FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013

Me, my art and comics

My ad for Free Comic Book Day

 FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013, SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2013, BSI COMICS, 3030 Severn Ave., Metairie, LA 70002

Saturday was a great day . . . FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is basically geek Christmas. If you don't know what happens you just show show up at a comic book store  on the first Saturday in May and they give you some free comic books.

The last few years I have been one of the guest artist at different shops in my area and this year was really good for sales, it seemed like the customers were a lot more interested in the artist and writers than in the past and I think everyone did well.

So what did I get for free comic book day this year. Well as a guest artist I was able to get more books than the regular customers because I was there before the store opened and the folks handing out the comics said I could take whatever I wanted . . . I call that a perk and I like to have as many as I can get to check out the many different art styles from kids comics to adult comics. A lot of the comic books that I got this year were leftovers from last year that I missed out on . . . that's a win/win situation for me.

Free Comic Books

Here's my list (all 2013 unless noted):
World of Archie Digest #1
Ernest & Rebecca: The Haunted House Mini-Comic (2011)
Johnny Boo & Harold in Tricky Treaters Mini-Comic (2012)
Ghostbusters: Times Square Mini-Comic (2012)
Scouts! Prepare For Adversity: Drafted!/Strawberry Shortcake Mini-Comic (2012)
Cow Boy: Hallow's Mini-Comic (2012)
New Crusaders: Rise of the Heroes Mini-Comic (2012)

Free Comic Books

Zombie Kid Diaries: Grossery Games Mini-Comic (2012)
Spacehawk Mini-Comic (2012)
Snarked Mini-Comic (2012)
Bongo Comics Free-For-All! 2013
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H./Avengers Assemble
Infinity #1
Judge Dredd Classics
Grimm #0
Top Shelf kids Club 2013
Molly Danger

Free Comic Books

World's of Aspen 2013
NFL Rush Zone
Atomic Robo/Brodie Troll
DC Nation Super Sampler
Bleeding Cool
Bluff & Tales from a Forgotten Planet
Mass Effect/R.I.P.D./ The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys
Valiant 2013
Valiant Masters
Ugly Doll Comics
The Walking Dead
Impact University Volume 2 (2006)
DC Nation Super Sampler (2012)
Superman Last Son of Krypton #1
Kaboom Summer Blast
Drink N Draw Society New Orleans FCBD 2013
Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell
Overstreet's Comic Book Marketplace
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures
The Strangers
The Steam Engines of Oz #1 (2012)
Spongebob Freestyle Funnies
Mega Man/Sonic The Hedgehog Worlds Collide: Prelude #0
The Smurfs
Star Wars/Avatar The Last Airbender
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Halloween Edition #1 (2012)
Sesame Street/Strawberry Shortcake

That's a pretty big haul . . . I plan on doing reviews of as many of them as I can.

Below are some sketch covers that I had for sale (didn't sell them) and a few pictures and sketches that I did for people at the event.

Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2013 Kevin P. Johnson

Hellcat Sketch Cover by Kevin P. Johnson 2013

The Thing Sketch Cover by Kevin P. Johnson 2013

Superman Sketch Cover by Kevin P. Johnson 2013

Venom Sketch Cover by Kevin P. Johnson 2013

Dazzler Sketch Cover by Kevin P. Johnson 2013

Young Comic Book Fans

Girl with Poison Ivy sketch

Lewis Aleman and Comic Book Fans

Me Sketch Cover by Tim Fletcher

Poison Ivy sketch by Kevin P. Johnson 2013

Outback sketch by Kevin P. Johnson 2013

Tattoo Kid

Red Hood

Meet Me on FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013 at BSI Comics, Metairie, LA

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY AD Copyright © 2013 Kevin P. Johnson

Hey everyone come on out to BSI Comics in Metairie, Louisiana on Saturday May 4, 2013 and meet me and some of the other local artist from the New Orleans area. We will be selling our comics, prints, art, sketches and whatever else we can think of.

BSI Comics is located at 3030 Severn Ave., Metairie, LA 70002 and you can find them on Facebook at BSI Comics or on the BSI Website.


Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2013 Kevin P. Johnson

COMICS KICK ASS WEEK - APRIL 29, 2013

Comics Kick Ass Week Poster

Check out this cool event for comic book fans COMICS KICK ASS WEEK starting April 29, 2013.

