Free Comic Book day is almost upon us. To get you ready for the big event, we shall be spotlighting our sales, guests and events over the next few days.

First however, we should address what gives this event it's name, the FREE COMIC BOOKS!

Many have been clamoring for reviews of them, and I'm going to try to be as spoiler free as possible here. A big draw for these to me is getting some new stories or issues for free and the surprises they may have inside!

Look at this article as a guide of sorts, I will let you know what is good for kids, teens or adults and what is good for newcomers and veteran comic readers like.




This is required reading for everyone who has been following DC since they relaunched as the New 52 last September!

Revealing the origins of Pandora, the mysterious woman in all of the issue number ones, it simultaneous sets up next years big event. There's also small previews for the six new titles launching this month!

While there is a lot of pay off here for the DC faithful, new comers would most likely be alienated.



This will be the most unique looking book on the free comic table. It's a hardcover collection of short stories that Archaia Entertainment produces.

Containing a marionette play set in the Mouse Guard series, a story from Jim Henson's Labyrinth featuring Hoggle plus four more whimsical tales.

This is truly a charming collection. Great not just for kids but the kid in all of us!

With their movie coming out the day before Free Comic Book Day (Which by the way, you should totally see after you visit us!) you'd think Marvel would have chosen a story that was a bit more new reader friendly.

Spider-Woman, while on a mission for S.W.O.R.D., is captured by the Intelligencia. Now it's up to the Avengers, to rescue her! While they battle the evil geniuses of Intelligencia an old powerful foe makes his return. That can only mean trouble for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

If you understood that last paragraph, congratulations! You already read Marvel comics. If not, this is still a bombastic issue you can get some superficial enjoyment out of. Plus if you like what you see here you can follow the story in Age of Ultron.



Like they do every year, Aspen brings us another anthology for Free Comic Book Day. Inside is a sample of all the titles they have to offer this year.

First up is Homecoming. A mysterious naked woman lands in the pool of nerdy Hunter Wilson. She brings with her mystery and danger Of the extra terrestrial kind!

The only other comic we can any kind of substantial look at is Idolized. This story is about a young girl� with super powers who joins a reality TV program where the reward is membership in the premier super team of her world.

The rest of the issue is advertising for Aspen's other titles: Soulfire, Fathom, Shrugged, Executive Assistant Assassins, Zooniverse and Charismagic: The Death Princess.

All in all, nothing terribly substantial but if you're into beautiful, buxom babes you won't disappointed.



This book represents an interesting trend many modern comics are experiencing. Some long defunct comics are geting started back up right where they left off, numbers and all. This is actually issue #80.5 of the old Transformers comic Marvel used to put out.

This issue serves as a primer (no pun intended) for new comers and veterans alike. Most of the issue is a series of flashbacks, summarizing the old comic series and show, to get the newbies up to speed. While this is going on we see Cybertron 21 years later, coincidentally how long it's been since the last issue of Transformers, and an underground Decepticon movement threatens to disrupt the peace.

I wish I could say this was a great place for people unfamiliar with the Transformers to jump on, but if you're not familiar with the old comics you may be lost with the flashbacks. There was a lot of weird stuff going on in those pages. Ironically, the present day stuff was much more assessable to the uninitiated since you only need the basic idea of Transformers to understand it.



If you've been collecting Mega Man over this past year, be warned, this is a reprint of the first issue so you may already have it. If not, you're in luck! It's the first issue!

Here you are presented with the origin of the blue bomber and why he must oppose Dr. Wily. The art is very reminiscent of the art for the old school games it's based on. If you're a fan of Classic Mega Man it's worth check out for that alone.

However the writing won't keep an adult that invested, but their kids will love it. This was definitely written with a young audience in mind, which is not a bad thing. There always needs to be good kid's comics to get them interested in reading comics and introduce them to these classic characters.



Valiant Comics return! The now defunct comic line will be seeing a revival this month and this is there chance to show off what fans will expect.

There are two previews for two of the upcoming first issues, X-O Manowar and Harbinger, plus loads of supplementary material about many of the other characters you can expect to see.

In X-O Manowar we see a battle between the Romans and the Visigoths interrupted by the presence of space aliens. They take away survivors, which one assumes becomes the titular Manowar in the process.

In Harbinger we are shown a flashback in 1951 where a young man seeks out a hidden monk and makes an army kill themselves with his mind. We then cut to present day and see there's a young man in Pittsburgh who reads minds. What do they have to do with each other? What's the harbinger? Find out more in issue #1 from the new Valiant Comics!



Two of the most beloved sci-fi series are together in one book!

The Star Wars half focuses on a fun little adventure with Han Solo and Chewbacca. As they arrive late to deliver a smuggled shipment, they are secretly boarded by an alien crew with orders to commandeer the Millennium Falcon. It's a fun little title that people of all ages should enjoy.

The Serenity story is a simple one. While on a supply run an old man tries to steal the Serenity from Hal. It doesn't go well. If you're not already a fan of the Firefly universe nothing is done to introduce you to the characters, but they are archetypal enough that you can still follow the events.



Dark Horse's other two in one title features another Joss Whedon property plus the popular internet show The Guild.

In Buffy's story, Spike takes her into space with his space ship crewed by giant termites (don't ask). One of the termites became sired by a vampire on shore leave however, and is running amok on the ship. It's up to the vampire slayer to slay the vampire, but in SPAAAAAACE. What ensues is an enjoyable homage to the movie Alien. Again if you're not following Buffy in� the comics this will seem wierd but if you can roll with it, it's a fun diversion.

The Guild story asks what happens when the guild must agree on a new meeting place for their IRL get-togethers. They of course can't agree and duel it out in game. Long story short they have to go the beach. What follows is the hi-jinx that a bunch of super nerds get into when you force they to do things outside. This one requires very little knowledge of the characters before hand and only a passing knowledge of Internet slang and MMORPGs to understand.



The bizarrely brilliant children's show breaks into comics!

Featuring many of the characters from the Nick Jr. show, there are four stories in here, that will entertain and enlighten young minds.

Review comics like this is always difficult. It's clearly meant for very young children and it will serve them well. It's hard to judge it on a more adult level. I will say however that I found the Super Martian Robot Girl segment a very good parody of super hero comics.

If you have young children who enjoy the show grab this comic and read it with them. A good time ill be had by all!

Well, this was just a sliver of the many titles we will have for you to pick up this Saturday! Some of the other titles you can look forward to are Sonic the Hedgehog, Witchblade, Spider-Man, Superman, Captain America, The Simpson, Young Justice, Batman, Thor and Green Lantern!

Hopefully this guide will help you and your kids enjoy the event. I look forward to seeing you all there!