For over a decade, the first Saturday of May has always been a very special day for comic book fans! That’s when comic book stores around the world participate in Free Comic Book Day, a day where the brick and mortar shops give away special editions of certain comic books for FREE! If you are a big comic book fan or have wanted to see what the fascination was for these graphic books, tomorrow is the day to hit the stores!

For a full list of books that will be available for the taking, head over to the Free Comic Book Day site. You can even download a preview of some of them.  Since there are over 50 comics to choose from, we decided to ask our own comic book reviewers to recommend which books are a must have.  So to get you started on your pull list for tomorrow, here’s what our experts suggest:

Brian Tudor:

Here are the books I’m picking up and you should try these out too — heck they’re free after all.

‘Avatar the Last Airbender’:  With ‘Dark Horse’ losing the ‘Star Wars’ line, I’m really hoping they pick up that slack with Avatar stories with Aang and company.

‘Rocket Raccoon’:  Talking/murdering raccoon? Need I say more?

I’m also picking up the two Valiant books, because Valiant has the best books in comics right now and the ‘Armor Hunters’ story arch is set up to be epic!

Stuart Conover:

Guardians of the Galaxy’: With the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ movie coming this Fall, many newcomers to the cosmic side of Marvel may want to get to know the characters as much as possible! This issue will be featuring a couple of Marvel characters who won’t be in the film (as Venom and Captain Marvel join the team) but it will shed light on the current story arc that is taking place after the X-Men crossover ‘The Trial of Jean Grey‘. Also included is a bonus feature for Spider-Man fans!

‘The Tick’: SQUEE! Everyone needs some entertainment in their lives and The Tick is so absurd — he provides that in droves. From his moth wearing sidekick Arthur to his battle cry of “SPOON!”, the level of crazy skyrockets in every issue! Speaking of crazy, his first appearance did feature him escaping from a mental institution, just to give you a frame of reference on his unique outlook of life. Come for the insanity and stay for the laughs!

‘V-Wars’:  ‘V-Wars’ is the brainchild of Jonathan Maberry who, love him or hate him, writes some great horror! This is the introductory issue for this summer’s ongoing ‘V-Wars’ series that will pit humanity against vampire in a terrifying and deadly war. The first shots are fired here as we are introduced to not only the reality of vampires but the huge variety of species that actually makes them up!

Ali Boom:

‘Atomic Robo’: This has always been my choice for Free Comic Book Day and I have never once regretted it (it had Carl Sagan once, so I was hooked!). That’s why this year, it’s going on my picks because you can never ever go wrong with ‘Atomic Robo’.

‘Avatar’: I know a lot of you are thinking  “‘Avatar’? That show is over! Why would I want the comic?” Well, friend, it’s because the comics are very good, and one of my favorite pulls even though they are released rather sparingly. My first glimpse of the ‘Avatar’ comics was on Free Comic Book Day and I’m glad for it every day. This is one I’ll definitely be picking up.

Jason Bowles:

‘Rocket Raccoon/Guardians of the Galaxy’ (Marvel) : Marvel is taking a big risk and spinning its cosmic (but not well-known) ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ into a big budget motion picture later this summer.  In anticipation, they are releasing TWO Free Comic Book Day issues, one featuring the team proper and one starring the character that most think will be the break-out star of the movie, Rocket Raccoon.  Considering that ‘Guardians’ has the lowest profile of any Marvel property to hit the big screen, it doesn’t hurt to promote them in any way they can… and this way is FREE!

‘DC The New 52: Future’s End’ (DC): This marks the first New 52 (mainstream continuity) appearance of Batman Beyond (Terry McGuinness) as he combats a team of cyborgs designed to replace the Justice League.  This apocalyptic future has already been teased in other DC books, so this storyline is bound to have a major impact in the rest of the DC roster.

‘Kaboom Summer Blast’ (Kaboom):  Comics have long been a dying art form.  Those of us that grew up able to buy comics at the local gas station or grocery store are the last of our kind.  Kids today have TV, video games and the internet.  They don’t need paper with drawings and words on them.  The only way for this art form to survive is to tap into new audiences.  Kaboom does that by publishing comics based on stuff that kids already like, like Cartoon Network shows ‘Adventure Time’ and ‘Regular Show’ plus perennial favorites like ‘Garfield’ and ‘Peanuts’!  This freebie not only includes shorts based on those existing properties, it will mark the debut of a new comic series!

Ben Silverio:

Naturally, I picked Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Rocket Raccoon’ as my top picks, with DC’s ‘Futures End’ coming in third because I love ‘Batman Beyond’, but I’ve decided to forgo those choices in favor of some lesser known titles.

‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’: Back in the early 90s, I was a really young kid. Before I fully immersed myself in Marvel Superheroes and WWE, I think my first big fandom was ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’. Even after I moved on, I remember still loving all the toys. Since then, the show has gone through many versions of the team, but this book revisits the original 1993 line up and shares all-new adventures with Jason, Tommy, Kimberly, Billy, Zack, and Trini. I’m excited about this for mostly nostalgic reasons.

‘Sherwood, TX/Boondock Saints’: I’ve never heard of ‘Sherwood, TX’, but it’s hard to find anyone who hasn’t heard of ‘Boondock Saints’. The MacManus brothers take their brand of justice to the pages of a comic book in a brand new story that was originally a deleted scene from the first movie. Franchise creator Troy Duffy even had a hand in writing the comic, so we know that the new tale will be in line with the cult classic film.

‘The Tick’: Everyone needs more Tick in their lives. Ever since I saw the cartoon in 1994, I’ve been a fan of the superhero spoof and its nonsensical hero’s adventure. I haven’t caught up with the Mighty Blue Justice since the live action show in 2001, but I’m excited to see him again on Free Comic Book Day. SPOOOOOOOOON!

 

And there you have it! The top picks from our very own ScienceFiction.com comic experts. Whether you are a long time comic book reader or new to the world of comic books, Free Comic Book Day is a great event and one that shouldn’t be missed! To find a comic book store near you that is participating in this event, head to the Free Comic Book Day site.

Let us know what you picked up and whether you thought our recommendations were spot on!