Free Comic Book Day

This is a nice post. I took my grandson to his second Free Comic Day yesterday (he’s six). I did it because it’s a cool way to spend two hours of boy-time, and as the post points out, comics are a good way to encourage reading. I think they work the same way for visual art appreciation and literacy, which I regard as equally important. Our free books from last year didn’t survive. This year, we’re getting bags, and cards, and a box just for his books. So he has the beginning of a collection. I have a small collection from the early 90s myself, preserved so well all these years that I could have them certified. He’s fascinated by that collection, and asks to look at them at least once a week. Long live Geek culture, and May the Fourth be with you!

Therefore I Geek

This Saturday is a magical day. It is a day that is better than Christmas, my birthday and some other great day all rolled into one. Ok, so I might be exaggerating things just a bit, but this Saturday will still be pretty awesome. You may be asking yourself what makes it so awesome and let me tell you, it’s Free Comic Book Day.

For the past twelve years, the first Saturday in May has been Free Comic Book Day.  FCBD was started to take advantage of the opening of big comic movies, but the annual event has become something much more. While not every retailer participates in the festivities, most independent comic book stores join in. Many stores make a huge deal out of the day, having sales, giveaways and parties. Comic artists and writers have also gotten involved by participating in signings at stores across the country. Fans…

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ISO: Lost Batman Comic (and don’t forget about Free Comic Book Day)!

by Jeremy DeFatta

Happy new book day, everyone! Last week marked the 60^th anniversary of the Senate hearings that eventually led to the stifling of comics as a medium, so I’d like to ask for a little help in finding a lost comic book. In its own weird way, I hope this stands as a tribute to all of our losses in terms of what comics could have been for the past few decades. If we find the book I’m seeking, I hope that can stand as a symbol that what is lost in comics can be regained.

Back in the early 90s, my dad bought me my very first issue of a comic featuring Batman. Due to time and typical childhood stupidity, that book is now lost to me, when it should have an honored place in my collection today. I don’t remember a lot about the comic aside from a few art details. Batman had very long ears, as he tended to in early 90s stories.

In the comic, Batman and the Joker are both exposed to something that was likely Bane’s venom chemical or something like it. They both Hulked out and started punching each other around the city. One striking image from the comic is Batman hitting the Joker so hard he actually embeds him in the metal wall of a rooftop water tower. The only other detail I recall is the cover; it showed the Joker’s maniacally grinning face with his hands on either side of it as he tries to press his face through a rough opening in a wall.