Free Comic Book Day 2026 Preview
By Dan Brown It lives! Free Comic Book Day will return May 2 at L.A. Mood Comics & Games. I got my hands on some of the freebie sampler comics that will be handed out, so here are a few preliminary thoughts for those preparing to attend the event otherwise known as Geek Christmas. And remember, these mini-comics will be around only while supplies last, so be sure to get to 100 Kellogg Lane early on the first Saturday in May for the best selection! I think the big headline this spring is that many of the FBCD comics have a special focus on comics literacy. What I mean is, they are aimed at young readers and include helpful information about comics lingo, how comics are structured, and so on. The whole point of FCBD is to create new fans while giving existing fans reasons to be pumped about new stories that are coming soon from your favourite publishers. So if you’re the parent of a budding comics fan, you’ll want to pick up these books in particular. I wish I had had this kind of resource when I was eight years old! The Stitch (of Lilo and Stitch fame) booklet, titled Best Food Forever, includes a two-page spread showing how an unfinished comics page goes from rough sketch to line art to a finished inked page. With gorgeous illustrations by Nao Kodaka, the Stitch sampler comes in manga form and also includes a back inside cover that answers the question, “How do you read manga-style?” for those who have never encountered the Japanese storytelling format before. The Marvel comic featuring Spidey and His Amazing Friends gives definitions for industry terms such as panel, word balloon, and caption. It also provides proof that the days of Peter Parker being the only Spider-Man are long gone! The chibi cast includes Spin, Ghost-Spider and Symbie, all different versions of the character that has been around since 1962. The FCBD Pizza and Taco floppy goes an additional step by having the two characters create a comic of their own. “Panels are the boxes that break up a comics page,” one footnote explains. The anthropomorphic food items instruct readers how to fold three pieces of paper to construct a homemade comic. Speaking of young readers, one of the highlights among all of this year’s freebies is the Whole Wide World of Mabel Mulligan. It’s about a fourth-grader who would rather be alone with her stuffy Badger than with so-called friends who call her “weird.” As her summer vacation beckons, Mabel is excited to learn her family plans to renovate their attic, so Mabel can at last have her own room, separate from her tyrant little sister. It’s an enchanting story. Every fandom under the sun is represented this FCBD. There’s one starring He-Man, as well as comics featuring the Avengers, Garfield, the creature from the Alien franchise, Predator, the Planet of the Apes gang, Archie and his friends, Jem and the Holograms, Sonic the Hedgehog, the Power Rangers, Street Fighter, and Megaman. In my eyes, the best of the lot is the one based on the 1980s superhero TV series The Greatest American Hero. Readers with long memories will remember this show about an ordinary guy who gets an alien supersuit but misplaces the instructions. It has gorgeous art from Alper Gelcel with strong writing by Don Handfield. The story picks up when the hero returns to Earth after decades spent off-world. The intuitive panel sense the creative team displays is the strongest I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a slick little book. I hope to see you at L.A. Mood in early May! Don’t forget the store is partnering with the London Children’s Museum, also housed in the historic Kellogg’s factory. The museum promises a “celebration of storytelling and creativity through hands-on activities, special guests, and a special gift from our friends at L.A. Mood Comics & Games!” Plus, as in previous years, there will be sales galore! Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 33 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly Graphic-Novel Group book club.
What Makes A Comic Run Legendary?
By Dan Brown When comic fans say they love a particular “run,” they’re not referring to shredded panty hose or uncomfortable bowel distress. No, they’re talking about long-running comic titles that have a prolonged period of creativity for a set number of issues under a certain creative team or individual comic creator. Are you a fan of a TV show that’s been around for a while? Are there maybe one or two seasons that stick out in your mind? Then you’ve got the idea of a legendary run in comics. This is why you’ll hear comic enthusiasts say something like, “I believe John Byrne’s run on The Fantastic Four is second only to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s time on the same series.” Runs are possible because some titles have been around for more years than I’ve been alive. For example, in the course of a series like Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man, which launched in 1963, a long list of writers and artists (not to mention inkers, colourists, letterers, and editors) have worked on the book over the decades, bringing the venerable web-slinger to life. Naturally, fans like how Spidey is handled more or less depending on who is doing the drawing and writing. And of course we fans also love to debate the merits of different runs. Steve Ditko did the art for the first 38 issues of Spider-Man and his run is considered foundational. But some modern fans prefer, say, when John Romita Jr. drew the title with J. Michael Straczynski scripting in the early 2000s. It’s all up to personal preference. Why are some runs so fruitful, such a riot of invention? Dunno. It’s up to comics alchemy. There are ongoing debates about why a particular partnership jells, setting the comic world on fire. But nobody knows exactly why a specific illustrator or writer is in the zone over a sustained period of time. So companies such as Marvel or DC can’t set out to launch a legendary run. It just happens. You might as well try to guess what the source of all creativity is.What I do know for sure is that in my long career as a comic fan, I’ve been blessed to witness many amazing runs. It was probably the partnership of John Byrne with Chris Claremont on The Uncanny X-Men back in the late 1970s and early 1980s that solidified my burgeoning love for comic books. The work they did together is still remembered fondly today, including the Dark Phoenix story arc. Those issues are beyond legendary, beloved by subsequent generations of comics fans – and the folks in Hollywood, who continue to plunder the duo’s ideas for fresh movie material. The pair launched a team of Canadian heroes, Alpha Flight, during their reign on X-Men. Byrne would later pencil and write the first 28 issues of that group’s own title, which I just finished re-reading in anthology form. Why was Byrne on the Alpha Flight series for only two years? Because that was enough to tell all the Alpha Flight stories he wanted to tell. The sometime Canadian then had a truncated run on The Incredible Hulk – it’s not clear to me why he didn’t do more than six issues of the rampaging creature’s adventures. It’s not like he didn’t have the staying power – as he proved when he did the creative duties on The Fantastic Four for a staggering six years. (It wasn’t until I read the early Kirby/Lee issues of Fantastic Four that I understood what Byrne was trying to accomplish with Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing. So sometimes a particular run will “echo” a previous one on purpose.) Other runs I love: Walt Simonson on Thor, David Mazzuchelli on Daredevil, George Perez and Marv Wolfman on The New Teen Titans, George Freeman on Captain Canuck, Michael Golden and Bill Mantlo on The Micronauts. The new wrinkle in modern publishing seems to be that the legendary runs are published as a series with a limited lifespan, such as Jeff Lemire’s 40-issue Sweet Tooth series, which was such a moving story (with a concrete ending) it made me cry. Or Mark Waid’s Irredeemable, which lasted a similar 37 issues. Those comics were not meant to go on endlessly. Perhaps today’s comics publishers realize sometimes less is more, and the concept of a superhero series that will grind on for years, eating up creative talent, has built-in limitations of its own. I mean, Byrne and Claremont had the audacious ambition to kill off Phoenix during their tenure on X-Men, a stunning move in 1980. But looking back, it feels like each subsequent creative team has sent her to the grave, too. I know that’s an exaggeration, but even a Phoenix can die only so many times before readers grow restless. Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 31 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
New Comic Collection on Sale Starting Saturday, February 17
We just purchased another great new collection of comic book back issues! This collection includes CGC graded and non-graded issues.The collection includes hundreds of back issues. Comics include Spiderman, X-Men, Transformers, Daredevil, Dragon Ball Z, Avengers, Captain America, The Hulk, and more. This collection will only be available in store. Visit early and buy before they are all gone!L.A. Mood Comics and Games100 Kellogg Lane, Suite 5London ON N5W0B4, Canada
