A look at some of the full sized comics from Halloween ComicFest

This past weekend was Halloween ComicFest at your local comic book store.  They had 11 comics that were full sized and 11 that were mini sized-all of them free.  The nice folks at Diamond Comics were nice enough to send me some of them.  Here’s a look at 4 of the full sized comics to see if they’re worth grabbing up.

Skyward

Skyward, from Action Lab is a dual issue that also features a story that brings back Fracture.  This was in a tie as my favorite of the 4 solely on the first story, Skyward, Into the Grim.  Quinn is a young boy who lost his parents and for some reason is stuck in a magical land where very large Rabites live and defend their land from Grims.

This is a fantasy comic that rocks!  It’s all ages, packed with action, detailed art and can be appreciated by kids and adults.  The second half of the comic featuring Fracture was OK; but didn’t know the characters background enough to appreciate his return and there wasn’t enough action to really make me curious about it.

Thor:  God of Thunder

This is actually just Thor: God of Thunder #1 with Halloween Comicfest printed on the cover, but it’s awesome.  I read it in digital format and it still packs a punch in physical comic form.  The art has a painted feel about it as Thor goes about traveling through space and time to find a time when Gods don’t exist.  Being a God, he knows something is wrong so he flies around to see what’s going on.

The issue ends at a cliffhanger with Thor landing in a world where only monsters live and the status of Gods are unknown.  Granted Marvel wanted to include this because of the Thor movie coming out soon, but this is a fun starter for people who haven’t seen the new series.

The Cartoon Network Super Sampler

This sampler from Cartoon Network has three short stories from The Powderpuff Girls, Samurai Jack and Ben 10.

This introduced me to Samurai Jack, who is on a quest to the center of the desert so that he can get back home.  On the way there he sees a mirage, has a sword fight with some little black specters and returns some children to their family.  It was weird, artsy and fun to read.  Kids and adults will like that story.

If your kids like manic, fast comics they’ll certainly like The Powderpuff Girls.  It was a bit too busy for me, but 6-10 year olds will dig it.

Kids will love Ben 10, which has Ben and his family in Mexico going to a bullfight.  Unknown to them, the matador, has rigged the mechanical raging bull to put on a bigger than life show.   It’s a cute story that will introduce kids to that comic and has nice, big art to appreciate.

Batman, The Long Halloween

This comic was really disappointing.  It was low on action, had muted noir style colors on most of the panels and the story was slow.  It somehow involves Selena (Catwoman) and Bruce Wayne (Batman) at a society function where mobsters are there.  Out of the entire comic there are only a couple panels that have action.  The first time we see Selena she looks like Michael Jackson and the issue ends in on a cliffhanger with it being continued in a graphic novel.

This issue is for the Batman diehards only.