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Free Comic Book Day 2005
n00b_newbie writes "Nationwide, Free Comic Book Day 2005 is this Saturday. This years lineup includes some regulars like Batman, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, some comics for kids, and some indy comics. FBCD's website has some cover pics, and a store locator. The indy comics include Flight (gorgeous!), Owly (kids), Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards and a bunch of others."
..free as in speech or free as in comic books? Can I still get the beer instead?
air and light and time and space
I get to see what happen to the Tandy Whiz Kids
One of the most impressive comics I've seen in a long while. I'd love to see Owly collected into a hardback edition with color.
The PC Weenies: 11 Years of Online Tech 'Too
So I wonder if the comic books being given away are worth anything, anything at all? That is, are they just the ones you can buy anywhere for a few cents? And why not free as in speech, too? I'd be much happier that way...
Well, I live in Canada, so I guess it doesn't matter anyway. There should be an effort to turn this into an international event, rather that just an American one...
Someone brings me a computer... I don't know why this is so slow! So what do I do? Realize there's some spyware or something, because they use Windows... And then blow everything off the system, write zeroes all over the hard drive, and reinstall from scratch using my custom install disc that produces a "proper" Windows installation, if you can call Windows proper at all.
Of course, I have a bit of a soft spot, so I back up their data files first.
Hint: america is not the only nation in the world.
I was just looking on ebay to see what I could get for my 1989-92 era comic book collection... Less than I spent buying the stuff. Guess the comics and collector cards will be spending another 15 or 20 years before I try to sell them again. I always thought it was a dumb hobby, but I went along with my friends. :P
A witty saying proves you are wittier than the next guy.
Maybe you should check out FCBD and find out. They are free after all.
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jonathan barket
Why not learn how to draw anime and comics too while your at it !
I hope they give Amazing Spiderman #1! - nYx
I think it qualifies as international - I live in Northern-Europe and we're celebrating it here.
[sig]It's a secret to everybody[/sig]
The Big Green Guy says sounds like SMASHING fun to him! ;-)
Are there any ongoing webcomics where I can get a fix of traditional superhero style comics?
I really enjoyed Zot, and have even enjoyed marvel.com's online samples, but I cant find any ongoing superhero stuff that isn't way scifi, cynical teen angst, or 404'd. What gives?
Looks good for your age..
Be careful telling the world! The comic book stores run out of comics, you know. If you tell everyone and they show up before me, I won't get any good comics!
or you could take this as a hint to show up early if you don't want the remainders (usually Archie, for some reason).
You are operating under the false assumption that comic books cannot be epic or have book-quality stories. This simply isn't true. While it is probably true of the standard Marvel/DC monthly comic book issue, it is not true of the comic book as a medium. Trade paperbacks often contain epic stories in comic book format with drama and characters that you care about in the same way a good book or movie can get you to care about characters.
They can be both epic and have great stories, probably just have to toss in a little imagination. The stories deal with morality, world issues, life and loss, and of course a little love and hate, and just about anything else you can think of. It's not all simply guys in tights shooting laserbeams. They can be deep tales just told in boxes and bubbles. As a guy who spent a good deal of my youth lost in them, I can tell you they can be quite exciting...and if all else fails, you get to look at the pretty pictures.
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
It's just my opinion of course, but thats completely untrue on all but the "interactivity of a games" count. Comics, like most any media, has a large percentage of crap... or at least stuff that doesn't appeal to a majority of people, and smaller percentage of work that is brilliant. There is a question of accessibility; my mother couldn't watch a cartoon and take it seriously to save her life, its just too childish to her. However, as I imagine a large number of slashdotters will attest, there is some very brilliant work to be found in animation. In most fields I think you'll find the best examples of really good work are relatively unknown and not mainstream. After awhile, said unknown piece or pieces may be adopted by larger distributors and overtime generisize (my new word for today) the bulk of the industry until the next new piece comes along. Its a story with pictures, there's terrible and good, but do you really think they can't tell a good story? Have you ever read Bone, Watchmen, Sin City, Powers, Sandman, and anything at all by Sam Kieth, Berserk, Fables, Y?
