A Very Early Look At Free Comic Book Day 2018
It doesn’t actually happen for five months, but the first press release hyping Free Comic Book Day 2018 is already out, and it reveals twelve titles that will be available free of charge at any comic book shop this May. This list will grow as we get closer to that date, and smaller publishers finalize their plans. The big guys already know what they’re doing, though….
Before we get into it, we should remind you Free Comic Book Day isn’t necessarily free. The comic book shops that participate in the program must pay the regular stock price for all the comics they’re handing out, so when you go, remember to browse their shelves and purchase something.
MARVEL COMICS: AVENGERS & CAPTAIN AMERICA
Don’t miss this year’s Free Comic Book Day titles from Marvel, each featuring two 10-page stories that set the stage for upcoming game-changers in the Marvel Universe. Get ready as Heroes Assemble in the Marvel Universe! Please check back in the February issue of PREVIEWS, and at freecomicbookday.com for future updates!
Rating: TEEN
32pgs, FC FREE!
“Game-changers” in the sense that the game will be changed for about two months before the next Game Changer upends everything again.
IDW PUBLISHING: TRANSFORMERS: UNICRON: THE DARKEST HOUR #0
(W) John Barber (A) Alex Milne (CA) Sara Pitre-Durocher
Not a whimper, nor a bang-the end comes with a squall of entropy shrieking from the ravenous maw of death itself. The message is clear: Unicron has arrived. The Transformers lock into a desperate bid to save Rom’s homeworld from the world-killer — but why has Unicron chosen this world on his path to Cybertron… and Earth? The biggest story in the history of Transformers starts now: for Unicron’s arrival can mean nothing less than the end of a universe.
Rating: TEEN
32pgs, FC FREE!
Image is trying something bold with this next one….
IMAGE COMICS: BARRIER #1
(W) Brian K. Vaughan (A/CA) Marcos Martin
From the Eisner Award-winning team behind The Private Eye, Barrier is an acclaimed five-part miniseries that finally comes to print exclusively from Image Comics. This massive, 53-page first issue is available for free on Free Comic Book Day, with the next four issues being released weekly throughout the rest of May! Printed in its original “landscape” format (side-stapled for convenient shelving!), there are no plans for these print issues to ever be collected, so the only way to own your own copies of this groundbreaking story is by supporting your friendly neighborhood comic shop!
Rating: MATURE
32pgs, FC FREE!
Time will tell if that pays off.
BOOM! STUDIOS: MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS SPECIAL
(W) Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (A) Diego Galindo (CA) Jamal Campbell
Featuring an all-new, original Power Rangers story exclusive to this Free Comic Book Day issue that ties into the “Power Rangers: Shattered Grid” storyline in the pages of BOOM! Studios’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers comic series! Zordon turns to the Morphin Masters for help in the Power Rangers’ darkest hour as they battle Lord Drakkon — an evil version of Tommy, the Green Ranger, from an alternate reality — as he threatens every Ranger in all of existence.
Rating: TEEN
32pgs, FC FREE!
I was never a Power Rangers kid but I’m told the comic book version is significantly less campy and ridiculous than the show was.
ONI PRESS: INVADER ZIM: FLOOPSY BLOOPS SHMOOPSY
(W) Jhonen Vasquez (A) Warren Wucinich, Fred Stresing
(CA) Aaron Alexovich
Remember that funny green alien you used to watch on TV? No, not that one. No, no, the other green alien. Okay, it’s ZIM, alright? Invader ZIM! Well, ZIM sometimes watches TV too! And sometimes it’s bad TV. Very, very bad TV. So now, you can watch ZIM watching a very bad show called Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy! All 385 seasons! 24/7! Never stopping! Story from Invader Zim #20. Reprint.
Rating: ALL-AGES
32pgs, FC FREE!
I’m there for this one, based on the name alone. Not many TV-based books successfully transfer the feel of the show to print, but Oni’s Zim comic is one of the exceptions. It’s awesome.
:01 FIRST SECOND: COMICS FRIENDS FOREVER
(A) Vera Brosgol & Various (CA) Vera Brosgol
Comics friends forever! First Second presents an amazing Free Comic Book Day anthology that celebrates kids comics, girl power, and the amazing work of creators Vera Brosgol, Hope Larson, Charise Mericle Harper, Ben Hatke, and Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham. Don’t miss out on this comic filled with the power of friendship that’s great for every kid reader in your store.
