geekosystem

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, which means...exactly what it sounds like! A chance to go down to your friendly neighborhood comics retailer and pick up some new books for the low price of absolutely nothing. Don't have a local store? This is the perfect day to find one and introduce yourself around while you're filling a swag bag to near bursting. Just don't go without a plan in place.

If there's a better use of crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo than getting the Northlake Public Library a nine-foot-tall statue of The Hulk, we don't know what that use is. The librarians of Northlake have big plans, and those plans involve a giant Hulk statue, and helping people read and create more comic books. They also have one of the most awkward campaign videos we've ever seen.

We got mad psyched a few weeks ago when Marvel tried to offer free digital downloads of 700 titles from their current and past runs. Well, the giveaway didn't quite work. The servers were overwhelmed by the surge and everything slogged to a halt because, hey, free stuff. Now it's take two: Marvel's trying again to hook you with the offer of up to 700 first-issue downloads, but rather than making it a crazy free-for-all, fans need to sign up on ComiXology's special promotions page -- assuming they can keep that page working. Oh, and you've got less than two days to get in on this.

Did you love the original Calvin and Hobbes comics or appreciate the recent animated short? Doesn't matter. One way or another, the Gritty Reboots folks have delivered us a fan trailer for a movie that doesn't exist and probably shouldn't. The results are decidedly dark, existential, and beyond silly, but just in case, let's not let Michael Bay see this, okay?

I'm all about there being more things that there aren't enough of. Superheroes dominate the world of comics, and that's fine, but I always felt there weren't enough comics in other sci-fi/fantasy subgenres. It's getting much better, though, and I'm personally stoked to see He-Man -- you know, blond Conan in space sans the womanizing -- return to the world of comics in April. Masters of the Universe (MotU) is the perfect blend of science fiction and fantasy: Swords, spaceships, magic, pseudo-science, laser guns, and crazy doomsday devices. DC Comics picked up the reins and announced the new series in January, but now they're showing off some artwork from the first issue. Folks, Hordak's back, and he's getting scarier.

Calvin and Hobbes was one of those great comics -- like The Far Side -- that at its dullest was still far, far more entertaining than the best installment of Family Circus. Cartoonist Bill Watterson had a great thing going with his strip, because it was as humorous as it was deep. Calvin's imagination and occasional philosophical musings are rightly admired still. Calvin and Hobbes never launched into a bigger franchise or animated series -- but only because Watterson didn't care for all that. "My strip is a low-tech, one-man operation, and I like it that way," he said in The Calvin and Hobbes: Tenth Anniversary book. That said, animator Adam Brown (Ugly Americans) went and made a short little animation of the comic, and it somehow manages to encapsulate its charm.

It looks like Marvel may have underestimated just how much people like free stuff. At SXSW this weekend, the publisher announced they would be offering digital downloads of the first issues of 700 titles from the company's current run, as well as their storied past. Sounds like a pretty great deal, right? Well, you're not alone in thinking that -- so many people agree with you, in fact, that as I type this, links to the giveaway on both digital comic clearinghouse Comixology and Marvel's in-house digital comic shop are overwhelmed with traffic and not so much working.

ComiXology is probably the biggest name in the digital comics world, and their new service wants to help self-publishing artists reach the largest audience possible. ComiXology Submit allows artists to submit their work to be adapted into the "Guided View" format -- for free, and have it distributed through the service, splitting the profits evenly with comiXology. There's about to be a lot more digital comics in the world, and that's just fine with us.

Whether you love him, hate him, or respect the man simply on the grounds that he puts up with all the vitriol each day with a smile, comic book artist and perennial punching bag Rob Liefeld was instrumental in the formation of Image Comics: A publisher that for over 20 years has provided an outlet for aspiring writers and artists to have their work published in an industry dominated by Marvel and DC Comics. Despite clashes within the company that led to his resignation in 1996, Liefeld believes that the legacy of Image Comics is one that needs to be told as a feature-length biopic, acknowledging the comic creators that risked everything to make their collective ambition a reality. Liefeld completed the screenplay for the film, called Icons, in just three days, and he's cobbled together a wishlist of potential actors to portray some of the comic industry's greatest. For the role of Liefeld, the man himself has chosen Chris Pine -- as in the current Captain Kirk -- for the honor.