That's a really uneducated opinion, clearly.
I assume you are judging the artform from the perspective of someone that has maybe read a superhero book or two, a funny animal cartoon book, or maybe Archie comics. That's really not much to go on.
There are real artists working in comics and they are able to create works of incredible depth. Good names to look for include: Jack Kirby, Matthias Schultheiss, Enki Bilal, Alan Moore, Harvey Kurtzman, William elder, Winsor McCay, Barry Smith, Jim Steranko, Robert Crumb, Jean Girard (a.k.a. Moebius), Wally Wood, Will Eisner, and Bernie Krigstein.
It is sometimes argued that Winsor McCay was an early surrealist for his work in the sunday comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland."
It's also worth noting that many movies are based on comicbook works.
This kind of exposition could go on almost forever so I'll just say that there is plenty more to say in this area and that you are dead wrong in your presumptions.
"But..but...Slashdot said it was free comic book day!"
"This food is problematic."
Little Nemo even made a cool video game.
Is it just some weird coincidence that Free Comic Book Day happens one day before Mothers' Day?
Real world slashdotting!!! You thought seeing a SERVER go up in flames was bad....
From 12pm to 3pm Alternate Reality Comics (4800 S. Maryland Parkway) is not only giving out free (as in beer) comics, but creators Bill Willingham (Elementals, Fables, Robin) and Gilbert Hernandez (Love and Rockets) will be on hand to sign books and do sketches.
Disclosure: The owner of Alternate Reality is my husband
OS X:*nix for the real world.
I don't think "best in the world" really has much to do with it. Human beings in general think in a local context, and refer to things out of habit based on the default values of their local culture. And that's hardly a recent development.
English sites probably catch an unfair amount of flak for this. If an article on slashdot.jp used the word "zenkoku" without specifying the country, it's unlikely anyone would complain, because people take the language of the site (Japanese) to define its locale defaults. Slashdot has an FAQ which clarifies its U.S. point-of-view default, which will have to suffice.
(As a side note, I do think that the way most Americans now think of themselves as citizens of one nation rather than citizens of individual states IS an interesting sign of the times.)
Free ...?Book?...?Comic...Day?
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It really depends who you are.
For some, movies are pretty pale compaired to books ("The book is much better"). Same can be said for any entertainment medium.
Go to a book store and flip through some books and see what grabs you. It really depends what interests you.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Just my luck...I'll be in school taking the friekin SAT's all day. By the time I get out, the stores'll be sold out :(
Oh Well, maybe it's time i re-arrange my priorities.
You know, it's kinda funny, but the art in a lot of comics tells a story more than you could with pages of words. You have only a few pages to tell the issue's story, and each panel has to convey the most information possible. Lately I find myself watching a lot of movies, and picturing each shot as a panel in a comic book. Now that I've redorkulated, I'll just leave with the thought that image wise, comics are like movies visually concentrated, like orange juice.
Desperate fro Business Day 2005
Historically, this has been any day that a slashdot reader with puffy hair goes to work.
World Changing - News for Humans, Stuff about our planet
Is apparently local to my town and will be at ACME Comics in Longwood, FL tomorrow.
Mr Perez was a huge influence on my drawing style back when I was in highschool in the late 80's, and has always been one of my favorites.
I'll get to meet one of my heros tomorrow.
I can't wait.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
I hate how nowadays comics have become politically charged.
Give me the good ol' wholesome days of Captain America fighting 'Red' Skull anyday.
World Changing - News for Humans, Stuff about our planet
drawing/sketching links are there too.
Skip Hogarth!
Get your favorite P2P app fired up and look for "Figure Drawing For All It's Worth" by Andrew Loomis. Don't feel too guilty about downloading a PDF of this book, it is long out of print and used copies start at about $120 (if you can find them) - but it's one of the best ever written.
Oh, so the whole coupla bucks per comic and subscription thing is a communist/socialist/anti-capitalist way of doing business? Sweet!
1. Take up communism/socialism/anti-capitalism
2. Publish Comics
3. ????
4. Profit!!
Or is it "In Soviet Russia, Communist/Socialist/Anti-Capitalist Profits You!" ?
