As promised, I'm doubling up on reads this week to make up for the one I skipped previously. This one has something to do with a special day coming up this weekend. THE THEME: The first Saturday of May is coming up, which means another year of Free Comic Book Day. After the pandemic swooped in to ruin the in-person event in this country for everybody, it finally comes back this year (though it'll happen next week instead), so what better way to celebrate the grand return than by reading five FCBD titles from years past? Like before, I made the effort to pick out a set of five that's diverse in both publishers of origin and genre/subject matter. I also tried not to lean too heavily on recent FCBD releases and tried to find stuff I haven't read from many years ago. THE COMICS: ENTER THE HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER (FCBD 2021) Publisher: BOOM Studios Writer: James Tynion IV Artist: Werther Dell'edera The House of Slaughter is a secret organization of monster hunters with considerable resources dedicated to keeping the existence of monsters secret. The main character here is Erica Slaughter, a young woman who risks incurring the wrath of the House as she defies orders to take on monsters her way. I was hooked on the concept from the start and I might end up reading more of this series. THE INTREPID ESCAPEGOAT: THE PRINCESS AND THE PYRAMID (FCBD 2011) Publisher: Th3rd World Studios Writer: Brian Smith Artist: Brian Smith In this comic, we follow the adventures of Thomas Fleet, a skilled escape artist who finds himself in an Indiana Jones-style adventure in Egypt. One encounter with a few scoundrels later, things get weird and a literal Egyptian goddess gets involved. This seems like a fun all-ages series. RISE OF THE MAGI (FCBD 2014) Publisher: Image Comics (Top Cow Productions) Writer: Marc Silvestri Artist: Sumeyye Kesgin Magic is alive and well in this world, and Asa, a young man tired of just being a carpet repair boy, wants to experience that part of the world. With the help of a friend, he's able to get a taste of the adventure that he yearns for, but he ends up stumbling into a plot that may be more than what he bargained for. I found their take on magic (specifically its existence) quite interesting. SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK (FCBD 2021) Publisher: Ablaze Publishing Writers: Leiji Matsumoto, Jerome Alquie Artist: Jerome Alquie The titular space pirate is none other than the captain of the Arcadia, a crew of pirates who rebelled against the apathetic humans and are the only ones fighting against the Mazon, an invading alien force looking to colonize Earth. This preview sets up the impending invasion and gives a few characters some backstory. I learned that this was originally a manga, so if I can secure a copy, I might read that first. SPIDER-MAN/VENOM (FCBD 2020) Publisher: Marvel Writers: Jed MacKay, Donny Cates Artists: Patrick Gleason, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer The Spider-Man/Venom FCBD title has become a bit of a tradition over the past few years, previewing the upcoming story arcs of the year for the respective characters. Here, we get Spider-Man and Black Cat teaming up again, while in Venom, we get a prelude to King in Black as Eddie faces off against an unknown assassin. As I've said before, the best part of FCBD is checking out comics I don't know about, which is why I strive to make these editions of Five Comics as varied as possible. I'm looking forward to this year's selection of free comics (and attending the in-person event after four years!), and if you're looking to participate, I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and pick something that you haven't heard of yet. PANEL(s) OF THE WEEK: - end -
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