Friday, May 31, 2024

On The Shelf: Free Comic Book Day 2024, conclusion

 One last stack of Free Comic Book Day entries to review. Your actual mileage may vary, of course.


Disney's Darkwing Duck isn't the only superhero duck.

Arcana Studios' Ultraduck mines the same comedy-adventure vein, but with more of an emphasis on the latter. Ultraduck isn't as polished as he would like everyone to believe, but he's trying. Meanwhile, he may just have some competition waiting for him if/when he ever returns home. The artwork by Omar Lozano & Bere Muniz complements Edgar Delgado's script beautifully. I think this series comes out in graphic novels only.

Rating: A.

Gemstone Publishing is the current home of the Overstreet Comics Price Guide, and is back to publishing comics, something they hadn't done since holding the license for Disney in the 90's for a hot minute.

Romeo vs. Juliet, a Kill Shakespeare Adventure brings one of The Bard's most famous tales into the 21st century, but we are so not digging the concept.

Rating: C.

Boom! Studios' 10th anniversary Boom Box compilation is a legitimate mixed bag. Leading off is a Lumberjanes short making good use of manga artwork in an American book, albeit a preview of a pending trade. We've been curious about Zawa & The Belly of The Beast, which has some appeal, but, like the Lumberjanes entry, is too short. Not really sold on The Midas Flesh or Giant Days.

Rating: B.

Also from Boom! is The Worlds of James Tynion IV, showcasing three series he's writing for the publisher, most especially Something is Killing The Children, a dark, disturbing series geared for high schoolers.Memetic and The Woods follow the same pattern. 

Rating: B.

American Mythology serves up Cursedverse, which represents their original works as opposed to their licensed titles (i.e. The Three Stooges). You get to meet characters like the Night Terror, the Cemetorian, Witch Hammer, and Bombshell & TommTomm. For people who are into the Tynionverse at Boom!, but with better artwork.

Rating: A-.

Marvel's Voices takes readers on a world tour previewing their Community 1-shot, featuring Ghost Spider (Spider-Gwen), Spider-Man, and the Spider-Man of India in separate tales, plus Gambit and Shuri. If these 1-offs weren't so expensive, it'd be easier to recommend.

Rating: A.

Video game fans will enjoy Street Fighter vs. Final Fight (Udon). Yes, they're still doing Street Fighter after all these years. It's indie titles like these that need more attention, since they don't stand out on the shelves, blocked by the bigger labels.

Rating: B+.

For the small fry:

Unicorn Crush (Andrews McMeel) continues the series of stories of Phoebe & Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson. If your public library gets these graphic novels, we suggest borrowing them for 2 weeks to maximize your child's enjoyment.

The same goes for Random House's two-fer of Max Meow and Katie The Catsitter. Delightful fun for grade schoolers.

Rating for both: A.

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