-truth
I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...
People actually like comics? Could someone tell me why? They can't have the epicness of movies, or the interactivity of games, or the story of books. Not meant as a troll, I just want to know why.
- while-growing-up-among-families-with-issues sort of story.
Both my best friend and my girlfriend, extraordinarially cultured people, are really into Sandman, by Neil Gaiman. The good ones apparently like to be called graphic novels, which I guess is a pretty good term. They're intense, long, involved, and very artistic. Or so I'm told.
Oh, and there's Blankets, a sweet and bitersweet story that said GF gave me. Very good, certainly on par with any book of the sort I've read. Though I'm not usually one for the touching-autobiographical-narrative-of-first-love
Anyway, from what I hear, this is an up-and-coming genre. But I'm not sure how much these are the comic books referred to in FCBD.
Any of y'all know?
xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
Catholics are stand-ins for generic Christians, because they have identifiable iconography, and Americans recognize them (vs. Orthodox). They also have a long history, which lets you add an element of antiquity to your fiction. Catholics are known as being superstitious, and so are make easy targets.
If reading a communist/socialist/anti-capitalist agenda makes you sick, imagine how I feel about the reactionary/fascist/oligarchical agenda that's being shoved in my face IN REAL LIFE.
He was "Red Skull" not "Red" Skull. That makes him sound like a goddam commie instead of a goddam Nazi. Anyway the beauty of him being a Nazi was that Cappy didn't have to pull any punches. To paraphrase, "I love Nazis. No matter what you do to them, you don't feel bad."
Freedom: "I won't!"
Sweet, drive 20 miles for a 3 cent comic. Im there.
Well, maybe if you were a little more geeky, it would be convenient since plenty of comic stores have shifted inventories to tabletop games and such. For instance, I'll be at my local comic shop tomorrow to deliver some magic beatings and I'll be sure to pick up a free comic.
Thanks for that heads up, I would have never known [/sarcasm]
The point was that he USED to fight for good against evil. Now it's changed to denigrating organized religion, especially catholic.
Prof. Farnsworth - "Oh a lesson in not changing history from Mr I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!"
I know the guy's name, it's just that the villian in this series is represented by a color that would routinely be used in association with anti-american sentiment - even beyond the Nazis. It was a very politically-charged comic.
In fact, Red Skull was a Communist in Captain America Comics #61 (1950). While the original Red Skull was in suspended animation the leader of a communist Algerian group posed as him and fought Captain America IV.
source: http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/rskul2.htm
World Changing - News for Humans, Stuff about our planet
Well, you can choose to avoid it by reading the NY Times and Washington Post and watching CNN or BBC.
Just like I have chosen to ignore socialist indoctrination by avoiding present day comics.
Prof. Farnsworth - "Oh a lesson in not changing history from Mr I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!"
And Cap'n America then joined wth Thor's Avengers to fight evil critters like Kang, Baron Zemo, Dr. Doom, etc...
Now Thor is making fun of Catholics and any form of organized religion. Well, in your world, I guess that is still fighting evil. So you don't have a problem with that.
Prof. Farnsworth - "Oh a lesson in not changing history from Mr I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!"
Heh, it's a good thing real life America never had to go up against Baron Zemo. He'd be a tough cookie let me tell you.
Before I have to look like an idiot attacking Kang's political views I'm going to quit saying 'Foo' to any comics - present day or otherwise.
World Changing - News for Humans, Stuff about our planet
What may be a bigger coincidence, is this guy selling his Batman #1, and the auction ends tonight, just before he'd have to give it away for free ;-)e gory=35751&item=6528451650&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cat
[yes I'm kidding]
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
karma whore. you must be trip master monkey
One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.
The epicness of movies is a really bad example. It costs the same to draw a comic that is a small scale story about relationships as it does to draw a comic with thousands of people fighting a huge battle with lasers and alien creatures. Comic books, unlike films are only bounded by their imaginations. There has never been a comic book where a scene has had to have been changed because someone said, "It would be too expensive to make that scene happen."
