Marvel Adventures: Free Comic Book Day 2008

Kiddo picked this one out for me to read from the stack of random unread comics. It's another 2008 FCBD book, this time from Marvel.

Title: Marvel Adventures: Free Comic Book Day 2008
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: May, 2008
Writer: Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin
Penciler: Alvin Lee
Inker: Terry Pallot
Colorist:Wilfredo Quintana
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Editor: Nathan Cosby, Mark Paniccia

This is from Marvel's all-ages line, and features Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and Ant-Man battling the Mandarin in Peru. The fight eventually ends up in Machu Pichu (of course!), and there is an encounter with a sentient giant ant. Oddly, Ant-Man has been somewhat awkwardly dropped from the story at this point, possibly because he might have been just a bit too useful in giant-ant-based scenarios.

Mandarin shows up, and in one of the most unexpected moments I've experienced in a comic in a while, Spider-Man demands that everyone "take the fight outside" so as not to damage the precious archaeological site... And Mandarin is totally cool with that idea! Ha! I love it!

When the battle does resume, it's actually a pretty good fight. Mandarin is set up as a very even match, even against three Avengers, and the battle is fun with a good logical flow.

All of the giant ant stuff felt silly, and there were random ancient magical artifacts that were only marginally important to the story, but this was still an entertaining book.

Rating: 6.5/10

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Free Comic Book Day 2015

This is my last review for Free Comic Book Day 2015. It was fun finding a FCBD event here in Vietnam. I'm scheduled to spend a month in the US, from mid-June to mid-July, and I'll be attending two conventions during that time (MASSive Comic Con in Worcester MA, and Connecticon in Hartford CT), so I'll be stocking up on some comics to bring back to Vietnam to read and review. I'll also be picking up a couple of crowdfunded comics that I supported.

In the meantime, I have a couple of graphic novels on my to-read shelf here, as well as a few remaining comics from the stack I originally brought with me when I headed overseas. I hope to read and review those books before I make the visit back to the US, so look for this blog to continue to be somewhat active for the next four weeks or so.

Title: Avatar: The Last Airbender: Free Comic Book Day 2015
Date: May, 2015
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Gene Luen Yang, Paul Tobin
Artist: Carla Speed McNeil, Ron Chan, Colleen Coover
Colorist:Jenn Manley Lee, Matthew J. Rainwater
Letterer: Michael Heisler, Steve Dutro
Cover: Carla Speed McNeil, Jenn Manley Lee
Editor: Ian Tucker, Roxy Polk, Dave Marshall, Phillip R. Simon, Brendon Wright

In addition to the Avatar: The Last Airbender story, this book also features Plants vs. Zombies and Bandette.

The Avatar story focuses on Ty Lee and Toph. Ty Lee is discouraged with her training with the Kyoshi warriors. Fortunately, Toph shows up to take her to the circus, which seems like the perfect thing to cheer her up. But this is not just any circus. It's the circus where Ty Lee once performed, and among its current performers are Ty Lee's six identical sisters, who are now performing that act that was once Ty Lee's. Throw in a firebending extortionist with an ogre-sized accomplice, and there's more than enough trouble to distract Ty Lee from anything that was worrying her.

This was a very cute story that keep to a fairly simple point and still packed a few surprises and some amusing bits of dialogue.

The Plants vs. Zombies story involved the zombies creating a robot plant to infiltrate the tech-filled garage. The plan, of course, backfires in somewhat Looney Tunes style. This was funny, but the setup dragged a bit.

Last up was Bandette, which I had no familiarity with at all, but which I definitely need to read more of. Bandette is an oddly-meta heist comedy about an art thief battling a pair of "Elegant Assassins" and then staging a theft from a screening of a rare film. Amusing and adorable.

Rating: 7.5/10