COMIC BOOK SHOP ALTERNATIVES

Can't get to your local comic book shop because of pandemic-related closures? Here are some alternative activities to provide you with some comic book fun until life resumes back to normal. I'm sure we could all use the escapism that comic book stories provide right now!

FREE DIGITAL COMIC BOOKS

Until print editions are back in stock, some comic book publishers are providing some of their issues to read for FREE online. Marvel for example has made a number of complete story arcs involving popular characters such as the Avengers, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man available to read during the month of April for FREE via its Marvel Comics app.

Image Comics is the publisher whose titles I've been reading the most lately. Their comics have great artwork and stories with mature themes and plots aimed for readers 16+ years old. They have made the first issue of all their series available to read for FREE online. If you like what you've read than additional issues in a series can be purchased through their website. Some of my favorite comic book titles from Image are Manifest Destiny, Moonshine, Oblivion Song, Undiscovered Country and The Realm. In fact, Oblivion Song by Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead, is my FAVORITE comic book being published right now. There are more than 150 comic books to read for free right now at imagecomics.com.

Top Cow Comics has their #1 issues available to read online too as well as a few graphic novels that collect an entire first story arc to read from some of their series including Postal, Think Tank and Eden's Fall. My favorite series from Top Cow Comics are Port of Earth and Eclipse which both have their #1 issues available to read at topcow.com.

I'm always on the lookout for good Middle Grade reading level books for my 11 year old twins. If you are in search of stuff for tween aged kids to check out WRAPPED UP by David Scheidt. Thise comics revolve around Milo who appears to be just a normal 12-year-old boy… except for the fact that his parents are mummies, his best friend is a gnarly old wizard, and his babysitters are witches! David has made available the first two volumes of WRAPPED UP for FREE to help keep kids reading during the pandemic. Just download them as pdf files from the links he provided on Twitter. Each volume is 160 pages of spooky fun!

Stuck inside? Looking for something to do? Have kids? I'm giving away free PDFs of my all ages middle grade comic book series Wrapped Up for FREE!
Volume One: https://t.co/tvMHWfBiyZ
Volume Two: https://t.co/bN1eKwFfzu #kidlit #comics #kids pic.twitter.com/FMocLQ5nrd

— Dave Scheidt (@DaveScheidt) March 15, 2020

DC KIDS CAMP

Kids and kids at heart can enjoy a weekly newsletter from DC Comics full of family friendly activities and sample content of material from the publisher meant for young readers. The newsletter we received this week included a video with artist Kirk Scroggs showing how to draw the character Swamp Kid, a recipe for Bat-Signal Cookies, a preview of the graphic novel ZATANNA AND THE HOUSE OF SECRETS, and some Justice League coloring pages. CLICK HERE to sign up for the DC KIDS CAMP newsletter that will be delivered each week through the pandemic crisis. Other activities and videos are also shared throughout the week on Twitter at @DCComicsKids

https://t.co/IdBWyKsUro

— DC Kids (@DCComicsKids) April 9, 2020

HOOPLA

Check to see if your local library offers residents a subscription to Hoopla. This app available for Android and Apple devices allows people to read e-books and digital comics on mobile devices for FREE. The service has a huge selection of comic books available to read. You can download up to 7 items per month.

Comic books are bundled as graphic novels so that you can read an entire story arc or mini-series as one download. I just read the recent DCEASED mini-series that zombified the DC Comics universe on Hoopla and just downloaded a story arc of Manifest Destiny to read next. Take advantage of this great service if you are eligible to use it through your library.

HUMBLE BUNDLE

There is a pay what you want James Bond Humble Bundle deal available right now! Don't wait to jump on this offer because it will only last a few days. For just a $1 you can unlock 4 graphic novels from the Dynamite Comics James Bond comic books. $8 dollars unlocks another tier with four more graphic novels and $15 adds five more. Wow this is a great deal!

With Humble Bundle you can pay as little as $1 for an impressive number of comic books. Plus you can divvy up the amount you spend between the comic book publisher, a designated charity and the Humble Bundle platform. The charity for this James Bond bundle is the National Coalition against Censorship. So if you spent $8 dollars for the middle tier you could give the charity $6 and the other two entities $1 each or you could give the National Coalition Against Censorship $1, Humble Bundle $1 and Dynamite Comics $6.

You also don't have to just give the minimum. So purchasers could give extra money to help out the charity or publisher. Maybe someone will donate $25 dollars for the full package spending a little extra to help out the charity and the publisher during these tough economic times. What is great about Humble Bundle is you decide!

I've purchased Star Trek and Dungeon and Dragons comic books from Humble Bundle in the past. Plus I just bought this James Bond Humble Bundle for myself too. I spent $15 to get a great bundle of James Bond comic books from Dynamite comic books that have a normal retail value of almost $200.

Different bundles pop up throughout the year so always keep an eye out for what comic book deals you can find at HumbleBundle.com.

BINGE WATCH NETFLIX

Daredevil the man without fear may not be a part of the Marvel cinematic universe, but he has jumped from the pages of comic books onto a Netflix television series. There are three seasons to binge through on the streaming service. Plus a fourth season where he joins a superhero team up known as the Defenders. A criminal defense attorney by day and vigilante by night, Daredevil is always fighting for justice within New York City's Hell's Kitchen.



Dark Horse Comics popular Umbrella Academy has also leapt from comic book pages to television screens with its own Netflix original series. This story revolves around a group of young adults with superpowers who were brought together and adopted as kids by a rich, eccentric father. Now grown up but with emotional scars from their childhood of superhero training, they work together to solve a mystery surrounding their father's death and a pending global apocalypse.



One of IDW Publishing's most popular comic book series Locke & Key has also made it to Netflix. Based upon the comics by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, this television series follows the adventures of three siblings who move into a house filled with reality-bending keys. As they discover the secrets of the keys they must also protect them from supernatural threats haunting the family.

 

DC UNIVERSE MOVIES

While recent live action movies featuring DC Comics superheroes have been pretty much a bust with a few exceptions did you know there is an extensive library of animated movies which are fantastic! These aren't cartoons for kids but rather PG-13 and R rated movies that are like viewing live motion comic books. If you are a comic book fan and haven't seen these movies yet you really need to check them out!

The most recently released movie in this DC animated cinematic universe is SUPERMAN: RED SON. It takes a look at an alternate reality where Superman landed on Earth as a baby not in the heartland of America but rather in Mother Russia. Instead of standing up for the American Way, Superman is instead the enforcer of Soviet dominance. How would the world have changed and will he be friend or foe to the heroes and villains of the DC Universe?



You can watch SUPERMAN: RED SON via digital services like Movies Anywhere or buy on Blu-ray from Best Buy. This is the 37 installment in the DC Comics original animated movies series. Other movies in the series include Batman vs Teenage Mutant Turtles, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Green Lantern: First Flight, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay and Wonder Woman: Bloodlines.