Source: Blogs@Newsarama.

May 5th, 2007 marks the sixth time the comic book industry will come together to celebrate the spirit of specialty Comic Book Shops around the world. The titles being given away this year are extremely solid and include selections from every major comic publisher, as well as a number of issues from smaller, independent artists. The sheer number of styles and genres available may make choosing individual comics incredibly difficult. Transformers the Movie Prequel # 1, Amazing Spider-Man Swing Shift, and Justice League of America # 0 are just a few of the almost 30 titles that will be available, so remember to call your local shop and ask if they will be participating in this year’s festivities.

Check out the “Free Comic Book Day” website here

Full list of “Free Comic Book Day” titles

The modern day comic book is one of the few original American art forms. They have been a mainstay of popular culture for close to 70 years, and the lifeblood of the industry is still the neighborhood specialty shop. Show support for your favorite shop by stopping in this Saturday and picking up a free book, (and buying another for yourself).

This reminder brought to you by your Friendly Neighborhood Bloggerman! ‘Nuff said!

Hellboy: Darkness Calls #1 (of 6)
written (and covers) by Mike Mignola, art by Duncan Fegredo

No, I didn’t forget that World War Hulk kicks off this week. The prologue book hitting shelves tomorrow is written by Peter David and will be drawn by John Romita Jr. Those two are always awesome, and just in case you need proof, just check the image on the right. Now, I’m confident the decision of whether or not you’ll be buying this thing has already been made, so let’s get back to Hellboy.
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Hellboy was one of the best superhero movies in recent years, and cerainly deserves a quicker follow up than its taking. The original came out in 2004, the sequel is now due August 1, 2008. They had to jump ships from Sony to Universal in the process, but Hellboy should feel at home given the massive Universal monster movie archives.

SuperheroFlix has some details released by Universal on the movie. The immediate good news is the return of the principal cast and director Guillermo del Toro, working from a story by del Toro and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.

Hellboy, if you don’t know, is based on a Dark Horse comic. He’s a demon from Hell, summoned by the Nazis as a baby, but recruited into work for the US as a paranormal investigator. He files down his gigantic horns to stumps, eats immense amounts of food, has a giant revolver in his left hand, and a giant fist on his right.

Filming should begin in May on location in Budapest.

Get the rest of the fact sheet and a synopsis of the movie after the jump!
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Well, in case today’s news updates don’t tip you off, Marvel & DC handed WonderCon the crap end of the stick when it came to breaking the news, compared to NYCC. Thank God for the smaller publishers! And hey, they’re previewing the 300 movie tonight, ain’t that’s pretty sweet too. Hey, here’s the news!

DARK HORSE COMICS:

• New books include an Abe Sapien book, reprints of Matt Wagner’s original Grendel issues (to celebrate the 25th anniversary), a new Grendel book, and, awesomest of the awesome…
• A possible GROO/CONAN crossover. SO AWESOME.

SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS:

• They’re working on a downloadable-comic plan, and talking about a 69 cent ‘cover price.’ Not a bad pricing scheme.
• Gargoyles #3 has been done for THREE WEEKS. The holdup? Disney. Issues 4-6 will have fill-in art to catch up, which is just sad.

BOOM! STUDIOS:

• Amidst numerous new books launching, Giffen & DeMatteis’s Hero Squared will end at issue #9. My wretched eyes quiver in sorrow!

I will be updating this post throughout the day with news and announcements as I find them. I will include coverage of last night’s previews as well.

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