Showing posts with label Comixology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comixology. Show all posts

Tuesday, 28 October 2014

This Week in Free Comics (28/10/14) - Comixology Declares Civil War!

With the recent announcement of the slate of films surrounding Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Three, it's no surprise that, seven years later (and counting), Marvel will create a new wave of hype around the Civil War narrative. The 2006-07 event concerned the battle between government and costumed superhero (manifested as the Superhero Registration Act, SHRA for short), and led to a division between heroes that resulted in the death of Captain America. Marvel's new Comixology freebies are quite handy, as rather than serving as an introduction to the much-publicised, controversial event series (written by multi-talented Mark Millar of Kick-Ass), it's an introduction to the tie-in books which created a much larger universe than is hinted at in that seven issue series. Sounds a pretty sweet deal to me!


Personally, I would say that the Front Line tie-in stands out the most and as the most original. Although some readers might prefer the superhero perspective, what Front Line does is it removes itself from the physical 'front line' of war and places it within the media's 'front line' of newspaper representation of the events, as conducted through the Daily Mail and our (vastly underated) protagonist of Phil Urich - which is an especially crucial element within modern society. I definitely understand why some might prefer not to read the more political perspective, but especially with the outstanding writing by Paul Jenkins, it's worth checking out. There's back-up stories, including a five-page one in each issue which juxtaposes the superhero Civil War against a real-world conflict. In this case, it's the American internment camps during the 1940s which held prisoner to Japanese American citizens. It's grouped together with an anonymous poem written in 1943. It's not very relevant to the Civil War storyline at all, but if one ignores Spider-Man's presence to the right of each panel, it's a moving piece of American history drawn by Kei Kobayashi which really receives no attention.

Fantastic Four is probably the least-useful of the tie-ins, as ASM spotlights Peter and Tony's partnership, whilst New Avengers shifts its focus to Captain America (the cover star), a perspective not really covered within the tie-ins in the Captain America, which looked more at the wider cast of Sharon Carter and Bucky.

Tuesday, 10 June 2014

This Week in Free Comics (09/06/14)

Marvel Unlimited
Bruce Banner finds himself with amnesia in Paris. The mise-en-scene is perfect, and I love Marvel's push for more indie, continuity-light stories with their new Marvel Knights series. I've read both this and the Spider-Man series; I think they're strong, but the beginning issue seems to promise more than what we end up with in the conclusion. Kowalski's cinematic art is great (angle brackets are replaced with yellow subtitles on widescreen panels), and reinforces the Parisian setting. Maybe it's an enhanced reading experience for someone who speaks French or lives in France? 

I've yet to check out the X-Men series, but let me know if it's good. 
Comixology
Whilst I won't deny my 'trade paperback binge' reading of this a year ago was a great experience, you need to read this issue. The art is great, and I love seeing our antihero Ant-Man, Eric O'Grady, in poker games with fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discussing everyday life. It's a motif throughout the series which sees it intertwine with events from mid-2000s stories like Enemy of the State, House of M, Civil War and so on mentioned in conversation. We build up two narratives, with O'Grady in S.H.I.E.L.D. and meeting a girl in a restaraunt for a date. It's the arrogant superhero right there.
I love Oliver Coipel's art. I love bringing together the Avengers and the X-Men where they're not in opposites to each other (like with AVX or Schism), but mutually in volatile states of rebuilding. What's forgotten is the header of the issue: New Avengers/Astonishing X-Men. It's a crossover, but no-one sees it like that. The Scarlet Witch won't utter "No more mutants" until the last issue, but this is essential stuff to the teams' and Wanda's history. Oh, and DOFP fans? Quicksilver gets a good moment with Magneto here too.
Much like Year One, this is a story arc which transcends the ongoing series to become a limited series/graphic novel of its own. I've not read much recent Iron Man from before this point, but I can agree with the much repeated argument that Ellis and Granov redefined Tony Stark for 21st century sensibilities. If only for the art itself, it's a thing of beauty.

Disney Kingdoms: Seekers of the Weird #1 is free with the promo code WEIRD.

