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| Click Here to Find a Store Participating in the 2014 Halloween ComicFest |
So when is a Halloween Comic not a Halloween comic and yet
still a Halloween comic? When it’s a ComicFest freebie! A new event has been
popping up the Saturday before Halloween and its gaining steam. You probably
know about free comic book day. It takes place the first Saturday in May and
comic book shops and publishers nationwide use this event as a way to garner
business by offering free comics.
Well, for a collector like me 12 months is a long time to
wait. So, the industry has adopted Halloween as the perfect half-way point to
gain interest in the medium.
Halloween ComicFest, which is Saturday October 25th
this year, is more of a kids event However, the brain child of Gemstone Publishing
and Diamond Distributions allows fans ranging from ages 1-101 can go into their favorite comic book shop and receive some
free Halloween themed comics. Whereas free comic book day gives away dozens
upon dozens of free titles, there are usually only about 20 comics offered
during the Halloween event. But the number is growing. Why in 2010, you only
had 3 or 4 titles to choose from. As ComicFest gains in popularity, the number
of titles is sure to grow.
So let’s talk Axe Cop. It was a 2012 offering for ComicFest.
Axe Cop may seem violent and it is. But it’s also quite insane. The premise is
that a cop while investigating a fire found the perfect axe and turned into a
macho cop who chops the head off of bad guys with the help of his partner,
Flute Cop and a T-Rex with machine guns for arms.
Axe Cop was the idea of a 5 year old and his 29-year old
brother. Malachai Nicolle would come up with these insane adventures when
playing with his toys. Older bro Ethan, an aspiring cartoonist, decided to
transcribe these adventures and turned them into a web comic aptly titled Axe
Cop.
I first learned of Axe Cop about 3 years ago. I feel in love
with the back story and thought that this insanity was shear brilliance. Last
year, Axe Cop became a short-lived cartoon series on Fox (Hi-Def Animation
Domination). It was aged a little bit, but most of the stories from this comic were
used in that series and they’re pretty similar. Just because this series is
written by a now 8 or 9-year old, that doesn’t mean that the other cartoons
that aired with Axe Cop were all-age friendly. And like anything from the mind
of a child, there’s plenty of potty humor and skewed views of the world we live
in.
While there are zombies, dinosaurs, aliens, and monsters,
and it was given away from a Halloween comic event, this is not a ‘Halloween’
comic book. None of the events take place during the eve of All Saints. There
isn’t any trick-or-treating and there aren’t any pumpkins, candy, or apple
bobbing.
Just about all of the comics given away during ComicFest are
not Halloween-themed. (Most are also reprints of other comics and that’s my
only complaint about the Axe Cop mini-comic.) But there are plenty of spooks,
monsters, and aliens to make these comics the perfect alternative to candy.
This year, Comicfest is doing something different. Whereas
the free comics were only available through stores, people can order these
spooky comics in packs of 20 for about $4 to use as a healthier alternative to
candy for trick-or-treaters. I love this idea. As a former educator, I’ve given
out puzzles and play-doh instead of candy. The kids love the surprise of
getting something to play with for their ‘treat.’ This year, I’ll be giving
away free ComicFest Comics to the kids that come to my door this October 31st.
I’m sure the kids will love it just and I know the parents will love me for not
adding more sugar to their kids pumpkin pails.
For Family Comic Friday next week, I’ll examine a Halloween special
that stars Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and more classic Disney
princesses but isn’t for kids! Come on back October 10th as we look
at some Halloween books that look kid friendly but are more risqué than a
year’s worth of Victoria Secrets catalogues.
Worth Consuming
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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