Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Free Comic Book Day picks

Did I mention Free Comic Book Day was on May 5th? Okay then.

Well, their site also has summaries and artwork of the various comics. So I gotta look through it and figure out what I think I want to pick up.

Gold level sponsors:

Well, there's Bongo. Can one go wrong with Matt Groening? Perhaps, but I do own a couple Life in Hell collections.

Umbrella Academy/Zero Killer/Pantheon City: Interesting cover art. Sure, it's free.

Other than that, Disney stuff leaves me thinking "blah". I picked up the transformers a couple years back, boring. Tokyopop has always known how to make even stuff I already like sound uninteresting. Maybe the Legion of Super-heros in the 31st Century #1 can trump my dislike for these groups with my like for all things time travel. Besides, not all groups are bad.

Silver level sponsors:

There's no AdHouse offering, so no Priddy this year. I can continue to kick myself for not picking up that book three years ago with the stick figures on it, though.

Although the promise of "FCBD-only" stuff in Pirates vs. Ninjas doesn't sound the least bit attractive, Ape Entertainment's promise of "six new, all-original short stories" does. Why? Self containment. But that doesn't get you hooked on buying the next book like the first is trying to get you to do. If one or two of them is half as good as Priddy (and has a book out!) that won't mater, though. Arcana Studio's offering is also somewhat interesting, but somehow I start to wonder if there's a lot of women drawn for ogling older teen boys with the way they talk about it.

Something about Hunter's Moon/Salvador makes me want to pick it up in spite of the copy on it.

Family Guy/ Hack/Slash? Sure, maybe.

Lynda Berry Extravaganza... I used to read these in the Independent each week in high school and I remember quite liking some of them and kind of liking most. For a few years of college, I didn't flip through the Independent at all so didn't get her thing (or Life in Hell). Then I looked at it again and didn't like it at all.

Unseen Peanuts also leads to mixed feelings. I remember reading this comic first of the ones in the paper. I was five at the time and I also remember slowly learning letters at something like one a week so I'm not sure how I would have read it, but the memory does get hazy that long back. But since then I moved on from Peanuts. Not because it was so important to an English teacher I had in 5th and 6th grade (and couldn't stand) that he'd have a regular "radio show" for class that included reading out the day's Peanuts, although that couldn't have helped, I had already moved on even then. There was Outland to read.

First Second is offering The Train was Bang On Time and I've been hearing so much about how they're such a great publisher that I'm willing to try it out. Even though it's a preview of something bigger and not self contained.

The blurb for Comics Festival! is dropping some names that should be looked at if you haven't and I haven't yet.

Whiteout has been getting a lot of hype but none of it has triggered any of my interest yet.

Amelia Rules, Owly, and Buzzboy have all been around before and I've seen them and they were "blah". Which doesn't keep people from raving about the first two.

Now, Virgin Comics is a rather unique publisher, so their sampler might be quite interesting. And everyone loves Alex Ross cover art, even if he is a self admitted Superman fan.

I would definitely leave off the "how to draw" things. And there's what looks like a dreadful vampire thing. Viper Comics might have something interesting, but I'm not feeling it. Something called Wahoo Morris lists off some good company they'd like to keep, but who knows if they do. And there's various samplers of a page or two from a seemingly endless number of creators that one thinks could be interesting but never are. And still more things... too many.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Eisner Hall-of-Famers are "blah"?

::pout::

VeloraCat said...

I said quite a few things were "blah". Writting about too many things in one post can lead to oversimplification.

Unknown said...

I'm just teasing--but really, Floyd Gottfredson was an incredible storyteller. Even though it's old, his work's definitely worth checking out. :)

VeloraCat said...

Well... it is Robin Hood. There was a time when any Robin Hood movie could float my boat. But you know, we normal people going out to get our FCBD comics have to practice a little triage when it comes to actually picking them up. Last year they said, "You can have any six." There was always a limit on how many silver level ones we could get... though I missed the first two. As more titles come out, more have to be left off.

Last year after looking at the titles, I wanted the Priddy (score!) and Jean and some other stuff that didn't turn out so well. Speculating is risky business.

Of course you're teasing. It's just odd to suddenly have a particle in the vacuum at which I was chatting incoherrently. Oh, if you have anything to do with this dinosaur that talks but needs subtitles... brilliant! Too animated?

Unknown said...

"Last year they said, "You can have any six." There was always a limit on how many silver level ones we could get..."

Wow, that sucks. I can only think of one shop out of maybe a half-dozen I've been to on a FCBD where a rule like that was in place. (And as far as the folks behind the counter were concerned, I was always a "normal people.") ;)

"It's just odd to suddenly have a particle in the vacuum at which I was chatting incoherrently."

I'm just a Technorati junkie. I've got alerts set up there and with Google Blogsearch so I know when folks post on certain key words and phrases.

Now... what's this about a dinosaur?

VeloraCat said...

Ah, I should go to a less popular shop without artists chained up in the back drawing things for all the kids. Like the one downtown that I took one look at a couple years back and never went back. Their graphic novels were sparse, their manga was half "how to draw" books, they had collectible cards... I had to go back to a place where the comics were king and collectibles were only a few statues.

I haven't seen anything on real TV except the Daily Show this last week, so not a lot of ads have been viewed. They try to sell me beer with bland music. I don't like beer or bland music. So I must hunt down the dinosaur. And I found it! It's "Meet the Robinsons". And with the long trailer I see it's time travel too. Oh, goodie goodie.

The dinosaur is good because it plays with reality and fantasy. The fantasy of the dinosaur (that talks) trips up on the reality that dinosaurs can't talk. They're long dead too, but you can't let reality totally rule your fantasy. Playing with the world is grand. Pick and choose bits, mix it up in ways unfamiliar.

Unknown said...

That's funny, because around here it seems the shops with limits on FCBD offerings are the less popular ones. Maybe it's a Baltimore thing. :)

VeloraCat said...

I could never get my head around the costs of marketing. Just one of the reasons I wouldn't ever go into retail, but also why I won't presume on the economics of putting out 44 comics (this year) in front of hundreds of greedy LAish people and letting them have one of each. Add in artists and extra staff and the one day marketing stunt probably costs more than my car, but a Scion is a cheap car and it's not about how much it costs but whether it brings in the business to pay for itself. Or maybe it's got to be fun enough that it's worth the cost.

Personally, I first learned about Free Comic Book Day because there was a sticker on the door to the store I was already walking into. However, one of those free comics has led to a purchase.