Tomorrow is the third annual Free Comic Book Day! Head down to your local comic store and pick up a free comic book!
Some of the books available include:
Looking for a comic store near you? Use the store locator.
And while you’re at it, check out the list of creator signings — there may be one in your area.
On the trip to Ikea to get the patio furniture, we had a Choo-Choo Bear sighting in the parking lot–an auspicious beginning to any shopping spree, if you ask me.
Me: “For $1.99, you want to get one and paint eyes on it?”
Kelson: “For $1.99, why not?!”
A few weeks ago I was looking at the website error logs and noticed some attempts to access images with names like /flash/images/%20%20%20%20%20%20%20ans3.jpg. I got around to looking at it today, and all of them are the same name, all of them from browsers looking at my profile of the Teen Titans, which includes an image called teentitans3.jpg.
I finally realized what’s going on. Some moronic filter has broken up the name not as “teen titans” but as “teen tit ans,” decided it must be porn, and replaced the “offending” words with spaces (%20 is the code for a space in a URL).
It really makes me wonder how badly mangled the page looks to these people, especially if it turns out that every instance of the team’s name gets pointlessly erased.
Further reading: The Censorware Project, Peacefire, Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Yes, you!
Girl Genius, by Phil and Kaja Foglio: “A gaslamp fantasy with adventure, romance, and mad science.” It’s a continuing steampunk adventure/comedy set in an alternate 19th century where warring mad scientists (or “sparks” as they’re called to their faces) have devastated Europe. Graduate student Agatha Clay belatedly discovers her own “spark” as she is whisked into the world of Klaus von Wulfenbach, the “spark” who has conquered most of Europe. A fun read every time – it’s a real pity that it only comes out four times a year. (Published quarterly by Studio Foglio/Airship Comics.) Edit: The comic is now available online at girlgeniusonline.com!
Fables, by Bill Willingham and various artists. Imagine if all the fairy tales really did happen. But Snow White, the big bad wolf, and the rest have been forced out of their world and into ours, where they live in an expatriate community in modern New York City. Here, they face everything from murder mysteries and personal intrigue to political infighting and all-out revolution. It is R-rated, so you probably wouldn’t want to hand it to an 8-year old, but if you liked Sandman you should check this out. It’s a mix of multi-part story-lines and single-issue stories. DC has been collecting each storyline in graphic novel form. (Published monthly by DC Comics/Vertigo.)
Halo and Sprocket, by Kerry Callen. In the words of the comic’s own website, “Halo is an angel assigned to assist Sprocket in learning about the human condition from Katie. [Ed. note: no, not that Katie!] But Sprocket’s logic, Halo’s metaphysics, and Katie’s real-life antics don’t always mesh.” Each issue features several stand-alone short stories that find the comedy in even the most ordinary situations, as well as the contradictions and foibles of humanity. Wayne brought the first three issues over one time, and everyone was laughing hysterically! A collection of the first four issues should be out by December. (Published several times a year by Amaze Ink/SLG Publishing)
And while you’re at it, check out the graphic novel Midnight Nation, by J. Michael Straczynski and Gary Frank. The collected edition is a bit pricey, but it’s worth it!
One of the new comics I picked up this week was Teen Titans. It reminded me of something that’s been bugging me about the previous issue. (Spoilers follow!)
My first thought was that there was no way Deathstroke would kill Wintergreen (his best friend and partner in the assassination “business”). But the more I thought about it, I realized he would do it if he thought it was necessary – just as he bit the figurative bullet and killed his own son when that was necessary (way back in Titans Hunt).
But he would not mount his head on the wall with his hunting trophies!
The revelation at the end of this week’s issue goes a little way towards explaining it, but it still doesn’t quite make sense, even if we’re looking at a Wildebeest connection.
