Yes, it’s that time of year again – Free Comic Book Day, our national holiday for comics, is nearly upon us, and as it coincides with the new Iron Man movie, it comes at a very fortuitous time indeed. There are at least two free comics this year of relevance to this blog. The first is a sampler for the graphic novel Gunplay, as part of:

COMIC BOOK CHALLENGE SHOWCASE #1—FCBD 2008 EDITION

by DJ Coffman & Jorge Vega, Coffman & Dominique Vivona

This Free Comic Book Day comic showcases the best of the best in the Comic Book Challenge, including 2006 winner DJ Coffman’s Hero By Night and 2007 winner Jorge Vega and Dominique Vivona’s Gunplay. This jam-packed book is sure to inspire, entertain and inform!

32pgs, FC

The second is a Dabel Brothers sampler, and although they’re the publishers and not the creators, they still count:

DEL REY & DABEL BROTHERS PREVIEW—FCBD 2008 EDITION

by Various

The Dabel Brothers make their Free Comic Book Day Debut with a jam-packed issue that offers exclusive previews of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle, George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards: The Hard Call, and Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son. But that’s not all! The Dabels are also including some never-before-seen artwork and a preview of Del Rey Manga’s upcoming graphic novel, In Odd We Trust, by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan. It’s hard to believe they’ve fit so much into one book!

32pgs, FC

A full list of the free comics can be found at the FCBD site. For the comic shop nearest you, may I direct you to the link on the left for the Comic Shop Locator Service.