Patrick O’Connor, Psy.D. developed Comicspedia (http://www.comicspedia.net), an online tool that assists therapists and educators in finding comic books to bring into therapy and the classroom. Free Comic Book Day lands on the first Saturday of May every year (this year, May 5th). On this day, comic book shops all across the United States offer a special selection of free comic books featuring very popular characters – it’s the perfect time to get into comics! This five-part blog series will cover how comics like these can improve our lives, from fostering creative thinking, to enhancing literacy, and more.
Free Comic Book Day is an exciting time of year, not only because it means free stuff, but also because it means summer is coming quickly! For the first entry of this weekly five-part blog series, I’d like to focus on the free title about which I am most excited: DC Comics The New 52. Last fall, DC Comics pressed the reset button on 52 of their titles, including the bigs that were at or around issue #900. The titles that began with new #1 issues included Detective Comics, Action Comics, Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and 45 other titles. This gave fans old and new the opportunity to jump into comics without feeling like they’ve missed a lot of backstory. The Free Comic Book Day edition of DC’s New 52 is said to feature a new story written by New York Times bestselling author Geoff Johns with art by the phenomenal Jim Lee. It is also going to feature previews of upcoming new #1 titles, including Earth 2, World’s Finest, Batman Incorporated, and more.
What makes this particular title so exciting is that it is a great way to show kids how exciting comic books can be! Grown-up comic book fans can share their interest with their children and find new things to talk about. Plenty of kids find their own interests, with many of those not being shared by their parents. This is often what leads to that feeling of kids speaking a different language than their parents. Finding more mutual interests can lead to the development of a stronger relationship, so swing on by your local comic book shop and share an afternoon with your child chatting about Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman!
