In my shipment today I received my five FCBD (Free Comic Book Day) books; care of Cameron and the folks at DCB Service. Free comics are always a treat, and I tried to choose a mix of stuff I knew I would enjoy (e.g., Marvel X-Men) with some indie things I have been curious about but hadn’t yet checked out.

Here are the books I received and some initial thoughts on them:

As many of you know, DCBS subscribers were able to pick any five FCBD comics of their choice and Cameron hooked us up. I just got my shipment today and they were in my stack!

Thought I would share some quick thoughts about each:

Neotopia: The Enlightened Age (Antarctic Press)
Talk about value. I’m not much of a manga reader but as I looked through the FCBD solicits, this caught my eye. More than 140 pages of full color manga FOR FREE. This is a treat and a visual buffet. The story takes place in a future version of Earth (or another Earth-like place) where we are more aligned with the natural ways. There is magic and anthropomorphic aspects intermingled. There are bat creatures who fly ornate flying blimps. There are psychic dolphins. There are humanoid robots. It’s a friggin adventure. The best way I can describe this (keeping in mind I’m not much of a manga reader) is that if you like the Final Fantasy RPGs, you will LOVE this book.

All-Star Superman #1 (DC Comics)
I’ve never bought a Superman comic [read plenty of him in JLA and other books though) and keep hearing about how great All-Star Superman is. Since it's not caught up in continuity, I figured it would be a good place to try my hand at some Superman-centric reading. While I thought the story was a lot of fun and very evocative of what makes Grant Morrison great; I really have issues with Frank Qutely's art. It's just not for me. I am not going to suggest the man isn't talented; and can understand that he's technically quite proficient. But I just can't stomach the way he draws characters. The story was terrific and I would keep reading, if the art didn't bother me.

Atomic Robo & Friends (Red 5 Comics)
Red 5 has been getting a lot of good buzz, and quite a few people I respect have told me I needed to give these books a try. Of the two included in this issue, Atomic Robo was much stronger IMHO. I'm intrigued enough to give the main series a try; although I'll be curious to see if the art is any different in the main book. I like the look of Atomic Robo quite a bit, but I thought some of the other elements of the book could use a bit more polish. Overall, the story was good enough to make me try the regular series for an issue or two. As for the Neozoic component? Did nothing for me. I feel like I've read that same scene (tough girl takes on a dinosaur) quite a few times. In the other cases, the girl is usually wearing a loin cloth or bikini, blonde and using a spear or knife. That's the way I prefer these kinds of stories. I'll pass on this one.

X-Men (Marvel Comics)
Talk about surprisingly strong! I couldn't pass up on the X-men book b/c I'm an X-men nut. But to Marvel's credit, they didn't simply reprint a story the way DC did. This is a completely new one-shot featuring Pixie, most recently of the Young X-men and now apparently a junior member of the real team. This was a really entertaining story that tied into X-men mythos, and while it primarily featured Pixie, it ended up with the entire core team being involved for the final climax battle and resolution. Awesome sauce. The only complaint I have is that Greg Land draws Pixie like a winged version of Jean Grey. Pixie is supposed to be the youngest mutant at the Xavier Academy (13 I believe) and was drawn by Scottie Young as a very young looking little girl. Seeing her just a month or two later looking like a sexy woman was off-putting. I hope the regular artists on X-men will be sure to draw her more age appropriately.

Cartoonapalooza (Ape Entertainment)
I'm a fan of Ape Entertainment, in no small part because of the sense of community we have with them on the CGS forums and events. In this book, they give us five short stories; three of which are established Ape properties, the other two presumably new properties that will be published this year.

*** Monstroids -- Written by Kevin Grevioux, art by Robert Duenas -- Honestly this was the weakest of the five stories and shouldn't have led off the comic. I realize telling an entire story in five or six pages is tough, but I didn't get the point of the story at all. And the art was REALLY cartoony, to the point where I couldn't tell characters apart, nor could you tell what their powers/abilities were.

*** Go-Go Gorilla and the Jungle Crew -- Written by Brent Erwin & Chad Lambert, art by David Hedgecock -- This was written and drawn by the Ape founders; which was cool b/c I didn't realize they were creators or had those aspirations. Overall this story was stronger than the first and had a clear beginning, middle and end. I'm a fan of team concepts so this worked for me on that level. I would've liked to see a bit more exposition on the members of the Jungle Crew; but this was quite a nice surprise given it was a new concept; as far as I know. The dialogue was a tad bit stiff in places; but I kind of think they were going for that purposefully.

*** White Picket Fences -- Written by Matt Anderson, art by Tim Lattie -- White Picket Fences is a terrific property and it was nice to see this story build off the existing world. I won't spoil what we know of this world already from the main series in case you haven't read it, but this is a self-contained story about a boy, his two buddies, a girl he likes, and a ghost car. Fun stuff; and a neat departure from what you might have expected if you read the mini-series.

*** Femme Noir -- Creators are Chris Mills and Joe Staton -- Femme Noir is one of Ape's newest series and I haven't seen the 1st issue yet [but did order it]. I’m not sure offhand if the series artist is the one who did this book, but to be honest I hope not. The art really took me out of the story on this one. I expected a very dark, realistic feel that hearkens back to those noir, pulpy stories the character is inspired by. Instead we get a really cartoony look that doesn’t fit the mood of the dialogue. I liked the story; but I won’t go past issue #1 of the series if this is the art style.

*** Ursula Wilde — By Steve Bryant — OK, well this one was a NO BRAINER. I know Steve identifies himself as an illustrator; and with good reason. But I honestly think he might be as good, if not better as a writer. His choice of words and characterizations go far beyond the boundaries of the few pages he has to tell this tale. The fact we’re going to be seeing Ursula drawn by JunBob Kim and also getting Steve on Athena Voltaire makes me all sorts of giddy. This story was a perfect tease into the early history of Ursula Wilde; who is a beautiful, daring modern day treasure hunter. Awesome stuff.

Two other quick notes on the Ape Book.

1) I HOPE it’s a joke that in the credits it says Kevin Freeman — Editor in Cheif. That would be too ironic for words otherwise.

2) The back page of this book is an ad for Comics Now! magazine. Very cool stuff, and a great new magazine if you haven’t already checked it out.

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We would love to know what you picked up on FCBD and what you thought of the issues. Thanks for sharing!