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\u00a0<\/p>\n This year, I doubled my efforts and ventured out into the unknown, first going to a store I had never been to before. What attracted me to it was the fact it doubled as a comic and coffee shop, which I\u2019ve never had the pleasure of seeing in the flesh. When I first entered Hot Off the Press Comics and Coffee<\/a>, my first task was tracking down my comics. Their spread was set up in a roundabout structure with a worker stationed in the middle.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But this wasn\u2019t any ordinary worker. This was a child sporting a snazzy leather jacket. I immediately knew he wasn\u2019t an ordinary cat. He asked me what I was looking for and I told him Star Wars. He pointed me to their selection. I didn\u2019t have the heart to tell him that their Star Wars issues were last year\u2019s Free Comic Book Day issues. At this point, I was getting discouraged. I thought my adventure into the wild was a bust. There was a worry bubbling in my belly that when I got home and visited my normal shop, their Star Wars titles would be gone and I couldn\u2019t give the people what they want.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The kid kept talking to me. Selling me on their entire lineup. As if I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing, I\u2019m not a rookie. Oh how little I knew. I picked up a few titles as I couldn\u2019t leave empty-handed. I grabbed issues for Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, Energon Universe, Will Eisner: A Comics Biography, and a few others before I realized something. This store had multiple years of free comic books to give away as if this was a year-end clearance sale, and this kid wasn\u2019t about to take no for an answer.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He prompted me towards their adult section and he started sharing his love of horror comics. That immediately caught me off guard, but what really took me aback is when he mentioned Fishflies, a long-running series from the great Jeff Lemire. Shock and awe overtook me. Back in 2023, Image put out a Free Comic Book Day preview and here it is again in 2025. Heck, I probably picked it up two years ago and left it buried somewhere in my piles of unorganized comics. I haven\u2019t read Fishflies, but if it\u2019s anything like Lemire\u2019s Gideon Falls, this kid is a savant. Among this next generation\u2019s greats when it comes to taste.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n By the way, if horror isn\u2019t your thing, Lemire has a Star Wars-esque space fantasy series called Descender<\/a> (with a sequel series Ascender) that is well worth your time.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Fishflies Free Comic Book Day 2023 Cover<\/p>\n Descender by Jeff Lemire<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I grabbed a cup of coffee next. Their menu items were aptly named something from the comic book realm. Being a basic white boy, I got an iced Venom AKA an iced mocha. And boy was it bland, but I also don\u2019t know anything about coffee. If there\u2019s anyone out there who can teach me the ways, I would greatly appreciate it. On my way out, the kid gave me a head nod and a wave. He is going places. Maybe I should have had him make my coffee.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Upon returning to my home base shop at NerdinOut<\/a> and thankfully finding this year\u2019s Star Wars issues, it was about time to dive in. However, I couldn\u2019t leave without buying something as per my moral code. So I searched. And searched. And observed a father and a son playing Connect Four while I searched. And searched. And witnessed that same son break down when he couldn\u2019t take the driveable Star Wars landspeeder<\/a> home. And searched. And had my own mental debate over whether I wanted to take it home. And searched. Finally, I couldn\u2019t avoid it any longer. The same Funko Pop wall of horrors that plagued me last year.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I could feel its call, but wasn\u2019t sure from where. Then I saw it. The cold, dark eyes of a certain frog sitting on top of a cat. It was a jumbo Funko of Big the Cat from Sonic lore. There was no escaping his, as the kids say, aura. So I now have a big Big the Cat in my Funko collection. I\u2019m not proud of it. This is a message to SEGA and Paramount. Big the Cat and Froggy\u2019s lifeless, black eyes are now going to be staring at me every day and night until they are satiated. I know you\u2019re thinking about it<\/a>. Please put them in Sonic 4 before something happens to me.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n If you are still here 800 plus words of nonsense later and want to know about this year\u2019s Star Wars issues, let\u2019s talk about them. Dark Horse\u2019s Young Jedi Adventures saw Kai, Lys, and Nubs go on a scavenger hunt for Yoda. This wasn\u2019t anything more than your standard episode of the show, but that\u2019s alright. Marvel\u2019s Star Wars issue had a lot more meat on the bone.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n When Star Wars #1 drops next week<\/a>, there will surely be hints about the next big threat to the New Republic. Here, we see Luke and Rynn Zenat tracking down stolen New Republic goods. The Pyke Syndicate gets involved, but we are no closer to figuring out who Luke and Rynn are after. Writer Alex Segura has said we\u2019ll know by the end of the first arc, but this was a nice prologue ahead of the big day.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Charles Soule\u2019s Legacy of Vader entry focuses on Vane\u00e9. When we meet him in the series, Vane\u00e9 is nothing more than a head in a jar. This segment tells us why. He never accepted Vader\u2019s death so he took drastic measures to preserve his life, only to later give up. Now he has a new muse in Kylo Ren. This was a nice bit of world-building for a character I always enjoy seeing. Marc Guggenheim was up next with a continuation of Jedi Knights. Who is Corlis Rath and why does he want Qui-Gon Jinn dead? That is the big mystery. The penultimate panel of the issue implies it might have to do with Qui-Gon\u2019s former master, Count Dooku, and a poor choice Qui-Gon made as a Padawan.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Three interesting quick hitters, a fun Young Jedi Adventures tale, and that\u2019s all she wrote from Star Wars in this year\u2019s edition of Free Comic Book Day. As always, there\u2019s way more fun to be had just living in the comic world for a day. I\u2019ll never call that kid a friend, but if I ever find myself going that way again, I\u2019ll be sure to stop by. Hopefully with a better knowledge of how to order a good cup of joe.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Star](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/marvel-Star-wars-free.jpeg\")
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