First Saturday in May! Free Comic Book Day!

...for those of you still reading past that lopsided "Simpsons" reference, yes, I took part in Free Comic Book Day, stopping off at one of two local shops before I went to work. The only downside was the limit of six titles per customer. I had to put back half of the dozen titles I picked out. I think I came away with some fine stuff:

Love and Capes: A very funny story of a superhero, his girlfriend and how their relationship tries to mesh with his life of excitement.

Bongo Comics Free-for-All: A collection of short "Simpsons" and "Futurama" comics. Fave bit: "Why Robots Make Great Roommates".

keenspot spotlight 2007: A collection of web comics. "Something Happens", "CRFH!" and "Todd and Penguin" were my favorites, but the comic "Wicked Powered" (on the other side of the book) is best: funny and exciting.

Comic Genesis: Another collection of web comics. The stories are uniformly enjoyable, but "Phil Likes Tacos"...so help me God, it's like my life was drawn and smacked onto a comic page.

Family Guy: I had mulled over purchasing 'Peter's Guide to Parenting', but this book saved me some trouble, as it's basically the same thing. Pretty funny, but if you miss the cutaways and drawn-out gags that have become de rigueur on the show, you'll be shaking your fist in rage. Also, the publishers at Devil's Due Publishing sure have a strange way of defining 'double bill'. The B-side of this is a compellingly nasty tale known as "Hack/Slash", about a young woman with a harsh life who fights evil creatures. I don't know whether or not I should act surprised at seeing that this will become 'a major motion picture from Rogue Features'.

Unseen Peanuts: Basically those "Peanuts" strips that no one sees or much talks about. Fascinating stuff if you're a fan or Schulz disciple. The comments before each of the strips is a delightful bonus.

I've collected comics for a few years now. Not quite superhero stuff (excepting the current run of "She-Hulk"), but just quirky/humorous - and usually short-lived - material that I hope to review sooner or later. Some of the titles I've collected really deserve to be better-known.