Swerve
Written by Jon Judy
Art By Dexter Wee
Cover Art by Chris Seaman
Art Director Sean McArdle
Production & Design by Jace Tschudi
Edited by Amanda Hendrix
Arcana Studios
Release Date: February 15, 2012
Cover Price: $19.95

A funny thing about pro wrestlers – for all their flamboyant showmanship, sometimes it’s their lives outside the ring that makes them really compelling. The family man that puts his life in danger is the premise that made the documentary Beyond The Mat work. The role of Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson – big, loving, flawed – is what almost singlehandedly brought back Mickey Rourke in Darren Aronofsky’s seminal The Wrestler. A random stranger I still think of often: ten years ago, on an overnight Amtrak train, I once struck up a conversation with a retired semi-pro in his late 40s who lamented how he never got comfortable terrorizing little kids asking for autographs just to keep up his villainous persona. He was on his way to reconnect with his long-estranged daughter.

Swerve, a self-contained series from Archaia, is set in a seedy underworld of sex, drugs, and violence. What makes it stand out is that at the heart of the story are these compassionate characters. It’s not a flawless story; the alchemy of mixing the staged violence inside the ring with the very lethal violence outside it maybe doesn’t 100 percent click, but there are passages here that feel sharp and fresh.

Scrooge and Santa
Written by Matthew Wilson
Pencils & Inks by Josh Kenfield
Colors by Dan Smith & Josh Kenfield
Letters by Jehoaddan Strain & Josh Kenfield
Cover by Josh Kenfield
Arcana Studios
Release Date: January 1, 2011
Cover Price: $14.95

Scrooge and Santa is a delightful Christmas comic book that does everything that it sets out to do. It has charm, humor, and heart. Sometimes the story is a little bit confusing and lacking, but all in all, it’s a great Christmas read.

Matthew Wilson spins a Christmas yarn that is truly timeless. He updates the classic story, A Christmas Carol, but not in the usual way. Yes, there are all the elements of the Charles Dickens classic in there, but he also throws in some very unexpected and out place twists and turns. And, I’m happy to say, they turn out fantastic.

Ezra: Egyptian Exchange
Written by Sean O’Reilly
Pencils by Alfonso Ruiz
Colors by Benny Fuentes
Letters by Sean O’Reilly
Arcana Studios
Original Release Date: July 14, 2010
Re-Release Date: May 12, 2012
Cover Price: $14.95

Fans of Arcana Studio’s favorite undead swashbuckling hottie Ezra will delight in this 104-page reprint of the entire original 2004 storyline Ezra: Egyptian Exchange. Collecting issues #1-4 along with Arcana Studio Presents Free Comic Book Day, special goodies include never before seen commentary, drawings, interviews, and an insider’s glance at the mysterious origins of the mercenary “born under the black sun.” She has shared the comic universe with other headliners 10th Muse and Kade, but here she is one woman show against pirates, cat people, an immortal Goddess, some crime bosses, and they are just as few of the adversaries trying to mess up Ezra’s day.

All Fall Down
Written by Casey Jones
Art by Jason Reeves, Brian Brinlee, Gian Fernando, Anvit, Pericles Junior, Barnaby Bagenda
Color by Cirque Studios, Al Jerek Torrijas
Letters by Andrew Diroll-Black
Edited by William T. Marks
Arcana Studios
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Cover Price: $19.95

Ah, the old “superheroes lose their powers” story. GoD’ers have undoubtedly seen this storyline hundreds of times. Nearly every comic hero must endure this rite of passage where they lose their power and prove that their heroism comes from more than just their super-strength and heat vision. Given the countless derivations of this concept, writer Casey Jones presents an amazingly unique twist on the one of the most common story angles in his debut comic, All Fall Down.

Comics fans, it’s our day!!! It’s our Super Bowl. Our World Series. Our Wrestlemania. It’s FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!!!

Every year, on the first Saturday in May the comics industry comes together and gives out FREE COMIC BOOKS!! Depending on your local comic store, you can choose one or up to ALL of the specially selected free comic books that a slew of publishers put out. Chances are, if you’re a comics fan, you all ready know just what you’re going to pick. But, if you haven’t had the time to look over the Free Comic Book Day website, here’s a brief rundown of SOME of the titles that will be given away at thousands of shops throughout the country. In NO particular order, they are…