Now then, they'll put anything on the internets these days and some of it is actually worth looking at. While in the midst of online research recently, we discovered several comic books available for free on the Web. All the titles are of the action/superhero/sci-fi variety and are designed to lure readers into buying the actual physical product. Still, you can't beat free comics online, and there are worse ways to squander time.
Some of these titles have been around for a few years, but we already addressed that in the opening paragraph. So don't e-mail us with sarcastic indignations about how out of touch we are.
Maintenance
(Oni Press)
This absurd title depicts the mundane tasks performed by two janitors who work for a company that supplies weapons of mass destruction to super villains. The black and white art meets the cartoonish concept at its level, and the dialogue and humor pack a fair snap.
Night & Fog(Studio 407)
An aborted military experiment strands a few humans on an island where the locals are not terribly friendly. The online teaser packs much into 10 pages. That's still too short, but the hazy coloring classes up the affair.
Proximity Effect
(Top Cow/Spacedog)
Superheroes whose powers only work when they're within 30 feet of each other -- both Marvel and DC comics have danced around that concept, but neither exploited it as well as Proximity does. The plotting doesn't go beyond standard X-Files conspiracy territory, but this is worth further reading.
***
Sibling duo Jonathan and Joshua Luna have worked on other writers' and artists' books, but really shine with their own collaborative titles. The first issue of each series they've created is free online at the Lunas' site:
Ultra
(Image)
With all the meta superhero stuff out there, Ultra can seem common at first glance. But the Lunas are a lot like Joss Whedon, in that they actually have the ability to write believable female leads in a pulp genre not known for such feats. So do give it a look, and remember it debuted in 2004.
Girls
(Image)
Girls is just plain great -- the ideal first-issue structure. With just enough back-story, mystery and sci-fi weirdness, it hooks the reader immediately, the way sci-fi subtext disguised as serialized fluff should.
The Sword (Image)
While not a comic-book adaptation of the occult adventures of the '70s metal revivalists from Austin, The Sword is in fact another great potboiler. In it, a parapalegic woman learns the hard way that her family may have deep connections to the titular weapon -- a mystical blade with strange properties.
If these introductions don't yank your eyeballs to the remaining issues of the Lunas' work, then we can't help you.
Honorable mention:
Last Blood
A group of vampires must protect the last remaining humans on earth from a zombie horde. The vampires are not acting altruistically -- they need a fresh blood supply. This online comic is intended as public storyboards for a planned film. We encourage readers to ignore scripter Bobby Crosby's work-in-progress comments on each page, which hamper the flow of the story. Just enjoy the stoner/gore-fan concept and the artfully rough sketch-art by Owen Geini.
Links to the non-Luna titles were culled from Den of Geek's mind-numbing list of 75(!) comic book titles that are currently in line for cinematic adaptations. (Good luck, Hollywood.) And the AV Club interviewed the Luna Bros. this past summer.
