OPINION

Picking Through the Pickings on Free Comic Book Day
Written by Bill Sherman
Published May 11, 2007
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  • Transformers: Official Movie Prequel (IDW): Plowing through this well-nigh unreadable cross-promotional spin-off did one have one surprising effect: it got me appreciating later Jack Kirby – who could make this brand of mystico-cosmic gobbledegook actually sound it made sense – much more than I previously had. Definitely (to make the obvious joke), less than meets the eye.

  • Wahoo Morris (Too Hip Gotta Go): Apparently positioning itself to be the next Strangers in Paradise (a rip-off of a Love And Rockets rip-off – aren't we approaching Michael Keaton in Multiplicity here?), this B-&W opening chapter introduces us to a punkish rock band and their struggling loves – somehow book-ended with an Exorcist-reminiscent plot involving hornéd demons. No, I don't know what it means, but I did rather like writer/artist Craig Taillefer's admission that he "edited out all of the naughty bits" from the original version of the story. Presumably to circumvent any parental complaints if any young 'uns inadvertently bring this title home. Hey, guy, don't you know that even the suggestion that these characters have naughty bits is too much for some parents?

  • Who Wants to Be A Superhero? (Dark Horse): Wherein the once mighty Stan Lee hacks out an eight-page intro with a beaten-up supertype flashbacking to the beginning of his origin ("Now I remember – how it started . . .") Gotta tell ya, this lame exercise depressed the hell outta me – even more than Lee's egregious Just Imagine mini-series or Stripperella. Excelsior, my ass . . .
    • Anybody got an extra Unseen Peanuts hangin' around the place?

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    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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    Picking Through the Pickings on Free Comic Book Day
    Published: May 11, 2007
    Type: Opinion
    Section: Books
    Filed Under: Books: Comics and Graphic Novels, Books: News
    Writer: Bill Sherman
    Bill Sherman's BC Writer page
    Bill Sherman's personal site
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    Comments

    #1 — May 11, 2007 @ 05:56AM — Robert [URL]

    Free comic book day - Yay! What a great day!
    New Gumby comics? Gumby is getting around.
    It's a Gumby Party!

    #2 — May 11, 2007 @ 10:41AM — G. [URL]

    Good selection.

    By the way, there is a Web site that you can check out called WOWIO (wowio.com). They have free comics in electronic form available all year, not just one day. :)

    #3 — May 11, 2007 @ 15:28PM — Kaonashi [URL]

    How odd that Free Comic Book Day would coincide with Cinco de Mayo.

    #4 — May 11, 2007 @ 16:36PM — Bill Sherman [URL]

    Each Free Comic Book Day has been scheduled to take place on the first weekend of a Big Comic Movie (this year's, of course, being Spider-Man 3) - on the as-yet-unproven theory that the two events will feed off of each other. This year's Spidey flick had its weekend debut on Cinco de Mayo: not as inconvenient for retailers as the summer FCBD was held on a July 4th weekend to align with that year's Big Superhero Movie . . .

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