April 27, 2002

Free Comic Book Day

By Blake M. Petit
Managing Editor

Let’s start off this week’s “Think About It” with a basic show of hands, shall we? How many of you want to see the new “Spider-Man” movie that opens Friday?

Okay, that’s right, put ‘em up. You in Bayou Gauche -- are you kidding me? I know all about those action figures. That’s what I thought. Okay, hands down.

Now, how many of you have actually read a “Spider-Man” comic book in the last five years?

Yep. That’s what I thought.

I’ve heard all the arguments, my friends, that comic books are childish, poorly written, poorly drawn, suitable only for consumption by the preschool set. Whatever. What that says to me is that you’re just not reading the right comic books.

Fortunately, the good people at the four big comic book companies have taken some steps to remedy this disastrous oversight on your part. “Spider-Man” the movie premieres on May 3, and therefore Saturday, May 4, has been declared Free Comic Book Day.

That’s right, friends, for one day only, you can head out to your friendly neighborhood comic shop and snag a copy of one of four special, full-size, totally free comic books. Your choices are:

• From Marvel Comics, “Ultimate Spider-Man #1” by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley and Art Thibert is the beginning of a modern-day retelling of the classic superhero whose movie started this business in the first place.

• From DC Comics, “Justice League Adventures #1,” by Ty Templeton, Min S. Ku and Dan Davis is a story based on the great “Justice League” TV show on the Cartoon Network. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkgirl and the Martian Manhunter in one book. Great for young readers.

• From Image Comics, “Tomb Raider #½,” by Dan Jurgens, Michael Lopez and Eric Basaluda, with the origin of Lara Croft. Like the movie? Like the video game? Come read the beginning of the story.

• From Dark Horse Comics, “Star Wars Tales: A Jedi’s Weapon #1” by Henry Gilroy, Manuel Garcia and Jimmy Palmiotti. Taking advantage of that other little movie coming out this May, Dark Horse is putting out this all-new comic telling a story of young Anakin Skywalker shortly before the events in “Star Wars: Episode II.”

So the basic idea here is, get your butt into a comic book shop on May 4 and take advantage of four free comics! Bring your kids! Bring your wife! Bring anybody!

And if you don’t know where to find a comic book shop, go to www.freecomicsday.com and they’ve got a locator service! Just type in your ZIP code and they’ll give you a list of participating comic shops in your area. These guys aim to please.

And while you’re there, I’d like to humbly submit that you may want to check out some of the comics you’d have to pay money for as well, because a lot of those are just as good or better than the free ones. Here are some of my recommendations:

“The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius” by Judd Winick. Barry Ween is the smartest creature on the planet -- so smart that he calculates he’ll go insane if he doesn’t have a normal environment. A hysterical book that takes the pseudo-science of “Dexter’s Laboratory,” mixes it with the attitude of “South Park” and somehow comes up with a mixture with more warmth and heart than either.

“Sandman” by Neil Gaiman and a host of artists is a magnificent fantasy epic about the Lord of Dreams. Available in 10 trade paperbacks.

“Starman” by James Robinson, also available in trade paperbacks, takes a classic superhero and tells a warm, powerful generational saga of heroism and courage.

“Meridian” by Barbara Kesel is the comic I’d give to girls who want to read comics. It’s the story of a young girl forced into exile when her father’s kingdom is usurped by her cruel uncle. A wonderful story with amazing character development.

And lest I forget, there are plenty of Star Wars comics for fans of that movie, X-Men comics, Farscape comics, comics by Kevin Smith, J. Michael Straczynski, Neil Gaiman, Ron Zimmerman, comics for kids, comics for grown-ups, comics for everybody if you just know where to look.

So head out on May 4 and see what they’ve got to offer. If you look hard enough, I promise, you can find something for you.

Blake M. Petit loves comics. You should too. Heretic. Contact him with comments, suggestions or queries about when he’s going to get back to normal columns at BlakeP@heraldguide.com or at 758-2795, ext. 215.