Free Comic Book Day is an annual event where comic book publishers put out special full-color mini-comics for distribution free to the public at various specialty and comic book stores. This year the big day is Saturday, May 2nd, and once again there are anthropomorphic comics to be found if you go looking. Boom! Studios is offering Disney/Pixar’s Cars by Alan J. Porter and Albert Carreres, which gives us a sneak-peak at the premier issue of the new Cars comic book series — and tells us the origin of Lightning McQueen! Cartoonapalooza from Ape Entertainment brings us (among other things) the further adventures of Go-Go Gorilla and the Jungle Crew. Archie Comics present a special introduction to the world and history of Sonic the Hedgehog with Sonic the Hedgehog: Evolution of a Hero (by Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley). From Gemstone Publishing comes a special double-issue, featuring an excerpt from Don Rosa’s The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck as well as selected pages from Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories in Verse. Owly and Friends is a triple-treat from Top Shelf Productions, featuring new stories of Owly by Andy Runton, Johnny Boo by James Kochalka, and Korgi by Christian Slade. Th3rd World Studios presents a special preview of their new series The Stuff of Legend (by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith, and Charles Paul Wilson III). It’s “a dark fantasy adventure in which a group of toys fight an unseen war to save their human master from every child’s worst nightmare: The Boogeyman!” Whew. Wildcard Ink brings us new adventures in Toyland with the Gumby Two-in-One by Andrew Joseph, Shepherd Hendrix, and Ken Hooper. Perhaps the biggest news of the day: To celebrate its 25th anniversary (!), Mirage will be publishing a special free re-print of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue #1 from 1984 (by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, of course!). Look for all of these at your favorite comic book store on the first Saturday in May. But look quickly — you know they’re going to go fast!
