FGNW Day 5: The Devil Does Exist & Buster's Neighborhood

It's Day 5 of our Free Graphic Novel Week, celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

The first selection for today is Mitsuba Takanashi's The Devil Does Exist, vol. 1. Here's how CMX Manga describes it:

High school is hard for Kayano. When she tries to confess her love to the kind but distant Yuichi, the school bully Takeru makes her life hell. But things get worse when Kayano's mother gets engaged to Takeru's father, the school principal! How will she cope with having the devil himself living in her own home?

The second selection is Buster's Neighborhood: Kid Comet vs. The Agents of Doom an all-ages adventure by Kaja Blackley & Alex Hawley, published by Mutant Toast Productions:

Buster Jones is no ordinary eleven year old boy and his quiet suburban life is about to change forever.

Nestled in his gentle neighbourhood are aliens and monsters hiding in the shadows. When they emerge from the darkness, bringing terrible secrets to light, his fragile world crumbles, and Buster is faced with a destiny that will ultimately champion the universe or enslave the human race.

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and this will continue all week.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 4: Winner

The winner for Free Graphic Novel Week Day Four is William Burns, who writes:

I'm not a cat burglar or a snitch, my landlord is reasonably cool, and I don't have anyone trying to kill me (that I know of) but other than that I think I'm a lot like Sammy. The only thing that could render my Very Sammy Day bearable is receiving a free graphic novel!

William, I hope that when you copy of A Very Sammy Day arrives in the mail that it makes your life a little more bearable!

Wait a minute--winner? Singular? Wasn't I giving away 2 graphic novels every day? Well I'm certainly trying; but, while four people entered for A Very Sammy Day, *nobody* sent in an entry for Ultimate Elektra. Not a one! Apparently there are some comics you can't even give away... We'll see if I have better luck when the Day 5 choices are announced later this morning...

Update: Alan David Doane just wrote in to say:

My daughter is a huge Elektra fan, but I didn't know about that particular giveaway until it was too late...if you still want to get rid of it and have it end up in the hands of someone who will appreciate it, my daughter would love to have it.

Yes, I do want Ultimate Elektra to have a good home, so I'll be sending it off to Alan for his daughter to enjoy.

FGNW Day 4: Ultimate Elektra & A Very Sammy Day

It's Day 4 of our Free Graphic Novel Week (the half-way point!), celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

The first selection of the day is Ultimate Elektra: Devil's Due by Mike Carey & Salvador Larroca. Marvel descibes it:

Matt Murdock - desperate to see Elektra Natchios again - makes an attempt to contact this mysterious young woman, putting himself squarely in the crosshairs of the biggest crime boss in New York City: Ultimate Kingpin!

Wilson Fisk enters the life of Elektra as well, along with a mystery killer who's right on target. Can the young warrior face this deadly assassin alone? Matt doesn't think so.

The second selection for today is A Very Sammy Day by Azad:

The origin of the world's unluckiest cat burglar! Samuel Little has been sleeping with one eye open with good reason: He's a snitch, and everyone knows it. After ratting out his old crew to the cops, he's finding it difficult to adjust to normal life in his old neighborhood. But a cranky landlord, pesky fumigators, and an overly friendly stray cat aren't all he has to worry about. Associates of his former crew are dead-set on making this not just the worst day of Sammy's life, but the last.

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and this will continue all week.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 3: Winners

The winners for Free Graphic Novel Week Day 3 are:

Genshiken, vol. 1 goes to Annie Jo Cain, who writes:

I just read 'Wrong about Japan' and suddenly found myself very curious about manga. My local library is having a backup problem and the titles I have put on hold still haven't come in so I am dying to be introduced to a Japanese graphic novel.

We shall thus help Annie to sate her manga curiosity with this story about manga fans in Japan.


