TODAY ONLY [April 9] Curious about comics? Grab over 700 FREE first issues.

[Captain Electric]

Note to Aggelakis: Putting this in General Discussion to avoid preaching to the choir, as they say.

Before March, 2009, I had ascended (descended?--ah, another topic) into speculative/literary fiction snobbishness for years. Unlike many other comic book fans who came to City of Heroes, the game helped inspire me to check out the genre. I picked up the Issue 14: Mission Architect box for some lighthearted interactive fun. What I discovered instead was a gateway drug to comic book super heroes, and comics have been a part of my bedtime reading ever since.

Now I know the regular troop of veteran comic book fans might show up to gripe how comics have gone downhill, but for me it's just the opposite. Older fans may reminisce over eras that new arrivals will feel no nostalgia for, and I suspect this underlies 80 percent of the origin of those debates. Many of the recent super hero movies are put together in a way that reminds me of the contemporary crop of comic books.

The juxtaposition of art and story, believableness and nonsense, serious drama and cornball action (especially modern era comics) distracts and massages the mind, wakes up the imagination over time, helps me wind down, and leads to interesting dreams.

No matter how you think you should feel about comic books, they are like a shot of B-vitamins to the imagination and I highly recommend this enduring genre. They fill a role that regular book reading doesn't always fill. The combination of smart continuity and glaring childlike plot holes (which you're supposed to ignore, apparently) are an exercise in unclenching that you'll never receive anywhere else in any excusable way.

The multiverse is full of multiverses and that's no typo. No matter what your background is, there are characters and stories that will inspire you.

https://imageshack.us/a/img198/3939/marvelheaderb.png

TODAY ONLY: https://promo.marvel.com/

Marvel is pleased to announce the return of Marvel #1, a unique opportunity for fans to experience all of their favorite Marvel super heroes--and some new ones--by accessing over 700 #1 issues for free. These free comics can be read online in the Marvel Digital Comics Shop, or the Marvel Comics app (for iPhone®, iPad®, iPod Touch® & Android™ devices), both powered by comiXology.

Head on over now to the special promotional page and sign up to get in on the action before Marvel #1 registration ends at 11:59 PM ET on April 9, 2013.

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/news/story/20431/marvel_1#ixzz2PwaoFb60

[Hyperstrike]

Cool!  Thanks for the heads-up!

[Captain Electric]

My pleasure! And just a few hours left to sign up folks!

And just to remind you and 100 or so lurkers, starting on or around the 11th (check your email for details), you'll have 48 hours to grab your comics.

One good way to plan your shopping spree is to go to Marvel.com > Comics > Shop Digital Comics and just browse around. There's a section in there called New to Comics? and another one called Collections that are good places to start. The Storylines category is also a great place to get an idea for what kind of reading you can expect from individual characters comic books.

For instance, do ya like Joss Whedon, director of Avengers, Firefly, Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and the list goes on? Did you know he also writes a crapton of comic books in his spare time? Here's an example from a blurb in the New to Comics section for Astonishing X-Men, Volume 3 (67 comics), written by Whedon: "Astonishing X-Men takes the style of the X-Men movies, mixes it with the wit of Buffy and holds it together with the classic flavor that made the X-Men famous. This is the perfect comic for new readers, old readers, returning readers and learning readers. It's just that good."

The X-Men have always been kind of an isolated series in the Marvel universe, but you can also explore pretty much any of the New Avengers or Uncanny Avengers (or Avengers members individual titles like Invincible Iron Man and Captain America), or Superior Spider-Man. Or Amazing Spider-Man, Volume 2 for classic Peter Parker, starting anywhere from issue 600 (good round number in recent years).

All of these same sections and categories are also on the Marvel app for iOS and Android. The Marvel app is half the reason I bought my Android. It zooms the reader cleanly from panel to panel, scene to scene, just like the website, and is a much more enjoyable way to read comics for me than old-fashioned rags.

[Captain Electric]

If you signed up for this, then you should probably log in and claim your comics before 2:00 PM CST today; earlier to be safe (but I'm basing this on when I got my email--they might have staggered mail-outs, so check your email, you could have longer).

I just bought 414 comics for $0, including a bunch of annuals.  :P

[Brightfires]

That was fun...
I didn't end up with quite the horde you did, Cap, but I did pick up a few new things to read. I still prefer my comics in "dead tree" form over-all, but you can't beat freebies.  8)

[Hyperstrike]

Well, never got the e-mail to notify me.

So I apparently get boned again.

[Captain Electric]

Gah...that sucks. Did you check spam?

That was fun...
I didn't end up with quite the horde you did, Cap, but I did pick up a few new things to read. I still prefer my comics in "dead tree" form over-all, but you can't beat freebies.  8)

Yeah I went a little nuts. But I WASN'T just grabbing everything in site. I went for a lot of modern collections and tie-ins, as well as a bunch of famous first issues and annuals. I was coming here to list all the issues listed in my "receipt" from Marvel but now I'd feel like a jerk after what happened to Hyperstrike.  :(

[Numerology]

That is really quite an exciting way to advertise the genre, well done to marvel.

As much as I enjoy DC, marvel does a much better job at promoting its material both in the trade collections and through ideas like this.