Just because DC Comics' New 52 initiative rebooted an entire comic book universe and started fresh with a whole bunch of #1 issues certainly doesn't mean the publisher won't acknowledge one of its flagship titles reaching a 76-year milestone. This coming April, Detective Comics will be celebrating an astounding 900 issues chronicling the heroics of everyone's favorite -- no, really, how can anyone possibly hate on the guy? -- brooding super sleuth: Batman! The caped crusader has been solving mysteries and busting the underworld's teeth since his debut in Detective Comics #27, and DC Comics promises to do Batman justice with the second volume of the legendary series' 19th issue.

Whether you gracefully accepted it as the next bold step in the hero's storied legacy or drove yourself to giving up on reading anything from Marvel Comics forever -- which really translates to about two weeks, let's not kid ourselves -- there's no denying that the upcoming transition of the role of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is a historic milestone for the web-slinger, with the new Spider-Man's madcap adventures in altruism starting tomorrow in Superior Spider-Man #1. As is the case with the renumbering of any comic series featuring a popular character, people who don't typically pick up funny books will fight inhibition and see what all the geeky hubbub is about, even if they're not up on the years of complex continuity. In an effort to save these valiant few the time spent reading back issues and collected editions, the fine folks at ComicVine have together a nifty video highlighting the important moments of Spider-Man and a certain villain's 50-year conflict that led to the controversial change in direction.

Happy New Year! Today's the start of 2013, sure, but that doesn't mean we have to give up on 2012 just yet. There were a number of wonderful and amazing things released this past year. From video games to movies, comedy albums to comics, 2012 was chock-full of lovely creations to occupy our time. That said, there were certainly a select few that stood well above the rest. Each of us here at Geekosystem has provided three picks from 2012's lineup that we think everyone else would be foolish not to check out. Hit the jump to see what we consider to be the absolute best things to come out of 2012!

Since revealing that The Amazing Spider-Man would end its near 50-year run with issue #700 and restart fresh with The Superior Spider-Man #1, Marvel Comics teased their legion of unwavering Spidey devotees with the knowledge that the wise-cracking hero and his spirited sense of carpe diem would be done away with in favor of an edgier, stronger, and smarter Spider-Man that can apparently shatter mere stone with his fingertips. "Wait," cheeped the little fanboys and girls, "what could possibly turn our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man into a calculating, take-no-prisoners vigilante?" We have the startling answer, and if you're not bothered by massive spoilers and want to see what the geeky hullabaloo is all about, web swing past the jump to ruin the surprise for yourself.

Well, boys and girls, it looks like the time has finally come: Today's the day mankind bids farewell to its existence and says a hearty hello to the feathered serpent god, Kukulkan, as he finally returns to our earthly plane. Even as we stare into the face of our imminent destruction, be thankful that we don't live in the fictitious realms of comic books. Why? Because if we did, every single day would feel like the apocalypse, what with so many intergalactic warlords, omnipotent entities, and cataclysms from the depths of space and beyond laying waste to Earth. If beings like that were tearing things up right here, right now, 12/21/12 truly would be a day to remember. On that note, here's seven comic book characters you wouldn't want to see on December 21st -- though your efforts to hide would prove futile!

It was the question that was on every comic book fan's mind the moment Disney purchased Lucasfilm for a whopping $4 billion dollars, "What about Dark Horse Comics?" Since 1991, the publisher has been churning out all manner of Star Wars comics, expanding the mythos laid out by the original film trilogy, but now that Disney has both Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm in its pocket, it was inevitable that the license to the galaxy far, far away would end up in the hands of the House of Ideas at some point. Enjoy Dark Horse's handling of Star Wars comics while it lasts, because after 2013, Marvel will be riding the Millennium Falcon all the way to the bank.