Comic relief
Isle stores will give away comics
Saturday for the national
Free Comic Book Day
The summer's here, the new Spider-Man movie's out ... it must be time for Free Comic Book Day!
While the third and last sequel about our favorite arachnidlike superhero won't be out until 2007, you can be almost assured that Free Comic Book Day will be around in subsequent years.
Saturday marks the third year of this successful nationwide promotion to get readers of all ages to go to their favorite stores to pick up free comic books, courtesy of publishers both big and small.
"'Spider-Man' was the movie that helped to launch the first Free Comic Book Day in 2002," committee spokesman Barry Lyga told Comic Shop News. "Its success was due in no small part to its loyalty to its comic book roots, and Free Comic Book Day is back this year to remind the world of those roots."
On Saturday, anyone who walks into a participating comic-book specialty store (see list) will receive one or several free comic books, with no purchase required (while supplies last, of course).
The Last Sanctuary on Kapiolani Boulevard will be the only store to host a special event in conjunction with the promotion and the opening of "Spider-Man 2." There'll be a comic creation competition in which budding artists compete to create an original Spider-Man comic page. Writer-artist teams complete their work in the store from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Winners will receive a store gift certificate, passes to see "SM2" and other prizes.
The free comic books will vary by store, but all are special editions published specifically for the event. They range from all-ages-friendly titles to fare intended for older readers.
Here are some of the titles being offered Saturday:
» "Marvel Age: Spider-Man No. 1": With the Spider-Man film release, it's timely for Marvel to feature its star superhero in an all-ages tale based on Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's classic '60s story as Spidey battles his arch foe the Vulture.
» "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse": This anthology is a holiday special treat featuring Mickey, Donald Duck and Grandma Duck. Two stories feature the work of the late Carl Banks, who was closely associated with the squawking duck and his family's adventures. In addition to "The Second Richest Duck," there's also Banks' one and only Mickey adventure, "Riddle of the Red Hat."
» "Star Wars -- Clone Wars Adventures": Inspired by Cartoon Network's "Clone Wars" series, this comic book uses the TV series as a jumping-off point to tell a new story of heroism and villainy in a back-to-basics visual style.
» "Teen Titans Go! No. 1": This new DC title is also a tie-in to its Cartoon Network series, as teenage heroes Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven battle for truth, justice and pizza.
» "Image Comics Summer Special": A quartet of new stories features the publisher's most popular characters -- Savage Dragon, Spawn, Witchblade and Invincible -- with a cover drawn by fan favorites Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane and Marc Silvestri.
» "Alternative Comics No. 2": This is an anthology of new material by award-winning cartoonists including Nick Bertozzi, Dean Haspiel, Sam Henderson, Walt Holcombe, James Kochalka, Rich Tommaso and Harvey Pekar, of "American Splendor" fame.
Comic-book fans will be able to sample the old vs. new, with titles ranging from Del Ray Publishing's manga sampler "xxxHOLic Vol. 2," to "Marvel Age: Spider-Man No. 1."
» "Archie: I Was a Teenage Comic Book Character": Archie and Chuck decide to pool their talents to create a comic book. When Archie is short on ideas, Chuck suggests simply following his redheaded pal and sketching his uproarious misadventures. By the time he's done chronicling Archie's antics, Chuck stumbles upon the secrets of this comic book character's longevity, having held up for more than 60 years.
» "The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Secret Crisis Origin Files": A reprint from Judd Winick's hilarious series, in which Barry meets his hyperactive best friend, Jeremy. If all you know of Winick is through his mainstream superhero title, "Outsiders," you owe yourself to get acquainted with this freewheeling comic book from the indie Oni Press.
» "Love Fights No. 1/Everest: Facing the Goddess": Also from Oni Press, this is a flip-book with the complete first issue of Andi Watson's continuing superhero romance series on one side. Flip it over, and you've got a preview of the first eight pages of the new Greg Rucka and Scott Morse miniseries due in August.
» An all-ages-appropriate sampler from IDW Publishing includes material from comics based on popular TV shows "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "The Shield," plus a sneak peek at the adaptation of "24." Also included in the sampler is "30 Days of Night," the vampire thriller that put the publisher on the comic book map.
» "Back in Black: Brian Pulido Unleashed at Avatar": Pulido, of "Lady Death" fame, offers extensive previews of his first three titles for the mature-comic publisher. His latest action babes Belladonna, Unholy and Gypsyare featured.
» A manga sampler from Del Rey publishing featuring an exclusive peak at "xxxHOLic Vol. 2," by CLAMP, and Ken Akamatsu's "Negima Vol. 2," in which a young wizard from a British school for magic faces his greatest challenge: teaching English at an all-girl high school in Japan.
» "Reggie-12": Brian Ralph introduces his popular comic strip from the pages of Giant Robot magazine, about a boy robot created to fight the giant robots that keep destroying his city. It's described as "a cross between Astro Boy and 'Futurama.'"
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Come and get ‘em
Local participants in Saturday's Free Comic Book Day promotion. The Hawaii State Library System will not be participating this year because the event falls on the 4th of July holiday weekend, when the libraries are closed.
Collector Maniacs
3571 Waialae Ave. 739-3912Gecko Books & Comics
1247G Kailua Road
263-2004
3613 Waialae Ave.
732-1292Jelly's the Original
98-023 Hekaha St.
484-4413Last Sanctuary
1485 Kapiolani Blvd.
955-2440Other Realms
Ward Warehouse
596-8236Ryan's Sportsworld
Aina Haina Shopping Center
373-7419
Click for online
calendars and events.
