box 13 is kinda like the Nemesis mini-series in that you'll never know what's really happening until the end (and even then...), but I'm not interested enough to follow it.
Newbie: All three are easy enough to jump into, that is, you don't have to know any previous plot to understand them.
Love and Capes #13: The Crusader and Abby come home from their honeymoon.
Me: I never watched Lois and Clark, but I'd like to think it was half as funny and sweet as Love and Capes (Hurm. Same initials. Must investigate further.). The only issue is, LaC is originally published in four panels a day in webcomic form. The comic book is published as 8 panels per page. That isn't an issue for stories which continue over a few days, but in the one-shots (of which there are a lot) which come one after another it can be a bit jumpy. Minor gripe aside, I think I will end of actually buying this series (at least a trade or two) even though I can find it online.
Newbie: There is a good recap section to bring readers up to speed. After that you can hop right in.
War of the Supermen #0: A brief introduction to the War of the Supermen event followed by a brief review of Superman's essential history including why there are 109 planets with one is full of Kryptonians in the solar system.
Me: Hell, yeah I'm interested. The event should be good and I'm ready to move on to new Superman plots.
Newbie: This is fairly dense stuff. A better starting point might be the Up, Up, and Away arc from just after Infinite Crisis or waiting until Straczynski hops on in a month or so. Then again, I managed to get into Green Lantern and comics in general during GL: Rebirth, so maybe a newbie can work through it.
DC Kids Mega Sampler 2010: Three short bits from upcoming issues of Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam, Tiny Titans, and Batman: the Brave and the Bold. I'm assuming on the last one because nowhere in the book does it identify itself. Oops.
Me: The Shazam and Batman offering are much improved from last year, but I'm not that interested. Tiny Titans is always great.
Newbie: Tiny Titans relies a lot on knowing DC continuity to get all of the jokes (who is Match, who is the floating purple guy that Superman is talking to?). The other two books seem more accessible, but all three might interest new readers, especially the younger ones.
Owly and Friends: Three samples from three Top Shelf books. Owly attempts to fly a kite. Johnny Boo attempts to have a boring adventure. Sprout of Korgi attempts to get some sleep after eating too much.
Me: Yeah, no. Owly is a bit too cute for it's own good. Johnny Boo got a few laughs from me. Korgi is beautifully drawn, but the sample they gave us featured a seriously creepy dream sequence. Like Disney nightmare fuel level creepy. The rest the book might be amazing, but I'm completely turned-off by the sample.
Then again, I'm also freaked by clowns so maybe I'm just a wimp.
Newbie: Maybe for the littlest readers, though the bed-wetting nightmares from the Korgi story might not be worth it.
The Sixth Gun: Wild West/magic cross with a... yeah, I only read the first few pages of this.
Me: I only read the first few pages.
Newbie: If you're into westerns and the supernatural...go track down American Vampire.
Mouse Guard: spring 1153/Fraggle Rock: European medieval setting featuring...mice? On the flip side of the comic are two Fraggle Rock stories.
Me: It's mice fighting wolves, badgers, turtles, and the like with medieval weapons. I've been thinking about picking this up for a while. I also like the Fraggle Rock stories which is odd as I hated the show growing up.
Newbie: There are two Mouse Guard books that take place before this, but you don't have to have read them before jumping into this story. If you are a fan a medieval stuff, you might enjoy this version. The Fraggle Rock stories might appeal to the younger crowd and nostalgic folks my age.
Atomic Robo: The titular character goes bird hunting in a rainforest. Things don't go well. The book also has samples from Neozoic where a hot woman fights dinosaurs and Box 13 where...yeah, I don't know.
Me: I wanted to like Robo. I love the writer's work on 8-bit Theater (which I really need to finish reading one day), but this wasn't as good as I was expecting. Maybe I'll get a used copy of the first Robo book and try that some day. Same deal with Neozoic. It looks cheesecakey, like Fathom, but also like Fathom it might trip into a great plot and run with it. Box 13 is kinda like the Nemesis mini-series in that you'll never know what's really happening until the end (and even then...), but I'm not interested enough to follow it.
Newbie: All three are easy enough to jump into, that is, you don't have to know any previous plot to understand them.
Love and Capes #13: The Crusader and Abby come home from their honeymoon.
Me: I never watched Lois and Clark, but I'd like to think it was half as funny and sweet as Love and Capes (Hurm. Same initials. Must investigate further.). The only issue is, LaC is originally published in four panels a day in webcomic form. The comic book is published as 8 panels per page. That isn't an issue for stories which continue over a few days, but in the one-shots (of which there are a lot) which come one after another it can be a bit jumpy. Minor gripe aside, I think I will end of actually buying this series (at least a trade or two) even though I can find it online.
Newbie: There is a good recap section to bring readers up to speed. After that you can hop right in.