The best way to sum up the event is simply just to quote the Facebook event page "I'm tired of people celebrating movies like the Dark Knight but putting down the source material. Spend the week leading up to FCBD posting blogs, podcasts or art explaining what comics mean to you."

Join this event on Facebook 

Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson

The Haul #1: 66 Comic Books from BSI Comics, Metairie, LA

 The Haul is a new section I'll do from time to time where I document a great "Haul" of comics that I got for a low price. It doesn't happen often but every once in a while we all come into a large stack of comic books.

66 Comic Books for $17.94

Today's Haul: 66 Comic Books Price $17.94


So  today I wanted to go to BSI Comics in Metairie, LA to look through their bargain bin's of .25 cent comic books because I knew they had a few issues of The Puma Blues . . . I have never read an issue of that but I am trying to find the whole series so I can read it all at once (just need 6 more issues, including #1). I didn't intend on buying much more today but I couldn't resist the massive amounts of goodness they had (trust me I could have gone a lot more.)

So What did I get?

Comic Talk #4, 6, 7 (Wolverine), 7 (Batman), 10, 13-16
The Fly #4
Grendel Tales: The Devil's Apprentice #2
Grendel Tales: Devil's Choice #1
Grendel Tales: God And The Devil #6-7
Grendel Tales: Devil's Hammer #3
Grendel Tales: The devil May Care #3-6
Grendel Tales: Devls And Deaths #1
Grendel Tales: Four Devils One Hell #1-5
Grendel: Behold The Devil # 5-6, 8
Grendel: War Child #6, 8-9
Grendel Tales: The Devil In Out Midst #1-5
Avengers West Coast #96
The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #2-3, 5, 7, 10, 14-15, 17
Cloak and Dagger #2
Cloak and Dagger (LS) #1, 3
Sheena Queen Of the Jungle #0
Comics Interview #106
JLA-Z #3
Wonder Girl #1, 4-5
The Puma Blues #2, 21
Marvel Spotlight: World War Hulk
Alpha Flight Vol.2: Origin Special #1
Alpha Flight #15, 18-20, 22-23, 38, 71, 74

So what I ended up doing today was filling some holes in my collection while creating a lot more with the Grendel issues and found a new mystery in the Comic Talk issues which are interview comics that I can find very little about online and for some reason two different issues of #7 were published in different months both covers have August 1993 on them but the Wolverine version has October 1993 on the copyright page . . . I will find the answer to this mystery . . . some day.

BSI Comics is located at 3030 Severn Ave., Metairie, LA 70002, Open 7 Days a week
Website: BSI Comics
Facebook: BSI
Phone: 504-885-5250

Bargain Bin Comics

Bargain Bin Comics

Bargain Bin Comics

Bargain Bin Comics

Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright ©2013 Kevin P. Johnson

SUPER DINOSAUR #1

They had me at Super Dinosaur.
They had me at armored rocket launching T-Rex.
They had me at talking dinosaur people from the middle of the earth.
They had me at Robert Kirkman has a new comic book out called Super Dinosaur.

I wasn't expecting this comic book . . . hell I didn't even know that it was coming out until I saw a video by Jason and Monty of BSI Comics where they talked about it. Well I went over to the store and bought it and it was soooooooo worth it. This comic is what I'd like to call crazy . . . good crazy . . . fun crazy. You've got mad scientist, a talking T-Rex, a bunch of dinosaur men that can also talk, a genius kid that helps his scientist dad figure out how to make things work and some robots just for fun. Oh and before its over there is a work crew that reminds me of some sort of modern day Speed Racer pit crew.

The basic plot is that Super Dinosaur and young Derek Dynamo (son of Doctor Dynamo) and his robot Wheels are a team that each day set out to stop the evil plans of the evil Dinosaur Men created by Max Maximus. They do pretty well with this but the armor Super Dinosaur is not quite strong enough to do the job and the new "Pit Crew" comes in and helps fix all the problems making Super Dinosaur and super bad-ass missile shooting talking T-Rex. Oh and lets not forget the rebellion amongst the dinosaur men.

The book is fairly fast paced and makes great strides in its efforts to include a little bit of the many directions this book will go and introduces a cast of characters that all seem to have unique personalities. The book knows its crazy and all about a Super Dinosaur but I think Kirkman and the gang have set themselves up to have great fun and play as if they were 8 year old's. It seems I'm never in on that comic that is really cool and everyone loves and just a few months later its all sold out and the 1st issue is marked up to $20. Well I don't know if it'll be like that but it feels like a special title that everyone should read if they like having fun with comic books.

