 |
|
|
|
|
|
KIDS REVIEWS |
 |
|
15 titles available for kids
of all ages this year! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Saturday May 2nd, 2009 is Free Comic Book Day this year
and we're giving away the over 40 titles listed in these pages (see the links
above) at the store that weekend. That's a lot of
titles and as always some are going to be of more interest to you than others.
So take a look at the ALL AGES, TEENS AND UP and REFERENCE offerings for this
year and begin to make your plans for the 2nd Happiest day of the Year" |
 |
|
|
|
2009 FCBD FEATURED REVIEW! |
|
|
 |
WOLVERINE ORIGIN OF AN X-MAN
|
|
Writer:
Fred Van Lente,
Artist:
Gurihiru,
|
|
Review By:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans &
"Sweet" Dan Sweet
|
|
Publisher:
Marvel Comics,
Available On:
050209 |
|
|
MARVEL'S SYNOPSIS:
|
|
Before the X-Men, before his battle with the Hulk and Wendigo, the man
cipher-coded "Weapon X" was the lone super-agent for the Canadian government's
top-secret Department H program. The military brass don't trust a loose cannon
who can't even remember his past, but when a commando unit is lost in small town
completely taken over by an unstoppable cybernetic plague, Logan finally has a
chance to prove himself... but only if he survives "Operation: Wolverine"! |
|
SWEET'S REVIEW:
|
Watch out everyone, there’s a little, hairy,
Canadian on the loose this summer and if you get in his way ‘SNIKT’ may very
well be the last sound you hear before the screaming starts. Marvel’s big movie
this year is “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, so along with the slew of Wolvie-related
titles being released through out the month of May, everyone over at the ‘house
of ideas’ made sure Free Comic Book Day wasn’t excluded. In fact, seeing as how
the movie debuts barely 24 hours before Alternate Reality opens Saturday, May 2,
it’s safe to assume they hope everyone runs from the theater to the LCS and
scoops up the first of what could potentially become many titles.
This issue’s story is just another in a long line of what’s become an odd trend
lately in comics, an origin ret-con. The story is set days before Wolverine’s
initial appearance in “The Incredible Hulk” #181. In it, Wolverine is dispatched
on a mission for Department H, on a trial run of what will inevitably develop
into the Weapon X program. He’s sent to a town to rescue a Canadian commando
unit (who knew the sneaky dudes even had a military?!) after they were taken
hostage by an ‘otherworldly’ invader. Wolverine storms into the small town ripe
for some scrappin’ and uncovers a mystery concerning the identity of his
attackers.
Written well (for an all ages book, if it was regular Marvel U it wouldn’t fly)
by Fred Van Lente, who is quickly proving himself as a go-to guy for Marvel.
Gurihiru illustrated the short Power Pack mini not too long ago, and I have to
say I really enjoyed the art in this comic. I’m a big fan of the ‘animated’
style of drawing when it’s done right, and Gurihiru delivers on every level,
making it almost feel like I was watching a Wolverine cartoon as opposed to
reading about his adventures in a book. |
|
BO'S REVIEW:
|
|
Just in time for the movie one of Marvel’s offerings
tells of an adventure of Wolverine’s in the same style used in Marvel’s kid
books. The snappy story is from Incredible Hercules’ Fred Van Lente and artist
Gurihiru. It takes place right before Logan’s first appearance in Incredible
Hulk. This is basically for kids and will keep their interest while also showing
them a series of ads for Marvel books that can be used as entry points to the
Marvel Universe and snacks that your kids will be bugging you about when you go
to the store.
|
|
|
|
|
|
WHAT IS FREE COMICBOOK DAY?
|
Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is a single day - the first Saturday
in May - when participating comic book shops across North America and around the
world give away specially printed copies of comic books absolutely FREE to
anyone who comes into their stores. Brainstormed by retailer Joe Field of Flying
Colors Comics in Concord CA in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue
of Comics & Games Retailer magazine, it was started in 2002 and is coordinated
by the industry's single large distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors.
Originally Free Comic Book Day was scheduled on the first Saturday of May in
order to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the release of a major
theatrical film adaptation of a well known superhero property. The idea was to
try and take advantage of the film's heavy promotion and related press about the
comic book medium. Linking the event with movies was somewhat controversial, as
some believe that it implied the comic book medium was simply a promotional arm
of the film industry. However, successful FCBD events in 2005 and 2006 did not
have specific date tie-ins to comics-related movie openings, proving that the
event is more than capable of standing on its own, while the 2004 event was
linked with the July opening of the second Spider-Man movie and was deemed less
successful for falling outside of the regular school year.
Alternate Reality has been an enthusiastic participant in every FCBD since the
first one on May 4th, 2002 and this year will be no exception. So far we have given
away well over 10,000 free comics to happy comicbook fans and we are
anticipating giving away another 1000+ books this year as well. In addition to
the FCBD free comic offerings we will also be celebrating with our second Wednesday thru Saturday
Sale-A-Rama event of the calendar year (Winter Wonderland Sale, Store
Anniversary Sale and the Gobbledy Gooker Sale being the other three). Not only
will there be storewide savings during each of the 4 days of our FCBD Sale-A-Rama but during FCBD
itself you can usually find in house artists and other surprises.
So don’t miss Free Comicbook Day at Alternate Reality this year, we like to
think it’s the “2nd Happiest Day of the Year!” (right after Christmas). |
|
|
|
|
|
FCBD 2009 REVIEW ARCHIVE |
|
|
|
|
|
All Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2009 by their respective owners. No rights given or implied by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2009 Alternate Reality, Inc.
|
|
|
|
OTHER REVIEWS...
|
|
RASSLIN' REVIEW
|
|
 |
|
Pay Per views and House Shows, we layeth the Smaketh-Down on both!
|
|
|
|
KIDS REVIEWS |
|
 |
|
Dozen's of kid friendly titles arrive every week and we review the ones that stand out.
|
|
|
|
AT THE MOVIES
|
|
 |
|
Every week we give you our opinion on what's playing at the cinema.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
