Looking At Boom’s Free Comic Book Day Titles – Summer Blast And Fresh Off The Boat

 
Coming up on May 6th, we have everyone’s favorite comic holiday, Free Comic Book Day, where local retailers stock copies of totally free comics from a wide range of publishers, and usually have sales and other festivities to bring people into shops. Boom! Studios are offering two titles this year, Summer Blast and Fresh Off The Boat, in the Gold Tier and Silver Tier respectively.

Summer Blast contains a number of short comics, including Mouse Guard, Brave Chef Brianna, and Coady and the Creepies.  Writers on the collection of stories include David Petersen, Sam Sykes, and Liz Prince and artists include David Petersen, Selina Espiritu, Amanda Kirk and Kyla Vanderklugt. This is a fun, bright, poppy comic that will give readers a chance to meet a beloved property again in Mouse Guard, and two new series with very winning artwork and themes in Brave Chef Brianna and Coady and the Creepies. Though other FCBD issues from Boom in previous years have been appealing, this one really shows the fresh future-driven direction of the company and will be a solid choice for all ages of readers. Cool is just ageless.
Here’s a look at the contents of Summer Blast:

Boom! Studios’ second Free Comic Bood Day offering in the Silver Tier is Fresh Off The Boat, written by Gene Luen Yang and drawn by Jorge Corona.

The comic, which is based on the very popular TV show on ABC, is appearing in comics for the first time in this FCBD issue ahead of a series from Boom. The show and comic tells the story of a Taiwanese-American family living in Orlando, Florida, in the 1990s and in comedic tone looks at “immigration, assimilation, and identity”. Working with the show’s Producers, Boom have also found a great voice for writing the comic in Gene Luen Yang, and this introductory comic will give you an idea of what’s to come. Jorge Corona’s artwork is already highly acclaimed, too, making for a solid team-up.
This particular story, the “Legion of Dopeitude” links to an episode of the show that’s airing in may, where characters created by Eddie and Emery for a comic book contest appear on the show. This comic is geared more toward teen readers, FYI. Though images haven’t been released for the interior art yet, the cover gives a good idea of the dynamic and fun art style we can expect on Fresh Off The Boat on Free Comic Book Day.
All in all, Boom! Studios have some energetic and appealing offerings this year, and the titles give a good introduction to the direction the publisher is taking in 2017 and beyond.