Print      
It’s Free Comic Book Day once again
Pages from “Hedra,’’ a self-published comic book by Jesse Lonergan that follows one human’s quest into deep space.
By Jan Gardner
Globe Correspondent

Free Comic Book Day

Since 2002, the first Saturday in May has been Free Comic Book Day at participating stores across the United States. Each customer gets at least one free comic book of the store’s choice. Local shops participating this year include New England Comics in Allston, Comicopia and Newbury Comics in Boston, Million Year Picnic and New England Comics in Cambridge, and Hub Comics in Somerville. Fifty comic books, featuring superheroes, children’s favorites, TV tie-ins, and classic characters, will be handed out.

Capitalizing on the wealth of local cartooning talent and the enthusiasm surrounding Free Comic Book Day, the Cambridge Public Library is hosting a day-long celebration on May 7. Think of it as a mini-MICE, suggests comic-book publisher and artist Dan Mazur, referring to the annual Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo he organizes.

More than two dozen local cartoonists will be on hand from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There will be comic books to browse and buy as well as hands-on workshops for comic artists of all ages and skill levels.

Among the highlights will be the launch of Jesse Lonergan’s self-published “Hedra,’’ a wordless comic book that follows one human’s quest into deep space to find suitable forms of life to repopulate the planet following a nuclear apocalypse.

Hawthorne Barn opens 3d season

Once an inspiration for artists and writers from Norman Rockwell to Norman Mailer, the Hawthorne Barn is about to begin its third season as an entertainment venue. Paying homage to a poem by the late Provincetown poet Stanley Kunitz, cofounders Joshua Prager and Julia Glass call the annual program Twenty Summers. But hurry. The season is comprised of 10 evenings, beginning May 13 with an acoustic concert by Marshall Crenshaw, and ending June 11 with a talk by fashion blogger Garance Doré. Highlights include a program of words and music, produced by writer M.T. Anderson, focused on the role of the rustic and the rural in the American imagination, and a debut theatrical reading on May 28 of “100 Years: Wisdom From Famous Writers on Every Year of Your Life’’ (Norton), a joint project of Prager and Milton Glaser, the graphic designer who created the I (heart) NY logo. The June 4 performance will be directed by Jim True-Frost of “The Wire’’ fame.

In addition to a number of solo musical artists, there will be conversations featuring Edith Windsor, a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (May 14); feminist Naomi Wolf with Megan Marshall (May 20); baseball geek Bill James with Rob Neyer (May 27); and novelists Geraldine Brooks and Amy Bloom in a conversation moderated by poet Gail Mazur (June 3). Details at www.20summers.org.

Coming out

¦ “Blood Defense’’ by Marcia Clark (Thomas & Mercer)

¦ “67 Shots: Kent State and the End of American Innocence’’ by Howard Means (Da Capo)

¦ “Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story’’ by Matti Friedman (Algonguin)

Pick of the Week

Don Luckham of the Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, N.H., recommends “Father’s Day’’ by Simon Van Booy (Harper): “The author’s delicate touch is turned to the relationship between orphaned Harvey and her uncle, Jason, a man no one could expect to be the right choice as guardian. The plot is structured as a series of Father’s Day gifts given to Jason from the now adult Harvey. In this novel, Van Booy is at his most poignant, showing how redemption can arise from heartbreaking circumstances.’’

Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.