Free Comic Book Day is almost here!

Unless you’ve just landed on Earth, you know that FCBD has grown into the equivalent of Christmas for comics fans everywhere. The big companies release sampler books and the stores give them away to customers in the hopes of getting us to buy more. Sales are held, cosplay is worn, creators autograph books, and nobody goes home unhappy.

That said, if you’re lucky enough to get everything, FCBD leaves you with a glut of reading material. Last year, this writer managed to pick up almost all of the free 50 titles, and it took me about a week to get through them. So if I had to settle on just eight titles to recommend to our audience, it’d be these:

1. Captain America (Marvel Comics): No offense to Sam Wilson–because we absolutely adore his costume–but it’ll be fun to see Steve Rogers take up the mantle again, and hopefully he and Sam can coexist in the role. With Civil War hitting theaters the day before, audiences will be wanting more Cap, and hopefully this book delivers. Plus, this book will have a backup preview of Spider-Man’s “Dead No More” storyline. FCBD has spotlighted Dan Slott’s Spider-Man stuff three times before, so don’t expect to be let down.

2. DC Super Hero Girls (DC Comics): DC always puts out a kid-friendly option, and this year’s offering is a “pre-print” of the upcoming Super Hero Girls graphic novel. Whether or not you agree with the idea of Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn in high school, this book will likely resonate with young girls who are looking for a more accessible level of comics.

3. Bob’s Burgers (Dynamite Entertainment): It’s tough choosing between this book and Bongo’s annual Simpsons offering, as both do excellent jobs of taking their source material and adapting it to the comics medium. Get both, but between the two, go with Bob’s Burgers. It’s a newer title that adapts a newer show, but one which captures family zaniness in a way that The Simpsons television show hasn’t in a long time.

4. Boom! Studios Summer Blast (Boom Studios): Another kid-friendly book, the Boom samplers always manage to cram a lot of delightful short stories into a standard-sized comic. Highlights here include David Petersen’s gorgeous Mouse Guard, the fan-favorite girl-powered Lumberjanes, the adaption of the ever-popular Adventure Time, and a sampling of the upcoming Goldie Vance. Even if you don’t like the whole book, you’re bound to like at least a part of it.

5. March (IDW): What, you thought FCBD was all fun and superheroes? March reminds us that there’s real heroes who fought against bigger forces than Kryptonite, as U.S. Representative John Lewis walks us through one of the watershed events of the 1960s. Sit your kids down and make them read this excerpt of the larger March graphic novels, and then consider getting them the full copy as well.

6. Valiant 4001 A.D. Special Edition (Valiant): OK, there’s more superhero stuff out there, and it’s not all from Marvel and DC. Valiant’s joined the trend of using FCBD to showcase upcoming storylines rather than reprinting existing materials, so readers can step into the Valiant universe with this preview of their next big story. Plus, there’s a few excerpts from their popular titles like Archer & Armstrong and Faith. If you want to step outside the “big two,” this is your chance to do it.

7. ROM (IDW): Remember ROM?  If you got into comics after the 1980s, likely not. He’s a licensed character with the odd history of being heavily wrapped into the Marvel Universe, but whose republication rights have been in limbo for years. (Marvel’s had to make covert references to the character and omit entire pages from collected editions because of this.) Now IDW’s gotten the license, and we’re getting the first official ROM comics in decades. Older fans will delight, and younger ones will finally get to see who this ROM character is that us older folks are always talking about.

8. Assassin’s Creed (Titan Comics): There’s no doubt that Assassin’s Creed is one of the most popular video game titles out there, and a movie is on the way. You can enjoy this book on the merits, but why not also use it as an opportunity to get your gamer friends into comics? Here’s your chance to them that there’s more stories to be told outside the games.

Bonus: Here’s two comics that we’re not chomping at the bit to pick up:

9. Suicide Squad (DC Comics): OK, this one isn’t a total foul, since it’s essentially the basis for the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. Still, DC has used the last few FCBDs to preview upcoming events, like last year’s Divergence sampler which was our gateway into Batman‘s “Superheavy” and Justice League‘s “The Darkseid War.” Doing a reprint on the biggest comic book day of the year seems lazy, especially since their anticipated “Rebirth” book is being released three weeks later.

10. Civil War II (Marvel Comics): We can’t blame Marvel for pushing an event book on this day, particularly one which capitalizes on a movie with the same name. Still, we’re tired of crossovers, and this book leads into another one which demands our money. Plus, spoilers have leaked for how this issue turns out, and while we won’t say what they are, we’re not happy. Can we get a free book which highlights an event but doesn’t cheese us off in the process?

And there you have it.  That’s ten books to watch for, but plenty more in the offering as well. Tell us below and on our Facebook site–what are you looking forward to on FCBD 2016?