Welcome to Weekend Reading 159: Free Comic Book Day 2023 edition! Will you be heading to your Local Comic Shop to pick up some of the FCBD offerings this year?
The Beat wants to hear from you! Give us a shout-out, right here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat, and let us know what you’re thinking.
AVERY KAPLAN: This weekend, I’m checking out Salome’s Last Dance by Daria Tessler. Then, inspired by Stephen King’s Danse Macabre, I’m revisiting one of my favorite prose novels ever: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. My Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of the seminal book features an arresting illustrated cover by Thomas Ott.
TAIMUR DAR: Scrolling through the libby app at the various comic collections available to borrow, I discovered the first volume of The Sensational She-Hulk that encompasses the beginning of John Byrne’s run on the character. You’d think I would’ve dug into it last fall when the Disney+ Shulkie debuted, but I was more likely so busy I didn’t think to check out some of the source material. My first real dive into She-Hulk comics began back in 2006 when I first checked out Dan Slott’s run which I loved and of course had a lot of Byrne influence. So I figure it’s a good time to check out some of the original Byrne Shulkie comics for myself. And of course, It being FCBD, I’ll obviously check out some of the title offerings. I’m probably most excited for a new Umbrella Academy story.
BILLY HENEHAN: I’m writing this from a very chill line outside of New York City’s legendary Forbidden Planet. Folks are chitchatting about NYCC, local shops, King Charles’s coronation, the ‘86 Mets and where wrestling stars of yesteryear are now. We’re all here for a common goal, to get a fat bag of free comics and shop at Forbidden Planet’s FCBD weekend sale. Once I get home, I’m most excited to read the new Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, as well as Kotto Kotorra by David Alvarez and Sean Patrick O’Reilly. I know my daughter will be excited to read the new Spidey And Friends together later. You can check out my other Free Comic Book Day picks here. Now excuse me, I’m turning back to the conversation in line to hear which 90’s wrestler is also a CPA.
CY BELTRAN: Well, I’m moving apartments this weekend so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to read or hit up FCBD… BUT I wanted to shout out my LCS for anyone in the Chicago-area, so shout-out to First Aid Comics in Hyde Park! It’s my favorite shop in the city and they have a 20% sale all day today, so check-em out! I’ll be back next week with more ramblings about Stephen King for sure.
REBECCA OLIVER KAPLAN: I’m sad to miss FCBD this year, so I’m soothing my soul with a whole stack of weekend reading material. I’m late to the party, but I’m finally checking out Zoe Thorogood‘s It’s Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth: An Auto-Bio-Graphic-Novel.
Last but not least, I’m checking out a couple of comics from the crowdfunding circuit, including two volumes of Dax Gordine‘s Forest Folk and the beginning of the Asunda comic series The Untamed by Sebastian A. Jones, Christopher Garner, James C. Webster, Darrell May, with lettering by A Larger World Studios.
You can peruse the 158 previous entries in The Beat’s Weekend Reading archive by clicking here. Weekend Reading is edited by Avery Kaplan.
