Yesterday was Free Comic Book Day, or as my wife likes to put it, "Morning Daddy Takes the Girls Out and Mommy Can Watch Golden Girls By Herself With a Cup of Coffee."
A few tweaks for this year. I only took Maja out for breakfast this year. She was up early, I needed to take the recycling to the center (next the "Breakfast Place"), and Millie was still snoring. I have two awesome, well-behaved girls, but as parents know, sometimes the sum of all the parts is less than their individual value. Maja is almost six, and the conversations we have at the table when it's just the two of us are wildly different than when her little sister is around. In addition to that, she's been prepping for a growth spurt by eating more food than even I devoured at that young age.
We swung back home to picked up an awake and dressed Millie and off we went we went to Rubber Mallet Comics. After running the recycling over,and the back and forth of dropping that kids off that night at the mother-in-laws, it's official: Moving to the new house has made everything closer. Without the fifteen minute drive to get to the interstate, we got to the shop at 10:20 instead of 10:35, so we arrived still in the initial mayhem of everyone descending onto the store.
The thing about Northeast Pennsylvania is that, unless you are immediately off the highway, every small town is in the logistical armpit of the area... and unless you live right off of 92 or US11, West Pittston is just out of the way enough to feel like a bother. Even with the time shaved off, I can't justify driving out this way for comics, except for special occasions. My FLGS suffers the same fate, but at least that is a slight deviation from my drive home from work.
The girls waited their turn (Rule #1 of the posted rules... and this Daddy's favorite rule of all time) and snagged their three books from the outside display.
Maja picked up: The Boom Studios 10th Anniversary FCBD Special (Mouse Guard on the cover), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Cleopatra in Space.
Millie picked up Gronk and Friends, the Bongo Comics Special, and, of course Scooby Doo/Teen Titans Go!
I only grabbed two: The Doctor Who comic (for cramming three different stories into it, they skimped on a LOT of plot) and a Phantom comic that looked like old reprints on glossy paper. I was in heaven.
After we let the crowd spread out a bit, we entered the tiny store actively avoiding an actual Captain Sweatpants (really? It's the biggest frickin' day for the comics! Put on pants that have belt loops sewn on them... plus you really need to wear a belt, dude.)
For our actual purchases, the girls got more Ninja Turtles and My Little Ponies.
Daddy isn't lactose intolerant, and I don't have allergies to food dye, cause I still love me some Big Red Cheese.
Multiversity: Thunderworld #1 was a Captain Marvel (Shazam! for you heathens) book that came out last year to cover yet again another universe/multiverse/52! 52!/ Infinite Ice Cream mega-event THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!
Here's the thing, if you could wrap around your head the concept of Dr Sivana being able to contact versions of himself from alternate dimensions to work together and destroy Captain Marvel, it's a classic Golden Age comic. It covered everything I would ever want in comic: the whole Marvel Family, the Monster Society of Evil, even the much maligned Lieutenant Marvels... with Mister Tawky Tawny.
The only thing I didn't like was the focus on a alternate earth Dr Sivana that channeled every bit of Hannibal Lector, including a vast quantity of red-brown blood everywhere.
Despite some appreciated warnings from the staff, I also picked up Oz: Reign of the Witch Queen. I know a lot of these fairy tale/kids story retellings are a bit more adult in the story with explosions of cleavage everywhere, the fact that the cover does not channel all the bad art of the 90's, I gave it a chance.
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| Yes, Toto is a wolf... |
The story's not bad at all, the artwork is decent, and there's only one gory panel. My problem is Dorothy, who looks a step away from either going out on stage to Def Leppard or a scene away from telling the delivery guy she didn't order any pizza. Yes, Dorothy, who is wearing five times the clothing on the cover (center). The thing is, every other woman is at least wearing X-Men fantasy spandex. A woman wearing nothing but hot pants and girdle in sizes only available at Osh Kosh just seems disturbing. Even Maja called out her ridiculous outfit when she peered over my shoulder. Change the Dorothy's artwork from one bad stretch resulting in a total clothing loss and I would be interested in reading the other comics in the series.
With the purchase, we got a coupon for three more free comics, and snagged Rabbids, March Gran Prix, and Terrible Lizard.
As if Free Comic Book Day wasn't a big enough event, Maja lost her first tooth! Even though this not unexpected, coordinating with the Tooth Fairy on a Saturday night was a bit difficult. Luckily, the Tooth Fairy knows someone with a stash of Eisenhower dollars.
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