Tag: star wars

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Free Comic Book Day 2019

It’s everyone’s favorite time of year again, Free Comic Book Day! Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 4th, and as usual the Ultimate Crew is going all out for this free event! This is the biggest day of the year at our stores.

This year’s lineup of free comic books is amazing! We’ll be giving away the Ultimate Comics exclusive version of DC’s Year of the Villain for free all day! Seeing as it’s May 4th, there will also be a free Star Wars book. Marvel is putting out free Avengers books and a Venom/Spider-man book that kicks off a huge summer event! That’s just the tip of the iceberg as we’ll have 40 or more free titles available!

We’ll have tons of free comics and a huge tent sale with dollar books and more at every location! The Variant is also providing a ton of amazing cosplayers at each location. Come in costume and take some photos with your fellow superheroes!

Ultimate Comics Cary

Come meet comic creators like Jeremy Whitley (Unstoppable Wasp, Thor vs Hulk, Rainbow Brite), Billy Fowler (DC Lucha Explosiva) and local artists/writers like George Hage, Lyle Pollard, and RJ Marchese!

We’ll also be hosting a blood drive with the amazing Blood Connection from 10 am – 3 pm. All donors will receive a $10 Ultimate Comics gift certificate and be entered to win an exclusive Lyle Pollard Thanos sketch cover! Be a hero and donate blood! Sign up to donate here: https://donate.thebloodconnection.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/128419

We have so much going on all day! In addition to the free comics, the CW22 TV station will be presenting their CW22 Green Magic Tickets event! Attendees will have the chance to find one of six green tickets that have been hidden randomly in the Ultimate Comic’s free comic books! Each ticket is redeemable for prizes like a $100 Visa gift card or NC Comicon weekend passes!

Along with the CW22, we’ll have tables set up for other great organizations The Triangle Sword Guild will be doing live sword demos throughout the day! The Carolina Roller Girls will even be showing off their skating skills throughout the event! You don’t want to miss it!

Ultimate Comics Durham

Ultimate Comics Durham will have a ton of amazing guests too! Richard Case, artist of DC’s Doom Patrol will be signing at the store all day along with Invader Zim artist Warren Wuccinich, artist Chris Wharton, and writer for Mad Magazine Brockton McKinney!

Those won’t be our only guests! The Orange County Animal Shelter will have a group of adoptable pets under our big sale tent. Big Boss Brewing will also be on hand, selling beverages to keep you refreshed during your day full of comic book fun!

Ultimate Comics Raleigh

The Ultimate Comics Raleigh event is being sponsored by the Ultimate Comics Warehouse, which can only mean one thing, a giant dollar book sale! We rented out a whole other storefront right next to Ultimate Comics Raleigh that will be filled to the brim with dollar books and on sale action figures, toys, and collectibles! And hey, it’s also air-conditioned!

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Star Wars: Mace Windu #1

Writer: Matt Owens
Penciler: Denys Cowan
Colorist: Guru-eFx
Inker: Roberto Poggi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel

As we edge closer and closer to The Last Jedi this December, Disney and Marvel continue to
put out a ton of Star Wars comics and other extended universe material. The latest spinoff book
to hit comic shops is Mace Windu, which is set between Episodes II and III at the start of the
Clone Wars.

The Jedi Council is caught in the midst of a crisis following the Battle of Geonosis. Wrestling
with their desire for peace while also knowing that they must protect the Republic, the Jedi
Knights must answer the call to become warriors. Chief among them is Master Mace Windu,
whose superior force abilities and experience make him the ideal person to help lead the newly
formed Republic army.

As Mace and three other Jedi set out on a covert mission to investigate separatist activity on the
jungle planet Hissrich, their plan is to go in and out quickly. Yet as tensions rise and the droid
army there discovers them, a fierce battle ensues.

Now, there is a very specific formula to the Star Wars solo character comics. With the exception
of Poe Dameron, which is an ongoing, each solo character book is a five-issue miniseries which
involves some sort of mission on a planet not featured in the movies. We’ve seen it with Darth
Maul, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan and Anakin and several other titles. Granted, it's a formula that
works and opens doors for creators to do fun spinoffs, but just don’t go into this comic expecting
it to shake the foundation of the Star Wars universe.

That said, writer Matt Owens does a nice job keeping the focus on Mace while also delivering a
fun action story. The exposition takes place on Coruscant as Mace talks with fellow council
members like Ki-Adi Mundi and Yoda. From there, Owens transitions to the Outer Rim as our
heroes set out on this mission. One of the Jedi accompanying Mace is Kit Fisto from the
movies, who’s basically the Aquaman of the Star Wars universe; and the two younger Jedi with
them are nice additions to this ensemble. One of them is a youthful, Ashoka-like padawan who
idolizes Mace, while the other is a quiet and meditative character who is quite intriguing as well.
Penciler Denys Cowan also brings his A-game here, capturing the mythic status of Mace as
both a great warrior and a wise leader. Between opening with a splash page flashback from the
Geonosis battle to an action-packed sequence at the end of the issue, the style here is appropriately cinematic.
Mace Windu is no doubt a solid title to add to your Star Wars collection, if for no other reason than Mace is the
coolest Jedi in the universe.

–Kevin Schaefer for Ultimate Comics