Free Comic Book Day is fast approaching, and the titles that will be available on that magical day at your local comic shop are now posted on the official FCBD website. Movie and television tie-ins look like the name of the game again this year, with Marvel, Dark Horse and IDW all offering titles based on current or upcoming big- and small-screen projects.

Of course, be sure to keep in mind that you can always find free comics here on ComicMix every day of the year, so if you dig that whole "free comics" scene, make sure you check out our archive of free comics.

But I digress…

Some of the highlights of the 2008 Free Comic Book Day titles include:

First-issue reprints of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman and the kids-oriented Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco, comprise DC’s FCBD offernigs — and should definitely generate some interest in the collected All Star Superman editions.

Marvel offers up another original issue with a FCBD 2008 story involving the X-Men. With a Mike Carey script and art by Greg Land, it looks like the Merry Marvel Marketing Machine certainly didn’t phone it in on the free stuff. Oh, and as a tie-in to the upcoming big-screen debut of Iron Man, they’re also offering a Marvel Adventures story featuring Iron Man and the Mandarin. (more…)

Today in 1992, the Saturday Night Live spin-off film Wayne’s World premiered, making Valentine’s Day that much more… romantic?

A-sphincter-says-what?

The film starred starred Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, reprising their roles from the SNL sketches that spawned the film. If nothing else, Wayne’s World gave hope to basement dwellers everywhere who hoped to someday beat up Rob Lowe and score with Tia Carrere.

AWESOME!

Sure, people give Garfield a lot of flack, but after Scott Kurtz of PvP received a mysterious package from Garfield creator Jim Davis, you can bet that the famous orange cat — and his creator — have a friend for life.

Over on the PvP site, Kurtz describes the gift he received from Davis in recognition of the strip’s 10th Anniversary.

I’ve been sitting on this for a week now, not sure how to properly frame or present it. Paul Southworth described it as “…like getting a Valentine from God.” Today it came in the mail and I decided the best thing to do was just photograph the unboxing. This office is now hallowed ground. I have no words beyond this: yes it’s real, yes he drew it, yes he likes PvP.

Kurtz has posted a Flickr Album of the Garfield box-opening event, with some commentary about why the gift has helped make PvP‘s ten-years-young celebration a very, very special time.

 In today’s brand-new and now brightly colored episode of The Adventures of Simone & Ajax, our heroes must find a way to protect the villagers who think Simone is their hero, Jungle Jayn.  

With a skin-tight tunic and the best of intentions, our heroine must face a plethora of invaders!

Sure, love is like a drug sometimes — but what kind of drug? Is it a quick pick-me-upper like caffeine? Is it the kind of drug that makes you taste colors? Heck, some might argue that it’s the type of drug that makes you look like Nick Nolte’s mugshot after a couple of weeks.

As a special Valentine’s Day treat, Journalista points readers to a pair of stories that deal with exactly that question, in their own ways.

In Our Love Story #5, Jim Steranko provides the trippy interior art to a Stan Lee story titled "My Heart Broke in Hollywood."

Honestly, I didn’t even have a chance to read the story. I started looking at the art and woke up two hours later covered in Sun Chips and Kool-Aid. It’s THAT good.

Next we have George Evans’ anti-drug themed "Slave of Despair" from a 1951 issue of Romantic Secrets.

This one tells the tale of Edith, a girl-next-door type with a world of opportunities and a steady beau, who makes a couple of bad decisions and ends up seduced by the "jungle beat" of hazy dance clubs and a pill-pushing, smooth-talking stranger. Soon she’s stealing from cash registers and acting like a funnybooks version of <a href=”

Winehouse.

… But seriously, folks, who hasn’t had a first date like that, right?

Anyone?

sigh