Tag: comics

Free Comic Book Day In the Time of COVID

Today would’ve been Free Comic Book Day, and a lot of us comic fans would’ve spent the day picking up their free books and supporting their favorite local comic shops. I know I have a ritual that involves going to 2-3 stores and then bringing the haul home and reading all night. Since we were unable to do that, I thought I’d recommend some free webcomics to hold you over while we wait for our fix. 

I read a lot of things on Webtoons that range from D&D-esque stories, to sci-fi, to romance, so I thought I’d highlight some of my favorites to give you some new, free reading material. 

Lumine:

A runaway werewolf (Lumine) meets a boy named Kody and is hired to be his body guard. Their relationship isn’t great at first but they slowly build a friendship as they learn about each other. Great if you like fantasy series.

Everywhere & Nowhere:

Based on Rosencrantz & Guildenstern from Hamlet but Guildenstern is a girl and they travel through time. It gets dark in places but is mostly a comedy. Each episode is pretty short so you should be able to catch up quick.

Winter Moon:

You follow the characters in a WoW type fantasy game, but eventually learn about the people behind the avatars. Another great fantasy series with episodes short enough you can catch up fairly quickly.

1HP Club:

This one follows the artist’s d&d game. It gets mildly raunchy but nothing that’ll make you blush too hard. Has comedic and fantasy elements so it’s good for all types of humans.

Zero Game:

The people in this comic are all participating in a game where losing means death but winning gets you a big reward. The game targets people with nothing left to lose. Another great fantasy series with some of the best art I’ve seen in a webcomic.

Cursed Princess Club:

This is where I divert from my usual fantasy-land. It’s a comedy series that follows Gwendolyn, a princess who is mistakenly given an invitation to the Cursed Princess Club. She swears despite her looks she hasn’t been cursed but they let her stay in the club, and she grows a lot as a person thanks to their friendly advice. 

Purple Hyacinth:

This one is hard to pin into a genre. It follows a woman in the police force who has the ability to detect lies and the assassin she teams up with to fight an evil organization. The art and story are both fantastic, which is why they landed on my list.

Mage & Demon Queen:

If you’re looking for a comedy/fantasy series that speaks to your gay or lesbian heart, this is the one for you. Mylora is a mage who is trying to win the demon queen’s heart, while all the other adventurers are trying to kill said queen. It’s funny and sweet and sometimes serious, but overall it makes me gleeful to read. Episodes for this one are pretty short and they’re on hiatus so you should have no trouble catching up.

There are plenty of others I could recommend, but I don’t want this post to turn into a novel. If you’re looking for more traditional comics, Comixology and Marvel both have monthly subscriptions that are reasonably priced with plenty of reading options included. I personally use Comixology a lot and could recommend a ton of books from there if you’re interested. Leave a comment with your requests and I’ll share my thoughts. Also let everyone know what you’re currently reading to keep the conversation going.

Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part 1

In case it’s not very obvious from the title, this article will contain many spoilers for last night’s episode of Supergirl. Read at your own risk.

Part 1 of the CW’s crossover for this season aired last night, and boy did they start off with a bang. There is no slowly introducing the problem and gathering the group. We’ve been doing that all season during Flash & Arrow. From minute one the Monitor gives us the background we need to set-up the rest of the story, and then it’s game on. I love that they didn’t waste any time in throwing our heroes into the fire. The rushed pacing gives us a sense of the danger they are in.

I had a lot of theories going in as to the role of certain characters and what would happen to some of our stars, but after part 1 I already have to rework all my preconceived notions. First off, I figure this version of Harrison Wells we’ve been seeing in Flash recently was working for or somehow connected to the Anti-Monitor. I guess I was partially right, but it never occurred to me he would be playing the part of Pariah. That reveal had my jaw drop. I’m excited to see what they do with his character.

The other thing I was surprised about is that they seem to have killed Oliver Queen at the end of the first episode. I figured if he was dying in a series other than his own it would be on Flash. The two shows have always been tied more closely together than the others, plus it makes for a great cliffhanger just before the break. Ollie dies, everyone looks shocked, cut to credits and we wait a month to see his team’s reactions. Who knows, maybe future Ollie whom we saw while they rescued baby Jonathan will have a role to play in everything. Only time will tell.

I’m going to try to keep posting these updates the day after each episode airs, so stay tuned tomorrow when I give my thoughts on Batwoman and Wednesday for my review of Flash (plus speculation on what will happen when we return in January for the thrilling conclusion).

This Crisis has been six years in the making, by my count. Ever since we first saw headlines about how the Flash would disappear during Crisis they have been planting the seeds to what looks to be their best crossover yet. I am simultaneously very prepared and not at all ready for what comes next.

Sleeping With Ghosts – The Hotel Avira Haunting #2

The following is a review of chapter 2 (!) of The Hotel Avira Haunting, which is available for public consumption as of today. You can find my review of chapter 1 here. I think I did a pretty good job of staying vague and spoiler-free, but if you’re worried just skip to the end where I say I love it and you should go throw these people your money for the awesome thing they created. And with that, gentle reader, let’s dive in…

First, a recap (spoilers for chapter 1): When last we left our hero, he was looking to debunk the infamous Hotel Avira only to find that the ghosts were very real and very active. Sebastian was warned not to interact with the spirits, but of course he didn’t listen. Now his spirit is trapped in the hotel circa 1970. And that’s where we pick up with…

 

Chapter 2: Claire

Sebastian handles being in ghost mode about as well as you expect a person who until today didn’t even believe in them. While floating around the hotel and adjusting to his current situation he finds Claire, but as a live person, not the ghost he meets in chapter 1. This leads to lots of stuff happening that I don’t want to spoil for you. The story is great though, as is the art. It ends on a nice, juicy cliffhanger, which we’ll pick up on in the third and final issue. I look forward to seeing where the story takes us as ghost Sebastian has some big stuff to deal with and not a lot of time to do the things that need doing.

That’s my short and sweet review of this beauty. I could squee about some of the details I breezed over, but I want to leave a few things for you to discover on your own. I’ll simply end this with some shout outs to

Damian Simankowicz – the creator and writer of this series;

Marcelo Salaza – the artist;

and Mike Stefan – colorist.

The story and art are both wonderful and make for an enjoyable reading experience. You can pick your copy up TODAY on Amazon. For other platforms, stay tuned for release dates on the Facebook page.