Sunday, 1 June 2014

This Week in Free Comics

Marvel Unlimited

I can't find any on this story, or even a #1. Somewhere, in a dusty Kiehl's store in New York, someone will be reading that #1 and telling me why I myself, over in the UK, need to buy anti-aging cream. It reunites The Winter Soldier team of Cap/Falcon/Widow, because movie synergy guys. Kiehl's did another Marvel Custom story a year or two back (which seemed to think Cap's origin was in 1943, because movie synergy guys), but that seems to have disappeared from the internet. It's standard Marvel Custom fare, but the art's decent enough; it kind of reminds me of the more recent Secret Avengers in its style.
It's another Infinity tie-in, but the fact is, it's always great to see some more of Kid Gladiator.

Comixology
I actually missed FCBD because on the day itself, I kept on bumping into friends, so when I finally managed to get to my local comic store at 2pm, all they had left were Donald Duck reprints; so it's good to see Comixology putting this stuff out there for those that missed it or digital only people, if a couple of weeks late.

The Guardians story is just exposition. There's some OK moments; some amusing anecdotes, but the fact of the matter is that it's just Tony Stark informing Flash Thompson (and the reader) who the Guardians are. The art's OK but not brilliant.

Rocket Raccoon was fun - and it looks like it takes place during the DnA era, judging by costumes (Yay!), although half of the issue is devoted to an Ultimate Spider-Man story I didn't read.
The 2005 limited series, not the original series.
  • Comixology are doing an iTunes 12 Days of Christmas sort of thing, where they're offering a free comic a day to herald the start of the summer. So far we've had 6 days of an issue from the acclaimed story Batman: The Black Mirror, along with some Dynamite, BOOM! and Valiant series, and MLP from IDW. It's good to see some more niche titles being given wider publicity through this; you can sign up for daily email notifications too. The whole thing puts me in the mood for frappes, iced drinks and ice cream...

Tuesday, 22 April 2014

Primer: Where to find free comics? (UPDATED)

A selection of #1's are available on marvel.com, which currently features acclaimed limited series like 1602 and Marvels, cosmic stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova, mid-2000s series like She-Hulk, Runaways and Young Avengers, along with more recent stuff from 2012/2013 with Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, New Avengers, amongst others.

Comixology have a number of free issues, although most of these are Share Your Universe branded issues. As with Marvel Unlimited, it updates with a new set of free issues every Tuesday.

Comixology also has Marvel's first issue of G.I. Joe from the 1980s, republished by IDW.

Some mid-2000s Marvel issues are available here, although some links are broken.

The 2007 Spider-Man FCBD story Swing Shift, which established the Brand New Day status quo, is available on Marvel Wiki.

The FCBD issues of Infinity (2013), Rocket Raccoon and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) available on Comixology.

Movie Tie-Ins


Infinite Comics

Fun for fans of the show. Otherwise? Nah.


The Point One story of Ms. Marvel presented incomplete in a lackluster preview not built for Infinite Comics. Eh, the art's nice.

A very good short story by Dan Slott from the All-New Marvel NOW! Point One anthology which works really well in this format.

Free with the code DDROAD (expires 10/31/2015) - thanks to ewokpelts on Bleeding Cool for this one.

Motion Comics

Iron Man: Mark VII - An Avengers motion comic which acts as a prequel to the film, tying together threads from Iron Man 2 and brings forth Tony and Pepper's relationship.

The first issues of the Astonishing X-Men and Spider-Woman motion comics are available on Marvel's official YouTube channel.

Some PSA issues:
Teachers Count
The infamous Spider-Man/Power Pack PSA from 1984 where Peter reveals he was sexually abused by a friend...

Avengers: Heroes Welcome on Comixology and Marvel Unlimited, a surprisingly good vignette by Brian Michael Bendis focusing on Nova. Out of all the PSA stories, it feels the most true to character and least heavy handed.

The Harley Davidson series which should only be read for its ridiculousness; essentially it's the modern black leather version of Marvel's Team America (this was a thing.)


Essentially what would happen if Tony Stark were not addicted to alcohol, but constantly worried over his 5 a day and at least six glasses of water.


Pepper Potts test drives an Audi and Iron Man fights Blizzard. It's kind of fun.

Marvel Unlimited

Some all ages content is available on the Marvel Kids website, but more is on the main site.