Rating: ALL-AGES
40pgs, FC FREE!
The first thing I do when I see collections like this is to look for anybody I might have met in person at a comic-con Artist’s Alley. Nobody rings a bell this time.
JOE BOOKS: DISNEY PRINCESS: ARIEL SPOTLIGHT
(W) Paul Benjamin & Various
(A) Amy Mebberson & Various (CA) Amy Mebberson
The FCBD edition of Joe Books’s best-selling Disney Princess comic puts the spotlight on Ariel for the very first time! Collecting both new and fan-favorite strips, this exclusive comic book will contain giggles aplenty as everyone’s favorite mermaid seeks out sunken treasure, tries to figure out human gadgets and gizmos, and embarks on new adventures with Flounder and Sebastian. Featuring FCBD exclusive cover artwork drawn by Disney Princess artist Amy Mebberson.
Rating: ALL-AGES
32pgs, FC FREE!
Speaking of comic cons, I got to meet Mebberson in the last one I went to. Turns out she’s Australian.
TITAN COMICS: DOCTOR WHO #0
(W/A) Top Secret (CA) Photo
The all-new Doctor Who starts here! Don’t miss out on Titan’s colossal plans for 2018. Everything begins in this amazing #0 issue! Featuring the first chapter in the new Tenth and Eleventh Doctor sagas, by new creative teams too electrifying to spoil here, plus tantalizing glimpses from across the Doctor Who comics universe, including your first look at the Thirteenth Doctor in comics! Perfect for new readers and long-term fans alike, this is the ultimate jumping on point!
Rating: ALL-AGES
32pgs, FC FREE!
You have to give Titan props for commitment, and juggling several separate Who books featuring at least five separate Doctors on the market at once.
ARCHIE COMICS: RIVERDALE #6
(W) Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa & Various (A) Joe Eisma (CA) Photo
Set in the same universe as the hit CW series, this reprint issue of Riverdale #6 gives us a peek into all the secrets Pop Tate overhears in his day-to-day business, told through four vignettes in four different booths! Reprint.
Rating: TEEN
32pgs, FC FREE!
Remember when Archie was for kids? Me neither….
DARK HORSE COMICS: OVERWATCH/BLACK HAMMER
(W) Andrew Robinson & Various (A) Kate Niemczyk, Wilfredo Torres (CA) Kate Niemczyk
Two different worlds, two compelling tales! In Overwatch, agent Zarya is sent to eliminate an elusive hacker, and she is at her wit’s end. She reluctantly teams up — and butts heads — with an omnic hacker. As they hone in on their target, Zarya realizes that she will have to reassess her worldview about omnics. Then, in the world of Black Hammer, but a thousand years in the future, a collection of teenage superheroes, inspired by the legendary heroes of Black Hammer Farm, are determined to solve the riddle of what happened to those last great heroes of the twentieth century.
Rating: TEEN
32pgs, FC FREE!
You’d have to live in a barn to have not heard of Overwatch these days, but I know nothing of Black Hammer. Obviously one is promoting the other.
VIZ MEDIA: POKÉMON: SUN AND MOON / POKÉMON: HORIZON
(W) Tenya Yabuno, Hidenori Kusaka (A/CA) Satoshi Yamamoto
Pokémon Horizon: Akira’s summer vacation in the Alola region heats up when he befriends a Rockruff with a mysterious gemstone. Together, Akira hopes they can achieve his dream of becoming a Pokémon Trainer and learning the amazing Z-move. But first, Akira needs to pass a test to earn a Trainer Passport. This becomes even more difficult when Rockruff gets kidnapped! Pokémon Sun & Moon: Sun dreams of money. Moon dreams of scientific discoveries. When their paths cross with Team Skull, both their plans go awry!
Rating: ALL-AGES
32pgs, B&W FREE!
I have to wonder what an American-produced Pokemon comic would be like. In nearly twenty years of franchise history nobody has done one. Unless you count that terrible newspaper comic strip from around 1999.
DC ENTERTAINMENT: TOP SECRET GOLD BOOK
A special, top secret project too big to announce! Check back in with the February issue of PREVIEWS and at freecomicbookday.com for future updates!
Rating: TEEN
32pgs, FC FREE!
Finally DC provides this big load of nothing. But I’m already predicting Harley Quinn is on the cover.