Cartoonists go all out for Hourly Comics Day 2024

Check out comics by Karen Czap, James Chapman, Mel Gillman and more.

It’s February, which means its time for the annual #HourlyComicsDay, where cartoonists commit to making and posting a comic every hour for a day.

That’s certainly a different task than 24-Hour Comics Day, where a creator will try to make a complete comic in a day. Because of the fast nature of trying to post a new comic every hour, most hourly comics typically fall into the “autobiography” or personal journal category, as participants detail their day in comics form.

Here are a few I saw this year. You can also find them by searching for “Hourly Comics Day” on your social media site of choice, be it BlueSky, Tumblr, Instagram or the site formerly known as Twitter.

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DC’s full Free Comic Book Day line-up for 2023

‘Knight Terrors,’ middle-grade graphic novels and more get the free comic treatment this month.

DC Comics has revealed all the free comics you can get this coming Saturday as part of the annual Free Comic Book Day event.

The publisher will release five free titles during May, some of which won’t be released on FCBD but all of which will be available digitally via DC Universe Infinite. Most of them are also showing up on Comixology’s new release page for Saturday, in case you miss getting them from a store.

Here’s a rundown on what to look for …

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‘Dawn of DC’ joins the 2023 Free Comic Book Day line-up

DC joins in on the FCBD fun for this year as other publishers reveal their final covers.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Through their solicitations for April, DC Comics has revealed at least part of their plans for this year’s Free Comic Book Day — Dawn of DC, which shares a title with their recent publishing initiative that follows Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths.

“After the near-Multiverse-ending events in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths and DC Universe: Lazarus Planet, the DC Universe will be heading toward the light,” Jim Lee, DC publisher and chief creative officer, said last year when Dawn of DC was announced. “With brand-new series and story arcs from some of the top creative members in comics, Dawn of DC is one of our most ambitious initiatives ever and is a chance for us to tell bigger and bolder stories across our line.”

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Fantagraphics launches their Cyber Monday sale early

Get 40% off almost everything on their website for today only.

Technically Cyber Monday is next week, but Fantagraphics doesn’t care — they’ve launched their Cyber Monday sale today, offering 40% off on “just about everything” on their website, plus free USPS media mail shipping on orders over $75.

It includes both backlist titles and new releases, including Jordan Crane’s incredible Keeping Two, Barry Windsor Smith’s award-winning Monsters, their collection of Liniers’ Macanudo comic strip and more from Daniel Clowes, Megan Kelso, Simon Hanselman, Jim Woodring, the Hernandez Brothers and lots of other wonderful creators.

That’s it — that’s the post. Go check out the sale, which ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.

More than 40 titles announced for Free Comic Book Day 2023

New titles from Image, Oni, BOOM! and more will debut on May 6 next year.

Diamond has revealed the rest of the 2023 Free Comic Book Day line-up, which puts an additional 31 titles into the mix. Add’em to the “gold sponsor” titles announced earlier this week for a total of 44 free comics that will be available to retailers and fans on May 6.

Some of the highlights of the “silver sponsor” titles include:

  • The Sacrificers, a new Image Comics title by Rick Remender and Max Fiumara.
  • A preview of Punch Up, a new graphic novel from Oni Press by Zack Sterling.
  • Ten Speed Press has a preview of I Am Stan, the new Stan Lee biography by Tom Scioli.
  • BOOM! Studios will preview Mech Cadets by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa, which sounds like a sequel to the wonderful Mech Cadet Yu. Update: Actually they are reprinting the first issue of the miniseries rather than releasing something new. BOO! I want a new series!
  • There’s also Animal Crossing, Nightmare Before Christmas, the Freak Brothers, the Smurfs and many more familiar names.

Check’em all out below.

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2023 Free Comic Book Day gold titles include Spider-Man, Fishflies, Dog Man and more

The first 13 titles include selections from Marvel, BOOM!, IDW, Image, Dark Horse and more.

Diamond has announced the first round of Free Comic Book Day titles for 2023. The “gold sponsor” titles for next year will include comics from Marvel, Dark Horse, AfterShock, Image, VIZ, Kodansha, Archie, BOOM!, Graphix, IDW, Titan and Dynamite, for a total of 13 titles, as Marvel will have two gold level books.

“This year’s lineup of titles has something for every kind of comic fan,” said Ashton Greenwood, Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “We’re looking forward to another great year celebrating comic books and comic book shops, and we think this year’s lineup gives fans a lot to be excited about!”

The rest of the batch — otherwise known as the silver sponsor titles — will be announced later this week. Free Comic Book Day is scheduled for May 6, 2023.

