So, this is normally where I tell you about some free comics you can read online, and that is wonderful, but there’s even more in store for you today. Top Cow Studios is offering a free episode of their new Witchblade Anime series on iTunes! But it’s only free through October 26, so you might want to think about going and getting it today.
You can find that free episode by clicking here. Or you can click on the graphic, or you can log in to iTunes and search for Witchblade in the iTunes store. Of whatever else gets you there. It’s free and it’s Top Cow, I mean really, what are you waiting for?!?
So, now that we have that out of the way and you’re downloading your free episode, let’s talk about some comics you can check out free online. We start with Proof, this issue from Image Comics features a highly educated Bigfoot (think Beast from the X-Men), named John “Proof” Prufrock, hunting down and capturing a Chupacabra, the Mexican Bigfoot. The Chupacabra is difficult to spot though, as it wears a human’s flesh. So it’s up to Proof and his new partner Ginger Brown to find the creature before it unleashes a killing spree. The story is fun, incorporating actual myth into it’s own original storyline and includes a texty section after the story talking about the differences between their Chupacabra and the real myth and some “recommended reading” for your post-Proof needs. The artwork in Proof is beautiful if slightly ragged and the colors rather muted, but it all grows on you quickly. Scattered throughout the story are Cryptoid asides that are facts or opinions related to the story’s proceedings. I enjoyed this introduction to Proof and I’m betting that you will as well. Click here (or on the Proof cover) to read the issue free online.
More after the jump…
Ferro City is self described as "robot science fiction pulp noir." Well, it's right about all of that, taking place in a futuristic city filled with steam and grit, Ferro City opens with a bang (or three and then a thump) and never really slows down from there. The story follows Cyrus Smithe who, though unbeknownst to him, is formerly of the PI team Smithe and Weston. Weston buys the farm pretty early on in the episode as he has finally tracked down a mysterious "semi-legal" piece of technology called The Medusa Key for a client. As is the way of the world, and these kinds of stories, there are all manner of seedy people who want to get their hands on the Medusa Key, and it looks like Cyrus is going to have to go through all of them to find the Key and discover who did in his partner, Harry Weston. I love the art in this book. It's all black & white (and gray), and drawn in a appropriately cartoonish style, but the use of coloring and shading lends each panel a weight that keep the proceedings from feeling cartoony. I have a feeling you'll be rushing out to your local comic shop soon after reading this one in search of issue 2. To read the first issue free, click here or on the Ferro City cover.
And finally we have Ultra issue #1. Ultra is a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a super heroine of the same name. But don't expect any costumed antics in issue number one, when I say behind-the-scenes, that's exactly what I mean. Ultra #1 is a look at a Super Heroine's night out as Ultra and her friends talk about life, the difficulty they have cobbling together a social life with the strains of their work responsibilities, visit a psychic (reminiscent, in a very run down sort of way, of the Oracle from The Matrix) and surviving a horrific accident unscathed. It's actually an engrossing read and one deserving of more attention. The artwork is the most "realistic" of the group I've presented today and, when matched with the well-chosen mild coloring, it lends weight to the idea that this comic is about the other, "normal" life that these characters are living. You can read Ultra Issue #1 free online by clicking here.
Leave a comment