If you don't believe me that its is awesome you better be sure to pick up the FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2011 - SUPER DINOSAUR ORIGIN SPECIAL! Get it on Saturday May 7, 2011 at your local comic book store. It'll be free.

Story by Robert Kirkman, Art & Colors by Jason Howard, Letters by Rus Wooton, Cover by Jason Howard, Publisher - Image Comics, Cover Price - $2.99, 28 pages, full color.


Thanks for reading,

Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson
Images are copyright © 2011 Image Comics are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of Image Comics.

Hero By Night (Hardcover) - Platinum Studios Comics/ Top Cow

Hero By Night . . . never heard of it . . . me either.

So I went into BSI Comics in Metairie, LA and as I am looking through the used trade paperback and graphic novel section and what catches my eye besides Hero By Night and its awesome blue flame cover (my photo does not do it justice). The cover has a foil stamped logo and some of the flames are also treated the same way.

The basic story is that a young man who isn't really living up to his fathers expectations finds the hidden base of Hero By Night a superhero who was last seen in 1956. He soon finds out that a ring that is included with the journals and costumes gives him power.

As any broke young person might think he quickly decides to sell his findings on eBay. This only notifies the bad guys that the ring has been found. Before you know it our young friend (Jack King) is thrust into becoming the new version of the superhero Hero By Night.

I'm not going to spoil this comic any more for you because I want you all to read it. It's a really fun read and can be found online for free at this link: Hero By Night the website includes the entire book in the Mini-Series section but the really cool thing about the site is that it also includes the Journals from 1945-1956 of the original Hero By Night and then there is an Ongoing Series section that seems to have ended in 2008.

Hero By Night does a good job of being fun and original and I think that people who have read and enjoyed The Escapist will find a familiar feel about this book and will have a great time reading it as I did.

Note: I have not yet read the webcomic pages yet but I do look forward to it it looks just as fun as this book.

Hero By Night is written and drawn by D. J. Coffman with colors by Jason Embury. Hardcover, 96 pages, full color. Cover price $12.99.

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Image is copyright © 2007 Platinum Studios Comics and used as Fair Use Review images only. Image will be removed upon the request of Platinum Studios Comics.



FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2008 - The Holdays are among us

So Free Comic Book Day was good this year again. We don't have conventions around here but we sure do have generous comic book stores. I went to three comic shops on Free Comic Book Day and got a boat load of stuff. In Metairie, Louisiana BSI Comics offered 10 free comics, & Media Underground Comics offered anything you wanted (they had a lot and some leftovers from previous years) both also had guest and heroclix and posters and stuff. Magic Comics and Hobbies in Slidell, Louisiana had all the big name books and some of the indie stuff, hero clix, Star Wars minatures figures and they were also giving away some Planet Hulk issues that they had overstock of. In years past I'd have gone to more stores but this year I was kina sick and had gotten most of the books so I called it a day and it was a good day.

Free Comic Book Days is my favorite holiday because to be honest I'm the only one in my family that is into comics and I don't have to worry about pleasing anyone or being at anyones house or whatever the other holidays bring.

So what did I get:

Lets start with the extras: I got three Iron Man Heroclix figures (not sure what series these are for) and one Iron Man (Supernova Series) Heroclix figure, one Wonder Woman (DC Heroclix Origin) Heroclix figure, three Batman (DC Heroclix Origin) Heroclix figures and 1 each of the Star Wars miniature figures Quarren and a clone trooper.

I got an autographed poster from the creators of Welcome To Border City the webcomic located at www.welcometobordercity.com and got to see some of the original artwork. NICE STUFF guys!!!