Will Eisner's A Family Matter goes to Andrew Wales. Andrew writes:

Will Eisner is one of my heroes. He wasn't much more than a teenager when he decided to try to make his living doing comic book art -- in the midst of the Great Depression, no less! He was a pioneer in so many ways. He was one of the first to open a studio, the Eiger-Eisner Shop. He was the first to have the audacity to suggest that if comics are both words and art, then they have the potential to be both great works of literature and fine art. Even his fellow cartoonists scoffed at that. He was one of the first to suggest that comics could be used to teach. He was the first to write a graphic novel. In spite of the awe I have for him, I do not own a Will Eisner graphic novel! If I am chosen, this contest could change all that! Here's hoping!

Well Andrew, now you own a Will Eisner graphic novel (or at least you will once the post office delivers it) and I think that you'll appreciate it.


Response was much better for day three: 3 people requested Genshiken, while a whopping 10 people requested A Family Matter. That's more like it! If you weren't picked this time, there's still four more days left in my blogiversary give-away, and you're welcome to enter again if something else catches your eye. The GNs for Day 4 will be announced later this morning.

Kochalka-rama

Self-confessed big-time James Kochalka fan Alan David Doane has started a blog devoted entirely to the indy-comix fave: KOCHALKAHOLIC!

Meanwhile, Jumbotron 6000's Jim McGrath has extended the deadline on his James Kochalka's Sketchbook Diaries, Vol. 3 giveaway contest to this Friday, so you still have time to enter.

FGNW Day 3: Genshiken & A Family Matter

It's Day 3 of our Free Graphic Novel Week, celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

The first selection for today is Genshiken, vol. 1 by Kio Shimoku. Here's how publisher Del Rey describes this popular manga:

It’s the spring of freshman year, and Kanji Sasahara is in a quandary. Should he fulfill his long-cherished dream of joining an otaku club? Saki Kasukabe also faces a dilemma. Can she ever turn her boyfriend, anime fanboy Kousaka, into a normal guy? Kanji triumphs where Saki fails, when both Kanji and Kousaka sign up for Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture.

Undeterred, Saki chases Kousaka through the various activities of the club, from costume-playing and comic conventions to video gaming and collecting anime figures–learning more than she ever wanted to about the humorous world of the Japanese otaku!

The second selection for today is Will Eisner's classic graphic novel, A Family Matter:

In the span of twenty-four hours, the darkest family secrets are revelaed.

In the span of twenty-four hours, long suppressed memories surface--betrayal, abuse, greed, incest, and worse.

In the span of twenty-four hours, a strained family comes together, only to be torn apart.

In the span of twenty-four hours, witness a family that might live next door--or might even be your own.

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and this will continue all week.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 2: Winners

The winners for Free Graphic Novel Week Day 2 are:

Daydream Lullabies: A Billy Dogma Experience goes to Roger Green. Roger writes:

I'm someone who has gone from collecting comics to working in a comic book stores (FantaCo, Midnight Comics) for a decade to dropping the funny books cold turkey when I got my job as a librarian a dozen years ago. I've (most tentatively) become more interested in the art form, and so reading about someone with a tenuous grip on reality, trying to make ends meet - you know what librarians make - seems appropriate.

I certainly do know what librarians make, and hopefully Billy Dogma will help push Roger back over the edge into comic-land.


Remains goes to Rick Gebhardt because, well, just read this:

I would really dig getting this graphic novel mailed to me as I am in love with zombies. Seriously, if I could have a zombie girlfriend that would marry me at a zombie wedding ceremony in a zombie church so we could make little zombie babies and have a zombie farmhouse with zombie chickens and zombie pets, I would be in heaven… zombie heaven. So until that happens, could I read that copy of Remains that you have?

Rick, while at this point I'm starting to fear for your immortal soul, you are obviously in need of more zombies in your life, so Remains is yours!


Congratulations to Roger & Rick. Surprisingly, I only received four entries for Day 2--Come on people, what does it take to get you to send off an email for a chance at a free graphic novel? Maybe you'll like what I have for Day 3, which will be announced just a little later this morning...