Home

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/

May 6, 2015

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics, Reviews , , , Leave a comment

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

FCBDGronk
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

FCBDMercury
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

FCBDSecretwars
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

FCBDAvengers
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.