OPINION
Picking Through the Pickings on Free Comic Book Day
The Lone Ranger & Battlestar Galactica: Season Zero (Dynamite): Another two-fer book, this time devoted to a pair of tie-in titles. Of the two, only the Lone Ranger half, which appears to be devoted to the long-established western hero in his early days, is a self-sustained story; the Galactica cuts off just as our cast is discovered by a horde of hump-backed Cylons. Mebbe I'd care if I watched the Sci-Fi Channel version of this series, since a lot of the talky panel seem primarily devoted to giving series fans a chance to see if they like how Steven Segovia renders their favorite actors, but I don't so I was much more effortlessly caught up in the Ranger's simple rescue of a pretty young school marm who we'll most likely never see again.
Love And Capes #4 (Maerkle Press): This 'un is a cheat since Acme Comics didn't have it on its FCBD shelves – but I was sent a review copy of it, presumably since I'd done a posting on the first three issues. Thomas Zahler's freebie does a good job introducing us to its appealing cast – and maintains his amusing proto-sitcom style of scripting (in this episode, our super-square hero struggles with the fact that he's not as franchise hot as the Arachnerd). For small-press publishers like Zahler, an event like Free Comic Book Day clearly reps a bigger financial gamble than it does for the Big Guns: in this case, the finished product has me hoping it works out for him.
Marvel Adventures: Iron Man & the Hulk (Marvel): Two short, quick kid-friendly stories featuring their respective heroes in instantly forgettable fights against industrial thieves and insectoid monsters – plus a five-page Franklin Richards shortie that reads like Marvel's attempt at aping Harvey Comics. What does it say that I was much more entertained by Chris Eliopoulos & Marc Sumerak's Franklin Richards quickie?
Mickey Mouse (Gemstone): As with previous Gemstone FCBD releases, the company is attempting to snag young readers with classic stuff: this time a reprint of a Floyd Gottfredson Sunday strip continuity (gotta hold the book sideways!) that is pretty strange. In it, our spunky Mouse here (this was back when Mickey's pants meant he really was covering up a pair of cajones!) develops a shrinking formula in his house that puts him at the mercy of a vicious overgrown fly. To escape, he hides in a book of Robin Hood stories and winds up meeting the man and his merry band. I kept expecting this tale to turn out to be "only a dream," but Gottfredson refused to resort to this gambit – and good for him. Shows why it's too bad they don't make 'em like this anymore . . .
Bill Sherman is a mostly harmless pop culture nerd who can either be found at the
Pop Culture Gadabout blog or in his capacity as Comics & Graphics Novel review editor at this here site. He once wrote a history of underground comix for a Spanish comics encyclopedia - which he can no longer read since he lost the original manscript and can't read Spanish.
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Free comic book day - Yay! What a great day!
New Gumby comics? Gumby is getting around.
It's a Gumby Party!