Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day! I stopped in at Haley’s Comics, my local shop, and picked up a few of the plethora of titles on offer. Here’s what I thought:
Gronk: A Monster’s Story, written and drawn by Katie Cook
This was a cute all-ages monster comic from the publisher of the outstanding “Princeless.” It was certainly adorable and clever, with a little bit of snark thrown in. The backup story featured talking house cats fighting robots, so it had that going for it. It looks like a great book for younger readers.
Mercury Heat, written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Omar Francia
At the exact opposite end, we have this gritty cyborg cop drama set on the inner-most planet. I’m pretty much onboard for any of Gillen’s projects, but the art on this one is slick and the relatively simple bust presented in the comic has a lot of intriguing world building behind it. It certainly has the first ultra-violent cop protagonist I’ve ever seen that claims “Murder She Wrote” as a defining influence. I’ll be picking up the series proper when it starts in July.
Secret Wars #0, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by paul Renaud
A preview of Marvel’s big summer event, the story is a meeting between a bunch of super-genius children, the Future Foundation, recapping what led up to the potential end of the world, and trying to build an arc to survive it. I still have no idea what’s happening, but the backup story, an imagined fight between the Avengers and the man-eating anime giants from “Attack on Titan” is a hoot.
All-New, All-Different Avengers, written by Mark Waid and drawn by Mahmud Asrar
The last of the four free books, this is apparently a look at the post-Secret Wars Avengers team. And I can’t wait for it. Rather than playing it safe, Waid is constructing a team built of all the new and legacy characters that have made waves in the last few years. Led by the new Captain America, (formerly the Falcon,) the team includes Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan,) Spider-Man (Miles Morales,) and the new lady Thor. It’s a short story about the three new teenage members attempting to stop a bank robbery and learning a lesson about what the team means. It’s a little schmaltzy, but I’m certainly interested in the series when it comes out this fall.
In addition to physical books, free comics were also available through Comixology, including an “Atomic Robo” story which I won’t spoil, but includes Dr. Dinosaur being his usual insane self, and is my pick of the small collection of the books I was able to sample this year.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 