Free Comic Book Day 2011

abysslord · Post by **abysslord** » Mon May 09, 2011 9:05 am

BobBretall wrote:OK, I read all 37 of the FCBD comics and a few stood out in my mind as "best from an existing comics reader's POV", I think the list would be different if I was looking it as "Best for kids" or "Best for new readers".

How was the Worlds of Aspen one? Do you think it did a good job creating interest for their titles?

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Mon May 09, 2011 10:28 am

I went by Austin Books and Comics. They have everything and allow up to 10. They also often put out other books. This year I saw almost every type of 'first issue for a $1' reprint book that's come out lately and some random single issues that they must just have waay too much of. Plus some prior FCBD books.

I've read Atomic Robo and ASM so far and liked both. Didn't care for the other Red 5 titles previewed in that book, but loved AR as always.

ASM was pretty good and the montage sequences were done well.

I've got about 6 others to read. I picked up for my toddler the Top Shelf kids book and Wizard of Oz #1. She seemed to like the Owly stuff and carried that book around most of the day until something was spilled on it and we were forced to toss it. Need to go back and see if there are any left.

Vernson · Post by **Vernson** » Mon May 09, 2011 10:42 am

Stopped at the LCS, the only LCS in Kenosha; Rockheads, and they had 'everything', if not most books possible I believe. Subscribers were allowed early entry and there was no limit to the variety of titles a person could pick from the number of samples available so I decided to expand my horizons and grabbed many of the lesser known titles available. FBCD also included a box of stuff which subscribers could browse through and take home 3 or 4 books.

While there were no appearances from creators or actors in costumes, the owners did have treats, grab bags, raffles, and gifts for the kids which was really cool.

The flow of customers and visitors was extremely steady so to my eyes it appeared to be a successful FCBD.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon May 09, 2011 6:28 pm

abysslord wrote: How was the Worlds of Aspen one? Do you think it did a good job creating interest for their titles?

Hard for me to say, since I've seen everything that was in it already. Nothing about it made me want to run out & get Fathom or Soulfire (which I'm not currently getting).

They had too little info on too many things. Should have just spotlighted 2-3 titles & put a decent amount of material on each, IMO.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon May 09, 2011 6:31 pm

Vernson wrote: The flow of customers and visitors was extremely steady so to my eyes it appeared to be a successful FCBD.

I think success will be if people who came in to grab lots of freebies (who are not already comics readers) actually come back & BUY something on an on-going basis.

This is what I've NOT seen a lot of from past FCBDs. I always see a lot of people around for free stuff, but sales numbers continue to decline. Are we getting new readers because of FCBD??

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Tue May 10, 2011 7:26 am

BobBretall wrote:
abysslord wrote: How was the Worlds of Aspen one? Do you think it did a good job creating interest for their titles?
Hard for me to say, since I've seen everything that was in it already. Nothing about it made me want to run out & get Fathom or Soulfire (which I'm not currently getting).

They had too little info on too many things. Should have just spotlighted 2-3 titles & put a decent amount of material on each, IMO.

I agree with this for the most part. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more meat to their book, although I have thought for a long time that Aspen suffers from stretching themselves too thin in general. This appears to be why their shipping schedule is so erratic.

However, the ad for Idolized has me intrigued (I hadn't seen it before). I think I might give it a shot when it comes out.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Tue May 10, 2011 7:28 am

Danscomics wrote: However, the ad for Idolized has me intrigued (I hadn't seen it before). I think I might give it a shot when it comes out.

That's something where I'd have liked to have seen a few story pages, or even a couple of paragraphs of text describing what the premise is.

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Tue May 10, 2011 7:32 am

BobBretall wrote:
Danscomics wrote: However, the ad for Idolized has me intrigued (I hadn't seen it before). I think I might give it a shot when it comes out.
That's something where I'd have liked to have seen a few story pages, or even a couple of paragraphs of text describing what the premise is.

Very true, that would have been nice. I may very well change my mind about it once the solicits come out, it's not on my "must get" list just from the ad, just on my "this is worth keeping an eye on" list.

I definitely think they under utilized their FCBD book, but I expected that from past experience with their FCBD books.

abysslord · Post by **abysslord** » Tue May 10, 2011 8:21 am

Danscomics wrote:... I have thought for a long time that Aspen suffers from stretching themselves too thin in general. This appears to be why their shipping schedule is so erratic.

That does seem to be a huge problem with them. I don't know the circumstances, but I would think being consistently late would be my #1 no-no if I ran a small comic company, especially one with few titles. If you don't get your name out there every week, customers won't see you, and others will stop caring.

