Comics 'N' Stuff

"Free" Comic Book Day '06

Hey there folks...did you miss me? It's time once again for another edition of Comics 'N' Stuff. The article where the points are made up, and the only real winner is you the reader. That being the case, we're all in a lot of trouble. But seriously, any opinions are mine and mine alone. No whining to Mark, or my nameless comic-jockey "button-pushing-monkey" job about something I said. And now you know...and knowing is half the battle.

Yo Joe.

I love that joke. Okay, so it's been a couple weeks since I've been around. It's really a combination of a few things. a) Writing this crap is hard work. Get stuck once, and it starts a chain reaction that leads to me not posting anything for two weeks. b) I'm not really sure you guys are paying attention, so I may drop back to every other week. because as stated in reason "a", this crap is hard work. c) My girlfriend's an honest to god saint, but I tell you she deserves to get SOME of my time every now and again. Actually, she deserves a lot more than that, but she's currently stuck with me. d) I'm working on a couple of very interesting projects for a very interesting company. Announcements coming soon, but I'm pretty excited, as I will say that it's "toy related". Just like the rest of my life. Heh.

Right, so...housekeeping out of the way. Today, I thought we'd talk about four little words that should get all geeks worked up this week...Infinite Crisis Number Seven. No...wait...I mean: Free Comic Book Day!!!!!! It's quickly become a staple of the comic industry, and it's coming up this Saturday, May 6th. And I bet there's a pretty good chance you didn't have a clue.

Don't get me wrong, Mark's done a great job trying to inform people of what's going on this weekend through his news posts during the week. But unless you already come here to this site, that doesn't help you. And if you do that, you probably knew it was coming, even if you didn't know it was here. And so, this Saturday, after deposing both a HeroClix and a MechWarrior game just to keep the day free of 30 people trying to play around my table of free stuff, I will go in to work on Saturday, and see...the same people I see every other damn day. We're not going to get anybody new...at least not enough to really make a difference. And why? One word: advertising. We're not going to get anybody new because nobody new KNOWS that the opportnunity exists. Do we get a little, cheap cable commercial? Maybe a print ad in the local "scene" paper? (Ours is called Nuvo) A press release to the local regular paper? Nope. I did have a lot of things I had wanted to do to promote what should be THE day to bring new people in, but due to a combination of bad timing, and the fact that the boss ain't coming off of any money for advertising if he can avoid it, I was sadly thwarted. And mine isn't the only story. There have been a couple articles circulating recently about the downturn the industry as a whole has taken. Game sales are down...toys too. Not to mention comic books themselves. All struggling just to keep viable. So what do Marvel and DC do? release more books that you "don't have to buy" in order for the all consuming story going on in their universe to make a freakin' lick of sense. When does the market crash again like it did in the 90's? Not bloody long, if you ask me.

Which brings me back to the topic. Sort of. FCBD is supposed to be a time where we bring new people to comics. People who may be curious, but have never taken the plunge. But if these people don't know that it's going on, then we're never going to get them. And speaking strictly as a retailer and not a fan...we REALLY need to get their money too if we ever want to have a chance at recovery. I'll tell you all a little secret. Those FREE books? They aren't actually free. They cost the comic shop money. But, and maybe I'm just being paranoid here, but I would not want to not participate...since it's run by Diamond and all. Diamond of course being the ONLY PLACE YOU CAN ORDER COMIC BOOKS IF YOU'RE A COMIC SHOP. It's hard enough to get my books as it is. And that's if they're actually on time in the fist place...but that's another story. Money ain't free, folks...and with the general downturn, well...let's just say taht I haven't seen a single peep about Saturday anywhere, and I can think of 10 local shops off the top of my head. None of us are advertising. Too much money. I'd bet it's the same pretty much everywhere. So here's your assignment for this week. Go out and DRAG one of your friends to the shop with you this weekend. There are a lot of good books that are going ot be out, including a reprint of the very hard to find Superman/Batman #1from DC, a Conan/Star Wars flip book from Dark Horse, and an all new X-Men/Runaways crossover that can only be gotten through this function. Get somebody new to come down and check out where all your money goes, so he or she can throw their money after it.

And now, I think I've rambled on quite long enough. Point being, go visit you're local shop this weekend, and take a friend. It'll be better for us all if you do. And now, a couple of picks for this week:

Infinite Crisis #7 DC - ($3.99) - Holy crap, holy crap, HOLY CRAP!!! Talk about a showstopper. I can't even say anything about it without giving the whole game away. Suffice it to say that if you've been living under a rock for the past several months, and haven't read the rest of the series yet, DO IT NOW. Quite possibly one of the single greatest issues, of one of the single greatest stories I've read in years. Just do it. Do yourself a favor.

Civil War #1 Marvel - ($3.99) - Another one of those "if you've been living under a rock" books, but I gotta say, I think it's gonna live up to the hype. Issue #1 is all about the setup, so there isn't really tons of action. But what there is is well placed, and boy does it move the story along! Again, I'm not going to say much. A lot of the story is out there already as it is. But it's well worth reading...and Captain America proves just how much of a bad ass he truly is. That's something people forget sometimes. Captain America will always find a way to win. That's what's going to make him so dangerous in the story to come.

Mouse Guard #2 ASP - ($3.50) - My "Indie" pick for this week. If you missed #1 of this, do yourself a favor and go request it from your local shop. Second prints are still available, but the first prints are completely sold out. A pretty good trick for a book from a company very few people have heard of, and a book that's got the weirdest shape of any comic book I've ever bought. It's a 6 issue series, shipping every other month, and this week we get issue 2. The basic story revolves around a group of mice that are the protectors of their mouse city. Sort of "Lord of the Rings" meets "Secret of Nimh"...or the Redwall stuff, if you've heard of that. Somebody's selling off the secrets of the city, and it's up to the guard to figure out the whos and whys. You've got to love a good conspiracy, and unlike what happens when most people tell a story using animals, these guys actually look like mice. And beautifully illustrated mice at that. Again, I don't want to give too much away...which is why these are "picks", and not "reviews", but this book is well worth looking into. It could very easily serve as a gateway book for one of those friends who you should be dragging to the shop with you this weekend.

And that's all I got for this week, save one thing. Like I said, these "free" comics aren't really free. Do your local shop a favor. Don't just grab the free stuff and go. Look around. I bet if you look hard enough, you can find something worth buying. They could use your help.

So...what'd you read this week?
Mike