Dragons vs. Dinosaurs
Written by Chris Eric Peterson
Art by Chris Eric Peterson
Arcana Studios
Release Date: December 1, 2011
Cover Price: $14.95

Immediately after finishing Dragons vs. Dinosaurs, I said to myself ‘what in the world did I just read?’ This book was completely insane in the best kind of way. When I pick up a comic called Dragons vs. Dinosaurs that is all I want to see, a dragon killing a dinosaur and vice versa. Luckily artist and writer Chris Eric Peterson knows his audience and what they like. Dragons vs. Dinosaurs reads like a Godzilla title with colossal battles and very little dialogue. If you are looking to kill a few minutes reading about pre-historic beasts slugging it out, then this just might be the book for you.

The first Saturday in May marks the one time of the year fanboys and fangirls of all ages can head down to the local comic book shop for Free Comic Book Day, which is exactly what it sounds like: FREE COMICS chock full of teh awesomeness.

Seriously, you don’t have to buy anything. Just get in the car with your geeky loved ones and proceed to drive to the comic shop. However, if you don’t know where your local shop is, [first of all, for shame] then head on over to the Free Comic Book Day Shop Locator site provided by the industry that not only loves you, but also wants to put graphic fiction into your hands purely for the enjoyment of reading a good story.

Most of the notable publishers are participating in the event so there will be comics for all age groups and geek genres. Here’s the list of 2009 titles offered…

Eve: Vampire Diva #1-3 of 4
Written by Frank J. Laperch
Pencils, inks, and colors by Ash Jackson
Colors by Andre “Good Times” Richardson, Nick Losso
Letters by Dino DePasquale, Shawn DePasquale
Arcana Studios
Available now

Jessica Evelyn Murphy has a lot of problems in her life. Not only is she on the downslide of a once successful music career, she has a taskmaster of a manager who has signed her up for a reality show to chronicle her life. One top of all this, is the fact that she’s a vampire who hunts other nasty creatures of the night, has more taskmaster overseers in the form of a Council (of some sort) and she has to keep her horrific nature from her friends and normal coworkers. She’s got a lot of balls in the air and things only get worse when an ex-boyfriend comes back into the picture. Oh yeah, the ex happens to be a werewolf that she thought she killed years ago. Plus, the always popular demonic evil has decided it’s time to take over the world. All in a day’s work, I guess.

(Because 10 are not enough — and who has time to read twelve?)

In 1992, Bart Alexander Thompson created the first incarnation of Approbation Comics. In that early version he hand wrote, drew, lettered, and distributed Xerox copied “ashcan” copies of his vision. In the following years, Bart devoted his time to creating and cultivating characters and storylines, watching trends, and researching the graphic illustrated novel industry. His first full color, Diamond-distributed comic book was Vampires Unlimited: Shades of Things to Come.

Since 2005, Bart has worked as a professional writer, editor, and letterer working for companies such as Alias Enterprises, Arcana Studios, and Dead Dog Press. With limited funds, Thompson has been able to publish numerous small press titles including Myriad, Vampires Unlimited, ChiSai, Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies, Amour, the Evil Inside, and more.

T.E. Pouncey: Your work on Vampires Unlimited was amazing. With so many people doing so many variations on the vampire myth, why do you think vampire stories remain so popular?

Bart A. Thompson: Thanks again! I think vampires are popular because they represent sexuality and strength. Who wouldn’t want to be able to fly and lift cars and stuff? There is also something very seductive about the vampire lifestyle… as humans some of the coolest stuff happens at night (nightclubs, bars, most dates, etc.) and that’s the only time vampires can be out and about, so they occupy themselves with the more fun side of life. The only drawback to it all is being forced to only drink human blood and killing every night, which in a morbid since is sort of sensual.