Avengers AND Free Comic Book Day? Nerd Weekend Achieved

In case you live in a cave (sans box of scraps), this is your friendly reminder that Avengers: Age of Ultron drops May 1st. And, on a lesser known front, Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is on May 2nd!

Think you're ready for this nerd-ified weekend? Just to make sure, here are some pointers to get the best use out of your time (time travelers need not continue reading).

1. Check movie theaters for early releases.

It seems midnight releases are growing less popular. Apparently, folks are realizing that older audiences, the most likely to be paying for a midnight release, don't actually like going to work on Friday feeling like their hungover, even if they didn't drink anything.

The new fad, if you would, is to have "Midnight Releases" start as early as 7:00pm in some places. That's right, you can see Avengers: Age of Ultron, in its entirety, on April 30th. And still make it home for a reasonable bedtime.

I'll personally being seeing a 10:00pm showing in Randolph, MA, and am pretty damn excited about it!

2. Catch up on Agents of SHIELD.

I've been avoiding Avengers spoilers as much as humanly possible, but some of the brief comments that have made it past my defenses mention that the movie starts rather abruptly.

It is my belief that tomorrow night's (4/28) Agents of SHIELD will have a minimal tie-in to the Avenger's opening. It won't be much, but even a bit of a setup will make the universe feel connected, which is nice. Already, there are some names bouncing back and forth on SHIELD that should be seen in Avengers.

In general, Agents of SHIELD has been fairly interesting this season, with some greater Marvel Tie-Ins that I'm looking forward to in future films.

3. For FCBD, know your local shop's rules.

Last year, I wrote a post explaining FCBD. One important take away is that not all shops treat the day the same. Some have restrictions to how many comics you can get. Others have additional events or sales. Figure out your local shop's deal by asking an owner/associate, and then determine if you should be making a longer trip for a more ideal setup.

I'll be at my local show, Rubber Chicken Comics, because they don't restrict free comics AND have decent sales.

4. Know what issues are free!

This one isn't a major issue, because most shops will keep all the free issues in a centralized location, but that doesn't mean you can't get a sneak peak at what you can grab the day of. Here is the link to freecomicbookday.com's list of all the free comics that will be available. I'm definitely looking forward to Fight Club, Secret Wars, and 2000 AD.