Now for the comis I got:
2 copies of the EC Sampler
1 copy of Nascar Heroes
1 copy of Comics Go Hollywood
3 copies of Owly and Friends
1 copy of Ignatz
1 copy of Maintenance
1 copy of Wizard's How To Draw
1 copy of Kid Houdini and The Silver Dollar Misfits
1 copy of Shin Chan (Ashcan sized comic)
1 copy of The Moth
1 copy of Hero By Night/Gunplay
1 copy of Gumby
1 copy of Hellboy: The Golden Army
2 copies of Hellboy: The Mole
2 copies of Cartoona Palooza (1 autographed by Tim Lattie artist of White Picket Fences)
2 copies of Broken Trinity
1 copy of Impact University Volume 4
1 copy of Shonen Jump Special
1 copy Transformers Animated
1 copy of Sonic The Hedgehog
1 copy of Archies Pal Jughead
1 copy Walt Disney's Gyro Gearloose
1 copy od The Incredible Hulk/Iron Man
2 copies of Marvel Adventures Iron Man & Hulk & Spider-Man
3 copies of All Star Superman
2 copies of Bongo Comics Free-For-All 2008
1 copy of Graphic Classics
2 copies of Tiny Titans
1 copy of Worlds Of Aspen #3
1 copy of Love And Capes #7
1 copy of Del Rey & Dabel Brothers 2008 Preview
2 copies of Avengers/Invaders Sketchbook
1 copy of Owly: Helping Hands
3 copies of X-Men
2 copies of Project Superpowers: The Death-Defying Devil
1 copy of Arcana Presents
2 copies of Dan Dare/TheStranded
1 copy of Atomic Robo/Neozoic
1 copy of Neotopia: The Enlightened Age Book 1 (full manga book in color)

yes it was a good day!

- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

What I'm Reading - My Pull List

What I’m Reading – My Pull List

Almost everyone out there in comic book land has their monthly pull-list of comics that they collect or just have to have out of some sort of weird obsessive compulsive pattern of behavior that they just can’t help but satisfy. For me I tend to buy a comics series for a very long timer even if I am years behind on reading them for example I am probably 2 years or so on Green Arrow and I have not even started to read the new Green Arrow and Black Canary series because I just have to catch up yet on other occasions I just jump back in on a series and do the catching up later I had let Spider-Man titles lag for a while and when I heard that they were doing one title three times monthly I jumped into the One More Day story arc and have kept up to date on Amazing Spider-Man.

Most comic book stores allow customers to create a pull list and is the thing to do if you collect more than five titles a month (if your shop offers this). Having a pull list is often a great idea because in my experience the shop will get to know you better and they can suggest new titles and if there is something missing from your folder (a fancy name for pull list) they will often go out of their way to get you your comic. In my case I have a cash issue and I have gone to an Internet service so that I can get a discount and get most of the comics that I want to read the indies lose out these days and Marvel and DC dominate my pull list but I love independent comics too and try to read as many as I can.

If you are in the New Orleans, Louisiana area I suggest going over to BSI Comics in Metairie and talking to manager Jason Grazulis and he can set you up. The shop is well stocked and they even have a girl working there “WOOO HOOO” so check them out at

http://www.bsicomics.com/ or stop in and impulse buy like I do. Also in the New Orleans are on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain stop in at Slidell’s best Magic Comics and Hobbies. Owner David Strecker is an awesome guy he even got me a copy of Captain America #25 on the day it came out when I didn’t even have it on my pull list. The shop is nice and they carry a wide variety of comics, toys, games and just about everything you can think of. Get on David’s good side and tell him you like Thor and ask him where he got that awesome book shelf that weighs about a million pounds. Check out http://www.magic-comics.com/index.html and find links to their online store. Since I’m on a budget I shop online at DCBS http://www.dcbservice.com/ they give great discount usually a minimum of 35% but sometimes 75% off on hot new # 1’s. I love this service and although they are an online service they treat you like they are their best friends. They go the extra mile for you and even find issues that they thought we out of stock for you. (Thanks Zack Ms. Marvel #25 is happy to be at my house I promise) Cameron Merkler is in charge over there (I think) and they do a great job of getting comics shipped quickly and in excellent 9.8 condition. Shipping is only $5.95 too for whatever you order.

So anyway here’s my current pull-list

Comics:

Action Comics
Amazing Spider-Man
Batman
Captain America
Detective Comics
Final Crisis
Green Arrow and Black Canary
Hulk
Justice League Of America
Justice Society Of America
Mighty Avengers
Moon Knight
Mouse Guard Winter 1152
Ms. Marvel
New Avengers
Secret Invasion
Thor
Uncanny X-Men
Usagi Yojimbo
Wonder Woman
X-Factor
X-Men Legacy

Magazines:

Comics Now
Wizard

That's it for now talk to you soon!!!

-Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson