As reported here at MajorSpoilers.com, the complete rundown of the 2024 Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) has now been announced! I thought I would delve into some of the books I’m already excited about getting!
As the name of this level implies, these are the folks who have plunked down the most money to get the highest coverage on FCBD 2024. Of course, I’m interested in the DC FCBD Special Edition (or whatever it will finally be called) because I’m a DC guy. But some others caught my attention as well!
Dynamite has recently been increasing the amount of money I’m spending on their offerings a lot with their bringing back some nostalgic books starring Darkwing Duck, Gargoyles, and James Bond, just to mention a few. I was particularly intrigued when I saw they have a Jonny Quest comic listed there as well!
Oddly enough, I’d recently re-watched all the classic Jonny Quest episodes from the 1960s, then moved into the Jonny Quest: Real Adventures from 1990s syndication. I remember how crushed I was on that first Friday night when Jonny didn’t appear on our TV set or ABC! I LOVED that show quite a lot (although I realize some comics pros don’t necessarily agree with my interest).
Based on the illustration that could be where the cover will go, it looks like this series will be taking place right after those original ABC episodes. I’m hoping they will do very well, but it will depend on who is writing and providing the art! Anyway, I’m after it!
BOOM! Studios has been doing quite well with the stories provided by James Tynion IV, who I first encountered during his DC Batman days. He does tell a great adventure story, and they are always full of fascinating characters and engaging tales.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, then, when BOOM! announced they are going to have a book called The Worlds of James Tynion IV. Just which ones they will include will be something I’ll be keeping my eye out for.
As a long-time comics reader, I’m already wondering if they are going to have characters from his books encounter each other in a crossover of some sort. Could be fun!
Other books will feature Marvel heroes, Pokemon, Hellboy, Transformers/G.I. Joe, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, among others. That’s a pretty good line-up there!
Then we get to the bigger level, the one that most comics producers appear in. Once again, I’m anxious to see the DC books (all three of them), The Valiants (from Alien Books, oddly enough), the three Marvel FCBD offerings, what my brother used to call the “Overprice Street Guide” that has Nexus from Baron and Rude on the cover (oh, boy!), and the return of classic character Flash Gordon in a book from Mad Cave Studios, just to name a few.
However, I’m particularly interested in Titan Comics’ series featuring the latest (15th, seems like) Doctor from the UK’s Doctor Who. I’ve often berated the comics for lagging so far behind the current series that often the stories about a “current” Doctor don’t begin to appear until the actor portraying that version has announced his or her departure date. Yikes!
I’m hoping this will be a change from that practice!
Titan is also promoting Conan the Barbarian with a Battle of the Black Stone book. I’ve been enjoying the comic since it moved “across the pond” so I’ll be anxious to see what’s up there!
Gemstone Publishing is promoting something that intrigues me—Romeo Versus Juliet, a Kill Shakespeare Adventure. In the decades past, something of a battle between those two would have been seriously one-sided, but these days? Who knows what will happen!
Even though I haven’t been following Star Wars for some time, I have to say how impressive it is that comics continue to tell stories from that long-lived franchise! I guess it was a good move for them to leave Dark Horse and return to the House of Ideas!
I also see that Scholastic will be promoting Unico Awakening, which I had the pleasure of interviewing Samuel Sattin about during my weekly podcast a while back. They were running a Kickstarter for the book at that time, but I bet a lot of the information he gave me still works for the series! Check it out!
I’m trying to remember what Gatchaman used to be called. It’s something that that anime continues to sell books!
There are other classic comics to be sampled as well, including Asterix, Popeye, Street Fighter, and One Piece, just to name a few. Anime continues to sell well!
I realize it’s probably a big deal to some folks, but the two levels really don’t matter much to me or other fans. When all the books get put on tables in local comics shops on that first Saturday in May of 2024, all the Marvels and DCs will be lumped together anyway, so fans won’t care much about that. I guess it helps companies spread the wealth around as much as possible!
Dynamite has what appears to be a reprint of the first issue of Maleficent among their books. I am never a fan of villains, so I usually don’t pick up those titles (although the recent Negaduck book was an exception! I always enjoy Jeff Parker’s writing, so that convinced me to get it).
Speaking of ducks, I just roll my eyes when I look at the Ultra Duck book from Arcana. I mean, I’ve read anthropomorphic superheroes ever since I was a kid and saw Mighty Mouse. The luster on that type of storytelling has long run out for me. Hopefully, others will pick up the slack!
I have a friend who has a daughter who used to enjoy Monster High. The problem with that kind of series is that teens and pre-teens and such often don’t stay on board with shows and books along those lines. If they take a break away from something, they look at it again after a while and often say, “been there, done that.” I wish the folks behind this book luck as they try to attract a new audience!
There are many books I have no clue about, including Dying Inside, Farcry: Cull the Herd, The Night Librarian, The Loud House, Investi Gators, and Gannibal. It will all depend on what my LCS orders and has left after FCBD. I often pick up copies of what’s left so I can check them out!
Saturday, May 4, will be Free Comic Book Day in 2024! Be sure to plan ahead so you can get there in time to pick up the free stuff (and even buy some books, too)!
What do you think? Do you like the line-up of books coming to FCBD in 2024? Are there comics you feel should be there but aren’t? If so, which ones? Are there any books you are particularly interested in already? Whatever your opinion, feel free to share it in the space below!
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Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his "Comics Portal" column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics.
1 Comment
Gatchaman = Battle of the Planets in a different form-variation-style.