Superheroes @ Taco Bell

OK, OK, I made you wait long enough. So here’s the lo-down on the DC Comics giveaways at Taco Bell. First of all, they aren’t comics (so we’re just a little bit disappointed), Still, they are are comics (though not figures or toys either), but posters; 3D posters, no less.



Yep, that’s right, there is a large 3D poster (3D glasses, and a pop-out poster where you pop-out the primary figure and re-attache it to the background, making a sort of a 3D diorama. All of which are pretty cool (and hey, they are comic-related on the cusp of Free Comic Book Day, and a trio of comicbook movies (Kick-Ass, The Losers, and Iron Man 2), so, well, at least they are trying.

Still, I recall when Taco Bell made the coolest set of toys (including a couple or three Star Wars sets).

♪ It’s a Barbie World ♫

Yeah, yeah, more Barbie toys from McDonald’s, but don’t worry all you “macho” funnybook guys, there’s also more Iron Man 2 (Burger King), and “3D” DC superhero posters (Taco Bell) waiting in the wings.

We’ve got Seahorses...

Tiaras...

And yes, more Barbie mermaids...

Also don’t forget to to buy your advance tickets to Iron Man 2! for it’s opening weekend this weekend.

Don’t get left out! (Watch out for a Thor Easter Egg after the credits.)

Free Comic Book Day: Debreifing #1

Yeah, this is going to take a couple of posts, I would have posted about this on Sunday (or even yesterday, but, well, I had “Intertube issues”. Now, I’m about to run out (to pick up DC Comic stuff @ Taco Bell), and then go to lunch, so I’ve got to make this quick.

As you know, Saturday I went to the Bronx Heroes Con where I got to interview Dondie co-creator Irwin Hasen with my pal Mark Mazz, which was (needless to say) wicked cool.

While at the con I hooked up with a buncha friends and creators, scoring some very nice Indie books (which I’ll talk about later), and then came home to find a stack of some 30 FCBD comics t (and a War Machine Clix) hat my pal Paul Salerno from A Timeless Journey in Stamford, CT put aside for me, and I thanked him for his indulgence by spending a copious amount of funnybooks from him.

Then I scooted over to my (regular) comics guy and picked up my books from last week. Now — as stated — I’m about to jet to Taco Bell for their funnybooks (Thanks, Marc).

Then it’s lunch with my good friend Neil. The rest of this to follow in a new post...

Taco Bell Comics

As you all know, and as I’ve indicated a number of times, I’m a big fan of a) freebie/giveaway comics (who isn’t) and b) fast food tie-ins (especially when they are comicbook related) So you know that I’m going to be a big fan of the new set of Marvel giveaway comics that are currently being issued by Taco Bell. Well you are right. the set consists of The Fantastic Four (co-staring the Hulk), The (original) Avengers (vs. Ultron), Thor (& the Thing against the Wrecker), and Captain America (and Nick Fury & SHIELD) going up against Hydra.

In fact, my biggest complaint is that there is no Spider-Man comic, or appearance in this set. Still, that is just a personal bias, so I’m going to let it slide for now. All four of the comics are new stories, and only 11 pages long with a Chris Giarrusso one-page Mini Marvels back-up.

First up is Cap’s tale, and yes, this is Steve Rogers working alongside Nick Fury who is the head of SHIELD, and they are going up against Hydra, so it is about as old school as you can get. The story is short and to the point (not much subtlety you can get in 11 pages). A mobster who is using his mob activities to subsidize his Hydra cell is kicked loose due to lack of evidence. This angers Cap, who is told to calm down by Fury. Needless to say, the crook shows his hand and captures Cap, and plans to unmask him on TV. Cap breaks loose, turns the tables on his attackers and does his Sentinel of Liberty thing.

The next comic still has Don Blake as Thor and doing his Dr. thing in disaster areas along with The Thing who is there for his celebrity appeal. They are alerted to the appearance of the Wrecker and as the Thing heads off to stop the super-powered thug from wrecking numerous tourist attractions throughout the U.S. Black taps his cane turning himself into the Thunder God and the pair set out to confront the villain, which they do in short order. (Turns out Wrecker is PO'ed over being “ripped off” at these sites when he doesn’t get what he thinks he paid for at each site.

The FF are at home (yes, in the Baxter Building) and Thing and Torch are up to their usual shenanigans of torturing each other as Reid and Sue are about to go out to dinner for their anniversary. Needless to say, just prior to them walking out the door, a news report indicates that The Hulk in in NYC trashing the place. So the team puts personal issues aside, and goes to the rescue. Each attempts to bring the emerald brute down by themselves, but is unable to do that solo. True to the nature of the team, they are only able to stop the raging beast’s rampage when they combine their powers into a single, concerted effort.

Finally, is the Avengers, which unites the initial, classic line-up of Cap, Iron Man, Thor, and Ant Man who are confronted by a seemingly-reformed Ultron who wants to become an Avenger. As insane as it may sound, they actually allow him (it) to try out. As can be expected it is all a (not so) elaborate trick to get them to drop their guard so that he can destroy them. Of the four stories, this one is the weakest as it simply doesn’t hang together in any logical fashion. In fact, I honestly couldn’t believe that this story was even approved, as it is so unbelievably badly done.

Still as a set they are fun to have, and whatever shortcomings that the main story may or may not have, the single-page Chris Giarrusso, Mini Marvel story at the end makes the addition of these comics well worth the addition to your collection. I highly recommend them all (yes, even the Avenger one, only not so highly as the rest). When talking to one of the managers of my local Taco Bell she informed me that they were having a tough time giving them to the kids as they didn’t seem to wan them, which I found incredulous.

So if there is a Taco Bell near you, I suggest that you hustle out and acquire a set (and make arrangements to buy up all the remaining copies at the end of the promotion).

Funnybooks @ Taco Bell!

Yep, that’s right I went to Taco Bell yesterday and I found a complete set of the (four) Marvel Comics. The set consists of four brand new, full-sized 12-page comics featuring four Marvel characters or teams (Thor, Captain America, Avengers, and the Fantastic Four).



Each comicbook features 11 pages of a main story, plus a 1-page back-up by cartoonist Chris Giarrusso. Chris is perhaps best known as the guy who produces an on-going — if irregular— feature running through many Marvel comics called Mini Marvels. The Mini Marvels are kid-like incarnations of the main marvel characters in, well, silly adventures. Many of these stories have been collected into digest-sized books and re-issued. If you can find any of them I highly recommend you pick them up.

Mini Marvels @ Taco Bell

I just heard from Chris Gar that there are going to be Marvel mini comics (staring Chris’ Mini-Marvels) at Taco Bell. I heard this on Tuesday, and ran out to my local Taco Bell, only it had a different promotion (I’m guessing the out-going promotion). These things usually change on Friday, so I’m hoping that this weekend to score a set (Whoo-Haa! more funnybooks on Free Comic Book Day weekend! What could be better than this?



By what I can see it is going to be FF, Cap, Avengers and Thor.

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

OK, I just heard back from Chris, and he says that some Taco Bells are already distributing the comics while others haven’t seem to have gotten their shipments. So I’ll be monitoring this situation and let you know when I’ve acquired a set.