Don’t forget about your favorite national holiday tomorrow. No, it isn’t Flag Day (why do you like that so much?). Saturday May 1^st is Free Comic Book Day, a special time where comic book fans and fans of free stuff can come together to celebrate their shared interest, if only for one magical moment.

Each participating company publishes their own book(s) specifically for Free Comic Book Day, and while many are important new stories or samplers (such as last year’s Blackest Night #0), a few this year are reprints of popular books that are literally bribing you for your interest. For a full list of the comics and a handy participating store locator, check out <a href=”http://www.freecomicbookday.com”>www.freecomicbookday.com</a>. (Yes, there’s a Lady Gaga comic. No, the comic industry does not have any shame.) The event is great advertising for shops, so many will have sales and creators present to share in this most holy day.

Of course, Free Comic Book Day is just that; Free Comic Book DAY. So while you may be inclined to stroll into your local shop on May 12^th and expect a hand-out, don’t be surprised if the Jedi Knight behind the counter pushes up his glasses and snorts in amusement at your misguided antics. Despite the delicious misnomer “Free”, FCBD books actually cost retailers as much as $0.40 each (plus shipping), which is why they don’t order infinite copies, and thus usually impose strict limits on how much you can pilfer. In fact, you may just want to bag and board these little treasures. Who knows? Maybe next year your Sonic The Hedgehog FCBD book will be going for a sweet $0.75 on the back issue market. In this economy, that’s too much to ignore.

But I’m very impressed and excited by what I see here. This underscores a sentiment that everybody in comics has felt ever since rumors of an Apple tablet became tangible: that the device would finally make the experience of reading comics digitally into something that’s practical, enjoyable, and most importantly deliver the story in a way that feels like a comic book.

Read the full article here.  More details and video here.

Amazing Spider-Man #624

As we get deeper into the ‘Gauntlet’ event, it is now clear this storyline turned out to be a tad different than I original imagined.  Unlike a 6-issue Sinister-Six storyline, this methodical approach to redefining Spidey’s classic list of villains is starting to feel a bit overly decompressed.  Waid is one of the better Spider-man writers and does a great job of handling this very special “they took our jobs” issue where Parker gets a taste of that 10% unemployment.  While you may or may not care for the 2.0 versions of these classic arch-enemies (and for the most part I do not), it’s the handling of the everyman Parker that makes this book work and has really been the saving grace since the OMD reboot.  The throw-back art by Paul Azaceta is very stylish and works well in most areas.

Save your receipt:

Ultimate Comics New Ultimates #1

Talk about putting a silk hat on a pig, what a waste of incredibly rendered Frank Cho art.  This guy is one of my favorite artists working today and his ability to draw T & A is legendary.  So much so, in fact, it seems that Jeff “I used to be a good writer” Loeb is relegating his script to serving Cho fastballs right across the plate and letting him draw everything in his wheelhouse.  Unfortunately, other than that, there is nothing here of note.  Same old dysfunctional group we saw Loeb do in Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum with the same lazy soap opera plots and navel gazing narrative that is just not entertaining.  If Ultimatum was supposed to wipe the slate clean for a new start, it’s ironic that the very author of that series doesn’t seem to get that point.  It’s sad that Marvel has seen fit to give the worst writer in comics two of the best artists (Cho & Adams).  If this was just a pin-up book, I would rate it higher.

• Amazing Spider-Man #624 (Michael Lark Regular Cover), $2.99
• Amazing Spider-Man #624 (Pasqual Ferry ‘You’re Fired’ Variant Cover), Set by retailer
• Avengers X-Men Utopia TP, $34.99
• Black Widow 2010 Postcards, Set by retailer
• Breaking Into Comics The Marvel Way #1 (of 2), $3.99
• Cable #24, $3.99
• Criminal The Sinners #5, $3.50
• Dark X-Men #5 (of 5), $3.99
• Enders Game Command School HC (Premiere Edition), $24.99
• Fantastic Four #575 (Dale Eaglesham 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
• Ghost Riders Heavens On Fire TP, $16.99
• Halo Helljumper #1 (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund/Peter David Signed Edition), $24.99
• Hulk Let The Battle Begin #1, $3.99
• Iron Man 2 Spotlight #1, $3.99
• Lockjaw And Pet Avengers Unleashed #1 (of 4)(Ig Guara & Chris Sotomayor Regular Cover), $2.99
• Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers Unleashed #1 (of 4)(Roger Langridge Variant Cover), Set by retailer
• Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #21 (Final Issue), $2.99
• Mighty Avengers Secret Invasion HC, $29.99
• Mystic Hands Of Dr Strange #1 (Black & White), $3.99
• Powers #3, $3.95
• Prelude To Deadpool Corps #2 (of 5), $2.99
• PunisherMAX #5, $3.99
• Runaways Parental Guidance HC (Premiere Edition), $19.99
• Spectacular Spider-Girl Who Killed Gwen Reilly TP, $24.99
• Spider-girl Volume 12 The Games Villains Play Digest TP, $14.99
• Super Hero Squad #3, $2.99
• Super Hero Squad Get Yer Hero On Digest TP (Book Market ‘Tales Of Suspense 39′ Cover), $9.99
• Super Hero Squad Get Yer Hero On Digest TP (Direct Market Canadian ‘Giant-Size X-Men 1′ Variant Cover), $9.99
• S.W.O.R.D. #5, $2.99
• Twelve Spearhead #1, $3.99
• Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #8, $3.99
• Ultimate Comics X #1 (Art Adams 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
• Vengeance Of The Moon Knight Must Have (issues 1-3), $4.99
• Web Of Spider-Man #6 (The Gauntlet Tie-In), $3.99
• Wolverine Dark Wolverine Volume 2 My Hero HC (Premiere Edition), $19.99
• Wolverine Mr X #1, $3.99
• Wolverine Weapon X Volume 2 Insane In The Brain HC (Premiere Edition), $24.99
• Wonderful Wizard Of Oz #1 (Marvels Greatest Comics), $1.00
• X-Men Forever #19, $3.99
• X-Men Pixie Strikes Back #2 (of 4), $3.99

