For the 10th year running, comic book shops around the globe will celebrate Free Comic Book Day on Saturday.
Intended as a day each spring to throw back the curtains on comic books and the shops that sell them, FCBD has grown into a worldwide celebration of the art-form where stores give away books absolutely free and with no strings attached. The day rewards loyal customers, entices curious new readers and, most importantly, puts comics into the hands of kids in hopes of sparking the love of reading, imagination and creativity that every comic fan fosters for a lifetime.
2011 marks the sixth year in business for Marietta's Asylum Comics and the sixth year participating in FCBD. The shop on plans on celebrating from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with plenty of free books, a storewide sale and free face painting and caricatures for kids. Captain America and Green Lantern will also be on hand in costume for photo opportunities.
Titles available this year span an array of interests, from familiar superheroes to comics based on cartoons and video games to tales of fantasy, sci-fi and horror. They also cover a wide range of reading levels, featuring stories appropriate for any age.
Readers can look forward to two of this summer's biggest movie stars, Thor and Captain America, sharing an issue that recounts a fanciful take on their first meeting when they are zapped back to the days of King Arthur to stop a plot put in motion by the devious villain Loki. (Marvel Comics)
Green Lantern has gone Hollywood as well, and this year offers a retelling of his origin, showing the events that led up to Hal Jordan first putting on the powerful ring. As a backup, there is also a sneak peek at "Flashpoint," the big alternate-reality event beginning this month starring the Flash (DC Comics).
Novelist Joe Hill's comic "Locke & Key" has been building buzz since its first issue, but with a television pilot in the works, this adults-only haunted house story won't be an underground hit for much longer. FCBD allows you to sample a chapter before the rest of the world catches on (IDW).
Robert Kirkman has won over a legion of horror fans with his comic and hit television show "The Walking Dead." But with "Super Dinosaur," he aims at an entirely different audience with an all-ages book about a smart young boy and his mechanically-enhanced talking Tyrannosaurus Rex (Image Comics).
Spider-Man recently lost the use of his handy "spider-sense" that warns him of danger. An all-new FCBD story shows how he plans on coping without it and hints at a few important events soon to be troubling the wall-crawler (Marvel Comics).
Other books included in the giveaway are:
Jordan Lowe is the owner of Asylum Comics on Muskingum Drive in Marietta and the writer of the web comic Short Pants Romance.
