Well, today is May 2, 2009, Saturday. Do you know what that means? It's Free Comic Book Day. So, today I head out with my two dogs in tow, HPI (pronounced Hi-Pee) and Pika. We stop off at Comics & Collectibles on 1904 Fruitridge Road in Sacramento. When I get there, I discover that they have a slew of comic books to give away. They have: Resurrection by Oni Press; The Avengers; The World of Cars; Bongo Comics - Free For All; Archie Presents the Mighty Archie Art Players; DC Kids; Star Wars - the Clone Wars; Dabel Brothers - Showcase; Worlds of Aspen; GI Joe; Warhammer Online - Prelude to War; Savage Dragon and William Shatner Presents. Unfortunately the owner was only allowing the customers to have 4 comic books. Somehow the owner managed to give me 5 comics. Here are the comics that I picked up and this is what I have to say about them.

Title: Magic: A Planeswalker Novel - Agents of Artifice
Written by: Ari Marmell
wizards.com/magicnovels
Comments: The story is about a powerful sorcerer with telepathic abilities. He manages to open up many portals that other people would like to see stay closed. Tezzeret, megalomaniacal leader of the interplanar cabal needs the cooperation of Jace of the Infinite Consortium to manipulate the Multiverse for his own nefarious gain. Jace finds himself in some complicated situations, in which he must determine how he will choose friends, between alliances and between worlds!

Name: GI Joe
Publisher: IDW
Comments: GI Joe find themselves in Istanbul on Operation Designate: Painted Horse. GI Joe goes up against thugs with connections to the global underworld. For a free comic book, this is a major tantalizer to what GI Joe is all about. Explosions and action start instantly. The hostiles don't waste time in hitting a unit with IEDs (Improvised explosive devices). This is a teaser to a bigger story, that will continue in GI Joe: Origins #1. Flip this comic book over and you have Transformers Animated. Optimus faces a battle galore. You're on the edge-of-your-seat until you discover it's just simulated combat. Seeing the Transformers in real action or just training is still just plain fun!

Name: Shonen Jump
www.shonenjump.com
Manga from Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei
Comments: Exceptional artwork done in black and white. Deal with a monster wearing a Noh mask. You get a great centerfold pin up of Karakuridoji - Ultimo! In this free comic book, we have some comical situations with a sweaty fat cop named Dahlman. He is supposed to be the city's bravest man, who happens to be the Chief of Police. In this situation, when he faces down something that is superhuman, the sweat starts pouring. There is some great action in this comic book and some great information on Shonen Jump's line-up of comics, such as: Tegami Bachi, One Peg, YuYu Hakusho, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Bleach and finally Naruto.

Name: Kenneth the Conjuror Winter 2009 #0
Publisher: Sunset Graphic Lit
www.SunsetGL.com
Writer and Creator: J. Ryan Zambrano
Comments: Spectacular color artwork that makes the story's characters like Flake and Slush stand out. You will learn that the Conjuror is a mysterious mage that shows up to people in need. When the Conjuror was only an apprentice, demons came to his village. They took his beloved named Rhianna. Seeking Rhianna, the Conjuror created his own portal to the City of Dis, Land of Demons. This story is very mysterious and intriguing and very hard to put down!

Name: Blackest Night 0 Issue
Publisher: DC
Creative Force: Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke
Comments: Green Lantern takes center stage in this story. The story starts off on the battle between light and darkness and how Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern was in the mix of this battle. The story starts with Batman and Green Lantern having a verbal assault with each other. Other DC superheroes keep them apart, so there won't be any fisticuffs. Hal tells how he died a sinner and how Flash died a saint. Hal talks about how they all died. How J'onn J'onzz was murdered by Darkseid's followers, how Batman died and Superman carried his skeleton. The last words in this story are: "By my black hand, the dead shall rise!". Added treat are gorgeous drawings that depic the history, weaknesses and powers of: Green Lantern Corps; Red Lantern Corps; Agent Orange; Sinestro Corps; Blue Lantern Corps; Star Sapphires; Black Lantern Corps and the Indigo Tribe.

History of Free Comic Book Day:  The reason why comic book stores throughout the nation give away comics is to promote reading comics!   Comic books are getting more and more popular and you can see that with all of the Hollywood movies that are based on comic books! 

Paul Dale Roberts