Why Free Comic Book Day Sucks in '13
I didn't actually get a chance to hang out at a comic book shop on free comic book day, and those events are pretty different from shop to shop so I can't really rate all that. I did however, have my shop reserve a copy of all of the books that were given away... And having flipped through them I can safely say that free comic book day really really sucked this year.
But before I launch into the negative, there were a few positives. I don't know too much about publishing company Graphic India, but with talent like Jim Starlin, Michael Avon Oeming, and Stan Lee on board they definitely seem to be making a pretty good stab at putting Indian mythology and storytelling on the cultural map. The Ramayana is one of my favorite myths and it's exciting to see it getting some of the attention it deserves from western audiences in this free issue of Ramayan 3392.
Shop-goers also got a copy of a pretty cute Pippi Longstocking comic as well as classic reprints like the Valiant comics showcase and a selection from the old Dragonball manga. However, the two most engaging books at this year’s Free Comic Book Day were probably Scratch 9 and an Adventure Time comic. Scratch 9 is an animal welfare centric comic about a cat that can summon it's past 9 lives after being experimented on in an animal testing facility. The drawing was a little pedestrian and it's definitely a comic for kids, but it dealt with it's subject manner in a substantial way without being too heavy handed. The Adventure Time comic was a "Choose-Your-Own Adventure Time" comic that broke the 4th wall and proved thought-provoking.
Unfortunately, the fact that one of the best things at free comic book day was a television property is somewhat indicative of the problem with free comic book day. Almost none of these comics were exactly comic books- they were all just advertisements for cartoons or video games. The Kirby/Sonic crossover didn't have the strongest writing on the Sonic side but might have some entertaining fight scenes and dynamic drawings (like the one above.) Spongebob, Simpsons, and Regular show don't stray far from their TV territory. Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H, Avengers, and Beware the Batman were the most unlikable and half-heartedly drawn.
The fact that all three of these awful cartoon properties are based on comic book characters makes things even more backwards. Even the fairly forgettable Superman comic was in part scribed by Richard Donner, the director of the original Superman film. And although Donner's original film is a classic, his presence highlights the feeling that this was more of a promotional event for other forms of media.
And most of the comics that weren't based on TV shows also fell flat. Jonathan Hickman's prequel to Marvel's Infinity War cross-over started out solid and haunting but seemed to unravel a little bit once the action moved out of outer space and into the super hero realm. And has it dawned on anyone that DC has already had about a million crossover’s that start with the word Infinite? The Judge Dredd reprints seemed to be suffering from some formatting issues and were too small for the pages they were printed on- Those Wobby the Wobot stories were the most boring things I've ever seen Brian Bolland draw. The Mouse Guard story was well drawn and cute but not much felt at stake- Mice Templar seems to be the better warrior mouse comic right now. There were really very few big name titles up for grabs, maybe because the big wigs at Marvel and DC realized it would do little for their revenue to pump a bunch of money into trying to draw in new readership with free books. I really don't know, but compared to past free comic book days this one feels like a flop. Hopefully, next years free comic book day will be a little better. I guess I don't have anything to risk by hanging on- hell, these comics are free!
