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Hugh Likes Comics: Free Comic Book Day 2025

May 3, 2025

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics, Queen City Adventures, Uncategorized , , , , Leave a comment

Hello Readers!

Today is the first Saturday in May, which mean’s it’s Free Comic Book Day! Sponsored by beleaguered Comics publishing monopoly-holder Diamond Distribution, the event offers a variety of free comics to the public to bring them into local shops. Due to no longer being distributed by Diamond, it appears that DC Comics will not be taking part in the event, but there will still be plenty of books for sale, along with other events at your local shops. Here are some of the ones I’m most interested in this year:

Fantastic Four / X-Men – Marvel Comics
I was never a big fan of the Fantastic Four. While I liked them alright, the pioneering family of superheroes always felt a little too stuck in the ’60s to me. But writer Ryan North and artist Humberto Ramos have been killing it in their monthly title, one of the few that I’m actually keeping up with these days. So I’m looking forward to their FCBD offering this year, especially paired with a new X-Men story from the writers of NYX, my favorite of the post-Krakoa X-Men titles. It may be marketing for upcoming MCU movies, but it’s top-shelf Big 2 comics, so I’m here for it.

Tower Dungeon & Issak – Kodansha
These pair of samples from Kodansha both look really interesting. In Tower Dungeon, Sci-FI Manga creator Tsutomu Nihei turns his hand to a dungeon crawler-inspired Fantasy setting, and it looks like it will have his signature dark twist to the typical ‘Farm boy seeks his fortune’ narrative. Issak is an unusual Historical story from writer Shinji Makari and artist Double-S about a Samurai that finds himself in Europe during the Thirty Years War.

IDW Dark: Find Your New Fear – IDW
IDW is launching a new horror imprint, and this FCBD sampler includes four previews of upcoming M-rated horror titles.

The event will also feature a ton of family-friendly content and tie ins for Archie, Spider-Man, Power Rangers, Star Wars, and more! The event helps bring the public to locally owned businesses, but the books aren’t free, so if you visit your local shop, be sure to support them with a purchase, too. Many stores will have special events with prizes, guest artists and writers, and more! You can find participating stores in your area, along with the list of this year’s books, at https://www.freecomicbookday.com/

Queen City Adventures: The Taste of Buffalo!

July 18, 2014

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Every year, local restaurants take over Niagara Square and a few blocks of Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo for one of the largest food festivals in the country.

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Buffalo is definitely a food city, from chicken wings to beef on weck, so it is always a delight to try new places and see what they have on offer. Here is a sample of my selections:

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Indian Falls Log Cabin: Beef on Weck Ravioli

This beef and cheese ravioli was served in savory beef broth complete with caraway seeds. It was a nice mix of surprising ingenuity and hometown pride. Very good.

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T. C. Wheelers: Reuben Pizza and Pizza Nutella with Almonds

Of all the pizza places that had tents at this year’s events, this was the only one that felt creative, which is usually what I’m looking for at the Taste. The Reuben Pizza was outstanding. It had a nice, thick crust and delivered what it promised. The Pizza Nutella was more akin to fried dough, and the hazelnut spread made it a bit heavy, but it was quite good as well.

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Kabob and Curry: Cheese & Veggi Tikka

Selected by my husband, who is vegetarian. He enjoyed it, and I liked my nibble, but I’m a wuss when it comes to spicy food, and it was a bit too much for me.

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Carribean Expirience: Beef Patty

An excellent meat pastry that was nicely spiced but not hot. My husband had the vegetarian version, which was also good.

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NIck Charlap’s Ice Cream: Raspberry Custard

While they had the standard flavors, we opted to try something a bit different from this local ice cream shop. It was excellent.

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The Lodge: Civiche

Raw fish in a citrus sauce with gaucamole and chips, this was like sushi and nachos combined. It was delicious and refreshing on a hot Saturday afternoon. The Lodge’s other options, including venison and wild boar, looked interesting as well.

Over-all, I would say that I enjoyed the Reuben Pizza the most out of my sampling of this year’s entrants, although the civiche was a close second. Buffalo is a treasure trove of fantastic local restaurants, and I always enjoy sampling them.

Next week: The Italian Festival!

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Queen City Adventures: The Buffalo Transportation Museum

July 11, 2014

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Last weekend, after taking in the burgers and the fireworks, I went downtown and experienced some American history.  The Buffalo Transportation Museum is located at 263 Michigan Ave and houses a fleet of vehicles and artifacts from the early days of the automobile.  Local manufacturers Pierce-Arrow and Thomas are heavily featured, but many different makes and models are present.

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We live in an age of cheap, instant global communication.  Long-distance travel is something that we take for granted.  The vehicles and artifacts in this collection are a reminder of what a revolution the automobile really was.

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The museum is capped off with a full-scale model of a proposed gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  Although the plan was never used, and has some serious flaws, it is a fascinating look at what might have been.

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If you’re a gear-head or if you just have an interest in history, the Buffalo Transportation Museum is an excellent place to spend an afternoon in the Queen City.

The Buffalo Transportation Museum is located at 263 Michigan Ave, Buffalo, NY and is open 11 AM-4PM Thursday-Sunday.  Visit them online at Pierce-Arrow.com

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