Mary Jane

Mary Jane #1-4
Mary Jane: Homecoming #1 (#2-4 appear to be broken)
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #1

Franklin Richards

Franklin Richards: Happy Franksgiving! #1
Franklin Richards: Super Summer Spectacular #1

Marvel Adventures

Marvel Age Spider-Man #1-20
Marvel Age Spider-Man Team-Up #2
Marvel Adventures The Avengers #1-2, #4-15, 17-19 7
Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #0-31
Marvel Adventures Hulk #1-16
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #1-8
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1-4
Marvel Adventures Super Heroes (2010) #1, #2

Power Pack

Power Pack (2005) #1-4
Avengers and Power Pack Assemble! #1-4
Hulk/Power Pack #1-4
Iron Man/Power Pack #1-4
Spider-Man/Power Pack #1-4


Interestingly, I've found that issues from the prior incarnation of Marvel Unlimited can be accessed by right clicking the 'read sample' icon on the book you want to view, with the outdated viewer intact and everything. What I've found out of is that some previous free comics are available in full:

The Amazing Spider-Man #534#535#536 and #537 (Civil War)
Annihilation #4#5#6
Captain America #22, #23, #24
Captain America Comics #3#4 and #6
Civil War #3#4#5#6#7
Deadpool (2008) #1
Origin #1#2#3#4#5 and #6
X-Men #157#158#159#160#161#162#163#164 and #165 (Day of the Atom by Chuck Austen; #165 is a Christmas issue written by Claremont)

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

This Week in Free Comics (01/04/14)

Perhaps Comixology are fooling us, because their offerings this week are light to say the least.

Silver Surfer Infinite Comics #1

This is such an improvement on last week. It's a great (full length) story from the Point One issue, reads kinetically in the Infinite Comics format (or, as Bleeding Cool call it, 'decampi',) and I am engaged with Allred's pop art aesthetic and Slott's narrative ideas beginning to form.

Sure, the Doctor Who parallels are obvious. A lonely figure who can transverse the stars using an abstract, everyday object, joined by a young female companion in her 20s. We join them in media res, just as we joined the Doctor and Susan in An Unearthly Child. (Most Doctor/companion teams, we are able to see the roots of their friendship. Here, we are introduced to Dawn Greenwood in the midst of their travels.) The Surfer, our main protagonist, makes a conscious choice to land on an alien planet; the 'bigger picture' of space seems replaced with fun adventures.

But as a device to entice new readers? It's such a great idea: give them something free which tells a full story, acting as a sample without losing money but probably getting more attention. (A $6 book, by the way, is far from a sample: it's an annual.)

Marvel Unlimited

Nova #8

Another Infinity tie-in.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #3

Meh, the art's pretty.

The Trial of the Punisher #1 (of 2)

A limited series from 6 years ago finally reaching print. It's good, let me tell you that. Any modern Punisher fan, I direct you to this book. Guggenheim should keep writing comics; Francis Yu should definitely continue to draw them. It's a 23 page book (haven't heard that in a while) which takes longer to read than a 23 page book usually does. (This is a good thing.) I don't know if it will be collected in trade given the story length, but I recommend checking it out.

Thor: Road Force #1-2

A superhero team based on a motorcycle company How very exciting. Marvel Studios have been tied with Harley Davidson since The First Avenger, but the fact they are able to make six issues with The Avengers, Iron Man and Thor I really, really do not understand. It's dragging a promo comic into spin-off territory. Who even seriously reads these except for cheese factor? A comics fan can't expect the pinnacle of storytelling, and a Harley fan can't even expect pictures of sexy bikes.

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

This Week in Free Comics (04/03/14): Winter Soldier!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, to begin the month of March, Marvel Unlimited now has a bunch of free issues up centering around the Avengers, Winter Soldier and Black Widow. An awesome way to tie into the next askjg.nkd,lflleodl;s film of 2014 (after The LEGO Movie, because what teenager doesn't love a film with Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Han Solo in?)
*and Morgan Freeman
**and Will Ferrell

It's a really great introduction to Brubaker's run: we have 6 issues from Captain America (#1 has been offerred free on here for the past year), the first issue of Reborn, and 4 issues from his recent Winter Soldier run. All of these issues headline new arcs, except #50 which is an (awesome) anniversary standalone, and #14 of Winter Soldier, which concludes the 'Black Widow Hunt' storyline.

Comixology


Marvel Unlimited