On The Shelf: Some old friends return, and part 1 of Free Comic Book Day '23

 Before we dive into this year's Free Comic Book Day haul, let's check some recent releases.

Several years ago, when Steve Rogers gave up the role of Captain America in a convoluted plotline, he'd suit up as simply The Captain for a few months before reclaiming the red, white, & blue.

Comics historian Mark Waid thought it'd be a good idea, since DC's unable to actually use Captain Marvel, to rechristen Billy Batson's super-powered adult self as The Captain.

This is one of the changes in the first issue of an all-new Shazam! series, which launched last week. This new series is spun from the recent Lazarus Planet event, but things are happening that no one would've seen coming beforehand.

For example, the seven entities that make up the name Shazam, including the Biblical king-prophet Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, & Mercury, referred to as "The Elders" on the live-action Shazam! series nearly 50 years ago, are not happy with the way Billy is comporting himself as The Captain, and decide to do something about it, and if it makes The Captain look bad, so be it.

Ugh. And there's a mini-series co-starring Wonder Woman that's also on the way. I'd rather see The Captain vs. classic enemies like Dr. Sivana, Mr. Mind, and Ibac, not get in the crosshairs of the gods of Greek myth.

Rating: C-.

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Green Arrow is back, too, in a 6-issue miniseries by the increasingly busy Joshua Williamson, illustrated by Sean Izaakse, a relative newcomer that I'm not familiar with.

Long story short, Oliver Queen's extended family reunites, now including Roy Harper's daughter, Lian (with Cheshire), but it doesn't last, as Lian joins Ollie in another dimension that won't let them go home after a happy reunion with Roy. Lian, as Cheshire Cat, has appeared in the pages of Catwoman of late. There are other surprises, like villains we haven't seen in years. Sci-fi elements aside, this looks more like my bag.

Rating: A-.

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55 years ago, Adam Warlock, then known as Him, debuted in the pages of Fantastic Four. Since then, Roy Thomas, Jim Starlin, and others have refined the character into what he is today. However, he is not as unique as you think.

Warlock: Rebirth marks the return of Adam, along with Pip the troll, and sexy Gamora (from Guardians of The Galaxy), as well as Eve Warlock, formerly known as Her, who debuted in Marvel 2-in-1 (1st series), reimagined as a prospective replacement for Adam. Well, we'll see about that. A pair of guys named Ron---Marz & Lim----are the geniuses behind this one, but one wonders if Starlin ever envisioned something like this.

Rating: A-.

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While Marvel let another license for Conan The Barbarian lapse, they reacquired the rights to Planet of The Apes as part of the new 20th Century Studios imprint. David F. Walker's tale is one of a relationship between apes & humans that, at first, parallels the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-3 because of misplaced blame, paranoia, and hostility, except, in Walker's story the simian flu epidemic is still raging, and that's bad news.

Rating: A.

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May is Asian American-Pacific Islander Heritage Month. To mark the occasion, DC is launching a trio of miniseries, starting with Spirit World, out this week. This series, along with City Boy & The Vigil, also spin out of Lazarus Planet. Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) co-stars with Xanthe, one of the new faces of DC, and so does John Constantine, because of the supernatural themes.

The Vigil is a new superhuman team which, continuing with the ties to the Bat-franchise, meets Red Hood while trying to shut down a smuggling operation. In turn, City Boy, Greg Pak's latest creation, meets Nightwing, and, ultimately will cross paths with the Batman. Interesting stuff. These might be trade-waiters.

This We Are Legends special breaks down thus:

Spirit World: B.

The Vigil: A-.

City Boy: B-.

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Now, let's move on to Free Comic Book Day, and take a look at the first batch of freebies.

As noted, Conan The Barbarian moves to Titan Comics, starting in July. Marvel veteran Jim Zub, who'd worked on the franchise during its last run at Marvel, follows the Cimmerian to Titan. The publisher pays homage to Marvel by assigning nicknames to the creative staff, including editor "Merciless" Matt Murray. Stan Lee would be proud. Conan marked his 90th anniversary last year, and Zub starts things off with a story that has no speech balloons. It's all narrative dialogue, as Conan doesn't talk at all. That'll change in the 1st issue, you can bank on it.