Here’s a look at each gold-level title:

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Free Comic Book Day 2022 will include more than 45 titles

Bunny Mask, Donald Duck, Pokemon, Barbaric and more will see action on comics’ favorite holiday.

Following the announcement earlier this week of the 11 Gold Sponsor titles, Diamond Comics Distributors has announced the much longer list of Silver Sponsor titles, which brings the total number of free comics coming May 7 to 46.

The titles were chosen by a committee of comic shop retailers, and the new additions include titles from BOOM! Studios, ABLAZE, Titan Comics, AfterShock Comics, Fantagraphics, Vault, Mad Cave and more. They feature many well-known properties, from the Avengers and Donald Duck to The Walking Dead and Pokemon, as well as newer titles like Bunny Mask, Barbaric and Hollow, a new BOOM! Studios graphic novel that the company will preview on Free Comic Book Day.

Here’s a look at the 35 silver titles:

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Free Comic Book Day 2022 Gold titles revealed

Diamond Comics Distributors has revealed the 11 gold-tiered titles you can get for free next May.

Diamond Comics Distributors has revealed the 11 “gold sponsor” titles that retailers will have available on Free Comic Book Day 2022, which is scheduled for May 7.

“This year’s lineup of titles has something for every kind of comic fan,” said Ashton Greenwood, Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “We’re excited for FCBD to return to the first Saturday in May, and we can’t wait to celebrate the day with another incredible line up of comic book titles. We hope fans will safely visit their local comic shops to celebrate and to pick up a few of the great titles available this year.”

Free Comic Book Day returns to its traditional May date next year after a couple of years where the pandemic caused a bit of a shuffle — but what’s new, right? This past year the event was held in August, while in 2020 the date went through several changes before ultimately being cancelled — but comics were still delivered to retailers for distribution as they saw fit during the summer.

Here’s a look at the Gold Sponsor titles; the Silver titles will likely be announced soon as well. Also, there are no DC titles on the list, since they no longer use Diamond, but it’s a safe bet they’ll have free comics available in May as well.

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Check out holiday shopping deals from comiXology, Scout, Z2 and more

Get Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on comics and more.

Black Friday is here, bringing opportunities for comic fans to find that perfect gift or just a good deal. Here’s a rundown of some comic-related things to check out today, over the weekend and on Cyber Monday. I’ll add others as I see them, so be sure to check back often.

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Watch Wonder Woman’s induction into the Comic-Con Museum Character Hall of Fame

Marie Javins, Becky Cloonan, Liam Sharp and many other comics creators talk about Wonder Woman’s impact on pop culture and the world.

The Comic-Con Museum today inducted Wonder Woman into their Character Hall of Fame, following in the footsteps of Batman and Pac-Man.

The occasion was marked with a video on the Comic-Con Museum’s YouTube channel that featured appearances by Marie Javins, Liam Sharp, Nicola Scott, Trina Robbins, Phil Jimenez, Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad, Gal Gadot, Helen Mirren, Lynda Carter, Patty Jenkins, the Teen Titans and many more.

You can watch it below:

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DC FanDome begins today at 10 a.m. Pacific

The event will stream live on DcFanDome.com and other WB social channels.

DC FanDome, the streaming event featuring all things DC superheroes that debuted in 2020, returns today with more teasers, previews, celebrities and more. You can watch it starting at 10 a.m. Pacific.

Last year’s event was very successful for Warner Bros., as they rolled out DC movie trailers, tidbits on TV shows and games, and some comics news. It came at just the right time, as the COVID pandemic continued to keep people from attending events and conventions.

While last year’s event occurred across two different days, this year’s event is slimmed down in comparison, with a single day of content — but it should still have plenty to offer. DC has trickled out a few announcements leading up to the event, and I’m sure you can expect to here more about the next Batman/Fortnite crossover, the Milestone Initiative and maybe something called Aquamen. Plus, the Rock!

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Walt Simonson, Jared Cullum win 2021 NCS Divisional Awards

French cartoonist Boulet received the Sergio Aragones International Award for Excellence in Comic Art.

This weekend is NCS Fest, the annual event hosted by the National Cartoonists Society that includes, among other activities, the NCS Divisional Awards and the annual presentation of the Reuben Award.

This year’s event is being streamed online, and the NCS has interspersed some of the awards presentations throughout the stream. Yesterday Hellboy artist Duncan Fegredo presented the award for best comic book, which went to Walt Simonson’s Ragnarok: The Breaking of Helheim. The comic is published by IDW, which also publishes the other two nominees in the category, Usagi Yojimbo and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Jennika.

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