Happy Free Comic Book Day!!!

Today was Free Comic Book Day. I guess in order to help with their lagging sales (and don't forget the negative stigma that everyone who reads comics is an overweight bearded geek with glasses who sits in front of his computer and blogs and has an unhealthy fascination with fantasy worlds and the sciences...oh wait) the comic book companies put together a bunch of free books for mass distribution. Half on a whim, I stopped by the local comic shop to see what they had. I also wanted to try and find Aquaman 50, since a personal writing hero, Tad Williams, is now writing for the book. It's no small task, taking over a book with a guy who talks with fish and who now basically hangs out with Spongebob and making it into a "hot title". If anyone can shuffle off the mantle of pop-culture punching bag that is Aquaman, it's Tad Williams.

I was also searching for another two books by Williams, but I couldn't find them. My quest continues. I should have bought them while I had the chance.

Anyway, I was shocked to see the amount of people trying to get free comic books. I guess the recent successes of movie adaptations for Spider-Man and the X-Men (I've heard not so good things about Fantastic Four, bad things about Daredevil, and really, really, really awful things about Ghost Rider) as well as Super Man Returns, Bat Man Begins and V for Vendetta (supposedly, the guy who made 300 is working on an adaptation of the Watchmen) have helped reawaken interest in comics. I'm not sure what it is, but there were lots of people there. And, surprisingly, there were lots of free titles. Two of the ones I picked up were print prequels to Spider-Man 3 and the Transformers movie due out later this summer (Spidey opened this weekend and dropped some hurt on Pirates of the Carribbean's record for opening day). I have yet to read them, but they both look interesting, at the least.

Now, I mentioned earlier about how my kids haven't seen much in the way of Star Wars, yet. But, they have seen Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network (which was pulled before it's time and filled with craptacular kiddie anime) as well as Teen Titans. After tutoring today, I decided to go to the other comic shops as they had this promotion going: if you visit all three area shops, you can get your name put in for a drawing for a $100 shopping spree in the store as well as get a "real" free book from off the shelves. So, after tutoring today, my wife swapped the kids with me and she went to work and went off to geek it up. I hit the other two stores, and the second store said that we could take three free books since there were three of us (me, the girl and the boy). So, I grabbed a futuristic Justice League story and shoved it into my daughter's hands so I wouldn't feel guilty about getting three books for me.

Well, we went out to the car and she sat down in her seat and, as we were driving off to the final store, she read the comic. Like, cover to cover. She's turned into quite the voracious reader recently, but I doubt that anyone (especially my in-laws) would think this a good idea. I didn't ask her if she enjoyed it, but her attention couldn't even be swayed from the book for the fleet of Punch Buggies that we passed on the drive home. I fear I'm creating a monster; she asked me for a gameboy the other day...

Anyway, one of the better books that I did pick up (for free) was something called "How to Draw", a series featuring lessons in drawing comic book style (and I add, not Manga style) produced by the writers and editors of Wizard magazine. Being that I enjoy drawing and I've talked about producing an indy comic to take place after all the events unfold in the Hundred Kings Saga, I thought this would be quite valuable. So, that means I'm one step closer to developing that (it's called 'Chivalry'), but, I promise, I'll finish my other projects first (more on that tomorrow). Plus, the chick on the front reminds me of my wife, if she was rendered into comic book form. And had glasses that weren't twisted and mangled by a certain, unnamed 2-year-old.

So, happy Free Comic Book Day. And Happy Cinco de Mayo. I hope you went out, got a free comic book, and drank a Corona *shudder* while you read it.