Rob’s Picks

Fell: Feral City, Volume 1

Yeah, I already have this, but you need to get it right now. It’s Ben Templesmith AND fooking Warren Ellis, so you know it’s good. It’s better than good. It’s freaking must-own classic comic book goodness. The  melancholy of the colors and Templesmith’s crazy artistic sensibility mesh ever so perfectly with Warren Ellis’ traditional poignant insanity. If you don’t own this, grab it NOW before it goes out of print AGAIN.

Demo #2

I’m so enamored by the concept of this book – Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan get to revisit their zine-like black and white roots and have complete creative control over this book, including not allowing ads in it. The story in #1 was well told, paced well, and felt like a slice of life gone mysteriously supernatural. You’re doing yourself a disservice by not picking this one up on Wednesday.

Mike’s Picks

Invincible Iron Man #24

Matt Fraction is definitely one of the most talented writers working today, and he deserved the Eisner nod he got on his IIM relaunch (the 3rd in 15 years).  This is the last book before the new era of Tony Stark begins.  Fraction created a clever and entertaining ‘end of life’ storyline that comes to a close here, before we get the new suit, back to basics, no more ‘Extremis’, ‘Age of Heroes’ shellhead.  The question is, will he have redeemed himself after Civil War and World War Hulk?

The Boys #40

I’ve been reading this since it started, and after Garth Ennis got done ‘taking the piss’ on all the main DC and Marvel characters, and even a certain famous creator, he started to turn the book into a narrative about the internal struggle of shadow governments and how they utilize powered up d-bags.  While the quality of his satire has been hit and miss, lately the book has been pretty on target, especially coming off the ’started strong and fizzled at the end’ spin-off “Herogasm”.  Finishing up the origins (if they are to be believed) of the Boys (and one Girl), a new arc has begun, this time looking to poke some fun at the Legion of Super Heroes.

Tyler’s Picks

Green Hornet #1

So a million years ago, our favorite fatty Southwest flier was hired to develop the Green Hornet screenplay for Hollywood. Cut to this week: Dynamite Entertainment has blown the dust off this puppy and is prepping 2 other A-list titles (Matt Wagner’s Year One and Brett Matthew’s The Green Hornet Strikes!) for release this spring. Smith’s script has been speculated on for years so hopefully the wait for a female Kato and revamped origin is worth the wait.  Here’s to hoping Smith’s writing is as taut as the the days on Daredevil and Green Arrow and not as indulgent as the recent run on Batman. With Seth Rogen’s GH movie approaching fast, we’ll soon know who deserved the paycheck.

Mass Effect Redemption #3

Okay, I admit. I have played waaaay too much of this game trying to get all the possible dialogue trees out of the deep soil of this Game of the Year contender. Mac Walters did a fine job on the RPG crafting characters that rival Farscape in breadth and this filler story is no exception. I would talk about it more, but I actually have to pick up the 3rd printing of Issue 1 and 2nd printing of #2 because its been frakking sold out since the dawn of the Reapers. Word is Liara collects Shepard’s remains, which turns me on because my Lesbo Cmmdr. Shepard and Liara got it on hardcore in the firs t game. Space sex FTW!

First Wave #1

The DC pulp universe is finally unveiled. Seems 2010 is the Year of Noir, with Marvel schucking a few similar titles (Spidey, etc.) but its the Doc Savage and Batman books that are looking gritty and nifty. With an alternate DCU sans supermen, mere mortals Doc Savage, Batman and the Spirit fight for the city’s allegiances and likely suffer much angony at the expense of Brian Azarello’s brilliant writing. It doesn’t hurt that Rags Morales is doing the scribbles for this one either. Here’s to hoping DC can launch a new A-list book that doesn’t end up lining the bird cages (Ahem…”Trinity?”)

So here is the deal.  Take yourself to 224 E. Palace Avenue in Santa Fe between 2PM – 7PM Friday, or 9AM – 4PM on Saturday.  Bring a pen and a photo of you along.  The casting crew is looking for folks 18 and over.

No, it is not necessary to wear tights while fling a hammer around and screaming “By the power of Asgard!”  Seriously, you’ll probably never get the part, but we want video if you do!