Free Comic Book Day provided me with a lot of stuff to check out yesterday, so I’m taking a break from our regular slate of reviews to take a look at yesterday’s offerings.
I stopped in to Silver Age Comics at the Ditmars N/W station in Astoria this year and managed to grab 10 books – one of the bigger hauls I’ve managed in the last few years. Although, I didn’t get everything I was hoping for, I think what I did get was a pretty good group of books, with a little something for all of my sensibilities.
On my way home from work last night, I managed to read three of the books I picked up yesterday, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest over the next few days.
Rick and Morty — People at work keep telling me to watch this animated series on Adult Swim, so I made sure to grab this FCBD issue to get a taste of what it’s all about. When the book opens with Rick berating his son-in-law and taking Morty on an adventure to become billionaires on the intergalactic stock market, I was pretty much hooked. The dark humor had me astonished and in stitches all at the same time. And the interactions between the grandfather and grandson were hysterical. The story takes a bunch of typical cartoon tropes and turns them on their head.
I am definitely going to need to start watching the show – which I noticed today was available on Hulu Plus
The issue was published by Oni Press to promote its Rick and Morty comic book, and it features a back-up preview of the upcoming miniseries, Rick and Morty – Pocket Like You Stole It, which is in stores in July.
Keyser Soze: Scorched Earth — The mysterious mastermind behind the 1995 cult classic The Usual Suspects, one of my favorite movies, is getting a comic book miniseries from Red 5 Comics later this month, and this Free Comic Book Day issue was meant to whet people’s appetites. The miniseries will focus on Keyser Soze’s early years, and the FCBD issue opens on the streets of New York City in 1986. A tussle breaks out between some gangbangers and a man in a trench coat and fedora interrupts the fun.
Things get a little… explosive… from there, and the NYPD has to play clean-up, which means we get a glimpse of rookie cop Dean Keaton, one of the principles of the movie.
I was a little hyped for a miniseries based on The Usual Suspects, but I’m not sure how jazzed I am for it after this issue. And I know it’s not supposed to work that way. But I’ll likely still get the first issue when it comes out May 24.
The second half of the book is The Rift, a story “presented by Academy Award Winner Jeremy Renner,” about a fighter pilot who comes forward into our present and confusion ensues. The snippet in the FCBD tale seemed a bit trite, honestly, and nothing groundbreaking, but it may appeal to some.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — This may have been the most effective promotional tool I read last night, as the issue catches readers up on what’s been happening in the IDW ongoing book and sets up a huge story arc with the Turtles realizing they need to head back to Dimension X to make sure Krang doesn’t get an acquittal for his crimes.
I assume there’s more action in a Dimension X trial than there is on this planet, right?
The FCBD issue provides flashbacks and exposition in-between some training montages and the introduction of a new bad guy, who is now hunting down the witnesses who will be testifying against Krang. They should try having Benson and Finn take on a multi-dimensional assassin on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. It might shake things up a bit.
Despite the odd premise it’s setting up – Turtle Trial! – the issue was really fun. The wackiness ensues with TMNT 73.
More to Read
I still have seven books to go through, though I did pick up some more all-ages books than I normally would with the hopes that I could read them to my young daughter. So I’m more likely to read DC SuperHero Girls, Disney’s Descendants from TokyoPop and Miraculous from Action Lab in my living room than I am on the subway.
But I’ll be bringing I Hate Image, IDW’s Star Trek: The Next Generation Broken Mirror and two books from Marvel with me today for a read.