Go to the local library and they will probably have a copy of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. Read it and you will see why comic books are a unique medium that does things that no other medium can do. (Of course every medium has things no other medium can do, so that isn't to imply comics are better than any other medium.)
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
What? What does Thor wanting to be worhiped as a god have to do with communism/socialism/anti-capitalism????
As far as Thor wanting to be worshiped, well, he is Thor.
There are tons of comics that are less controversial than that. The whole DC line that is inspired by the Cartoon Network versions of the Teen Titans and the Justice League come to mind.
How many superheroes are millionaires for that matter? I find it hard to beleive that Batman, aka millionaire bruce Wayne, would ever be anti-capitalist or even communist or socialist since both of those are about the community while Batman is such a loner and individualist. Captian America is a communist/socialist/anticapitalist???? While I can think of some examples of comic books that do have that agenda, I can think of several more that don't.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
As someone who has been reading comics regularly since 1996, I can safely say that you are talking out of your ass.
Furthermore, I would advise you to seek professional help, as delusions of persecution are the major symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia.
Also, as I've read that entire Thor story (and loved all of it except for the rushed ending, which wasn't the writer's fault, as he was pulled off the book when he was halfway finished writing the issue that ended up becoming the final part), I can safely say that the entire point of the story was that Thor was going down a very slippery slope. First his acts were beneficial, then he started becoming more arrogant, and then he started completely losing it...
I support the Center for Consumer Freedom
Last year's Free Comic Book Day was better for Americans. It was on the Fourth of July. People discovered it as they were out at parades and the storefront was handing out free comics. This helped introduce people to comics who would otherwise not have considered it. This year? My guess is that few people will know about it unless they are comic book fans already. I nearly missed it and I loved comics as a kid. I only found out through slashdot.
Damnit Bile , that aint ethical
Ok, will do!
I'm talking Real Life. I choose to avoid that by staying indoors posting on Slashdot and playing computer games...or is it just because I can't get a job?
Well, I don't quite agree. Donald Duck comics as they were made by Carl Barks are superior to _anything_ in my view, even a Belgian classic like Tintin, Don Rosa's Duck stories are also worth reading, although they pale in comparison with Barks.
-Lasse
It's time for somebody to take a trip to Boneville.
http://www.boneville.com/
No their going to give out those crappy ones you got a few times as a kid, you know what I'm talking about? The ones where Spiderman gets sexually molested and has to talk about it with his parents? At first you thought, oh cool free comics! But then after page 3 you realized they were fake. I'm serious. I've got another one where Daredevil helps me remember not to leave the stove on when I cook my snack after school.
Thanks Stan Lee, through your characters we're forming a better America!
I got a rude awakening the other day. My daughter was looking at a rack of comic books. I immediately thought "Dead tree comics ... how quaint ..." Then I saw the price - $3.25. I was appalled. At that price point, I think they're doomed. I can purchase a full paperback novel for a buck more. And no, I'm not missing the point. I'm making a simple value comparison - of two products located on adjacent shelves in the same store.
A publisher still has to grapple with the limitations of production costs, formats, schedules and markets.
I can purchase a full paperback novel for a buck more.
Really? Most paperback's I've bought recently cost 6-7 dollars, depending on the size. And that's ignoring all the books I can only find in trade paperback versions now...
You must tell me where you shop. ^_^
But that isn't a scene. it is a format. That's the same as the differences between filming something on video, 35mm or IMAX. That doesn't have much to do with the actual pictures in the comic book. Even the content is not talked about in terms of expenses but in terms of sales. The costs to make a comic are always more or less the same as long as it is in the same format(and other formats are nearly always seen as gimmics rather than an artistic preference), unlike a film where there is an immense range in the production costs of films that are created in the same format. A 35mm film can cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions. A standard size, page count and paper quality comic will cost the same to produce. Of course, like films, the costs of advertising can vary and the cost per copy is reduced the more that are manufactured.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
I particularly enjoy a lot of vertigo-style stuff, and the 'edgier' traditional hero stuff, a la Batman, Animal Man. But I'd be happy to find something that was x-men or Fantastic 4-like, too.
Looks good for your age..