Rapid Reviews - Free Comic Book Day - Part VIII

PLEASE NOTE: Copies of these comic books will be available in participating comic shops on Saturday July 3rd 2004.

Amelia Rules! Special Edition: This is a "best of" sampler with Amelia narrating the bits between. There are some really fun bits in here, since it's all Amelia except for the little bit at the end, it holds together well. If you're curious about Amelia, this is definitely a good one to get. In the back there's a short story featuring Bloop, a green monkey-like thing. It's a good little tale, too. All in all, a nice package. Silver Sponsor Book/This book is All-Ages.

Top Shelf Tales: What can I say about this one? Really... this is just a nice little collection of short stories. Some of them good, some of them not as good. I don't really know if the stories are representative of Top Shelf. For a sampler it's ok, but for something that would make me want to pick up more of their stuff, it's not as strong. Silver Sponsor Book/This book is for Older Readers (13+).

The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Secret Crisis Origin Files: This is another one that you don't want to give to kids. It may look innocent... Anyway, a nice full story, complete with cliffhanger (I didn't see any indication of where to get the whole story, though) and Wizard of Oz reference. It's certainly enough to give you a good idea of what Barry Ween is about, and that's the point of this exercise. Silver Sponsor Book/This book is for Adults (18+).

Still to review: NBM Sampler, Love Fights/Everest, Reggie-12, Slave Labor Stories, Back in Black: Brian Pulido Unleashed at Avatar, and Dungeons & Dragons: Crisis in Raimiton.

Not available for review: A Bunch of Baboons. Apparently Cancelled: Delicious Seasons.

Already reviewed: Alternative Comics, The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, Archie, IDW Sampler, Dr Chaos' Comic Cornucopia, Teen Titans Go, Marvel Age Spider-Man, and Image Comics Summer Special, Duel Masters, Adhouse Books Free Comic Book Day Comic, Astonish Comics, Best of Dork Storm Press, Del Rey Manga Sampler, Keenspot Spotlight 2004, Wild About Comics, Johnny Raygun Classics, Sore Thumbs Election Special, Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Arcana Studio Presents, and From Pixels to Paper 2004.

Note: reviews for this week's regular books will be delayed until after I finish my FCBD reviews. Those reviews are: JLA, Green Lantern, Kindergoth, Harley & Ivy, Emily and the Intergalactic Lemonade Stand, Days of the Dragon, and Colonia.