Rating: A-.

Remember Sweet Valley High, when Francine Pascal's series of youth novels was adapted by Haim Saban for syndication in the 90's? Welp, Random House's new comics imprint is serving up Sweet Valley Twins, set in middle school, and, as such, intended for young ladies at that level. Sisters Elizabeth & Jessica have to prepare for a ballet recital, which disrupts Jessica's weekend plans. This is a preview of the graphic novel, Teacher's Pet.

Next thing ya know, Random House will start publishing comics based on the works of Dr. Seuss, their most famous licensee. Maybe.

Rating: B.

Archie Comics' horror line laid another egg with The Cursed Library, an anthology volume starring Jinx Holliday, formerly known as L'il Jinx, but now a teenager. The Cursed Library collects material from 3 recent 1-offs, Betty: The Final Girl, The Cult of That Wilkin Boy, & Pop's Chock'lit Shop of Horrors. I'd read the last two online on a free comics site, and was unimpressed. Here we go:

"Rosemary's Babysitter" (from Betty: The Final Girl): The title of the 1-shot implies a send-up of slasher movies, done with everyone's favorite girl next door. Mical Ostow comes up with a weird twist ending that no one sees coming, kind of like those DC or Marvel mystery shorts from back in the day. This might've been the best of the lot. B.

"Night Shift" (from Pop's Chock'lit Shop of Horrors): Kevin Keller is a new employee at Pop's, but this ain't the Pop's your parents remember, no sir. Too short, and too wack for words. D.

The Cult of That Wilkin Boy preview: This 1-shot was already out in time for FCBD. Cullen "Hot Cross" Bunn reimagines Bingo Wilkin as a successful rocker who made a deal with the devil, and he wants out of it. No one took Bingo seriously when he had his own book from the 60's to around 1982-3, or when he was retconned as being Jughead's cousin. I think you know where Bunn is going with Bingo's confrontation with a rival....! B-.

The Cursed Library overall gets a B-.

The video game Animal Crossing has been adapted into a manga for Viz Comics, with a backup feature starring 80's video game icon Kirby. For grade schoolers.

Rating: B.

One of DC's cornerstone events of their new Dawn of DC initiative is Knight Terrors, in which heroes & villains alike are pulled into their worst imaginable nightmares. Joshua Williamson is the mastermind behind this, with Chris Bachalo among the artists. I liked the idea of Damian Wayne trying to fight his way out, but in vain. I'm not digging the concept otherwise.

Rating: B--.

What happens when the X-Men & Avengers unite on a team? In Uncanny Avengers, readers are meant to get the best of both, coming out of this year's Hellfire Gala event. Cyclops took on the identity of Captain Krakoa after the original X-Man had seemingly perished, but now someone else is using the Captain Krakoa guise for more sinister purposes. This and Iron Man-inspired giant robots? No sale.

Rating: B--.

A preview of Jonathan Hickman's Gods, starring Dr. Strange, is the backup feature. Meh. B.

The annual Spider-Man/Venom FCBD special is no different from any past year. Spidey is pulled into a trap set by Kraven the Hunter and Dr. Octopus. Nothing new. Venom's new challenge is a bizarre symbiote introduced in 1940, of all places. Like, seriously? Nothing says overexposed like this. C.

The final entry is a preview of Ultimate Invasion, from Hickman & Bryan Hitch. Too bad they didn't devote enough space to this. B.

If you recall Star Trek: The Next Generation, you were introduced to Worf's son, Alexander. In 2023, Alexander now sees his father as some sort of traitor, as the Klingons are back to being a antagonistic warrior race. IDW is producing a new Trek miniseries, Day of Blood, which reignites the war between the Klingons and the Federation. Christopher Cantwell, Jackson Lanzing, & Colin Kelly, who are all working on other projects for Marvel, collaborate on this one. Day of Blood arrives in July. 

Rating: A.

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There's more stuff, coming, of course, after a haul of 2nd day remainders today. Back with more next time.