I'm really liking the stuff I read from them, but waiting and waiting is getting old.

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Tue May 10, 2011 9:08 am

abysslord wrote:
Danscomics wrote:... I have thought for a long time that Aspen suffers from stretching themselves too thin in general. This appears to be why their shipping schedule is so erratic.
That does seem to be a huge problem with them. I don't know the circumstances, but I would think being consistently late would be my #1 no-no if I ran a small comic company, especially one with few titles. If you don't get your name out there every week, customers won't see you, and others will stop caring.

I'm really liking the stuff I read from them, but waiting and waiting is getting old.

Yeah, I definitely think that is holding them back. It's not even consistent lateness, very often it is linked to a new title coming out. Fathom was running on time, until Soulfire started back up. Then Soulfire ran fine, until Executive Assistant Iris started. I cringe every time they announce a new title because I know that it is going to affect one of the titles I read.

The last thing I heard, they said that the problem was caused by Michael Turner's death and they were finally getting things back on track. I'm hoping that is the case and we will see a more consistent schedule from all of the titles this year.

abysslord · Post by **abysslord** » Tue May 10, 2011 2:06 pm

Danscomics wrote:
BobBretall wrote:
Danscomics wrote: However, the ad for Idolized has me intrigued (I hadn't seen it before). I think I might give it a shot when it comes out.
That's something where I'd have liked to have seen a few story pages, or even a couple of paragraphs of text describing what the premise is.
Very true, that would have been nice. I may very well change my mind about it once the solicits come out, it's not on my "must get" list just from the ad, just on my "this is worth keeping an eye on" list.

I definitely think they under utilized their FCBD book, but I expected that from past experience with their FCBD books.

Here's a little more info on "Idolized":

Mastromauro next announced a new book coming out -- "Idolized" is written by "Fathom: Blue Descent" writer David Schwartz and drawn by Michael Gunnell. The series is "along the same lines as 'Fathom,' in the sense that it is a big epic story, yet personal," said Schwartz. "It really centers around a girl overwhelmed by regrets in her life. One major regret is that she wants redemption and revenge. It plays out over a TV show which is not 'American Idol.' It will also be Aspen's first superhero story. It's 'True Grit' meets 'American Idol' meets superheroes."

I'll need more than that for my decision though.

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Tue May 10, 2011 2:17 pm

I got the 200AD sampler, which I'm reading now and loving it. I have no idea why there would be a FCBD version of 2000AD and after the judge dredd story it says 2000AD every Wed.

Does anybody know if they are actually going to start selling 2000AD new issues here in the states? I've only ever seen back issues and trades . . .

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Tue May 10, 2011 9:43 pm

abysslord wrote: Here's a little more info on "Idolized":

Mastromauro next announced a new book coming out -- "Idolized" is written by "Fathom: Blue Descent" writer David Schwartz and drawn by Michael Gunnell. The series is "along the same lines as 'Fathom,' in the sense that it is a big epic story, yet personal," said Schwartz. "It really centers around a girl overwhelmed by regrets in her life. One major regret is that she wants redemption and revenge. It plays out over a TV show which is not 'American Idol.' It will also be Aspen's first superhero story. It's 'True Grit' meets 'American Idol' meets superheroes."

I'll need more than that for my decision though.

They said about this much about it at WonderCon...... I'm going to need a lot more than this to make a buy decision.

I'll probably try to get an interview with Schwartz the month it's solicited then I can get info out of him about the series. I'd like to see some sequential art on the series too (not just a pin-up).

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Wed May 11, 2011 7:30 am

Trev wrote:I got the 200AD sampler, which I'm reading now and loving it. I have no idea why there would be a FCBD version of 2000AD and after the judge dredd story it says 2000AD every Wed.

Does anybody know if they are actually going to start selling 2000AD new issues here in the states? I've only ever seen back issues and trades . . .

I don't know much about 2000AD. I can tell you that every month there is a 2000AD pack solicited in Previews that contains multiple issues. The one in May's issue is marked as July 2011 and contains issues 1741-1744. It has an on sale date of 9/14.

I'm afraid that is all I know because that is all Diamond tells me. I have never actually ordered one to see what it was.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Wed May 11, 2011 9:19 am

Danscomics wrote: I don't know much about 2000AD. I can tell you that every month there is a 2000AD pack solicited in Previews that contains multiple issues. The one in May's issue is marked as July 2011 and contains issues 1741-1744. It has an on sale date of 9/14.

Seems to be current stuff. Looking at the web-site, Prog 1732 is on-sale now....
http://www.2000adonline.com/