Atomic Comics giving away 200 free copies of 'Darkness'

Atomic Comics will be giving away 200 copies of Darkness issue #75 on Wednesday at its Mesa store, 1120 S. Country Club Drive, No. 105.

The violent, mystical mob thriller — think The Godfather meets Supernatural — is an oversized 48-page comic that would ordinarily retail for $4.99. It features artists who have worked on characters like Superman, Batman and the Hulk and explores a dark future world with an ancient, unholy power named The Darkness.

Top Cow’s Productions publisher Filip Sablik said he hopes the promotion will build excitement and help potential comic-book readers find entertainment despite a tough economy.

More than 200,000 comics will be given away nationwide this year by Top Cow Productions, which also publishes Witchblade and Wanted.

“We feel strongly that Top Cow titles are the best they’ve ever been and it’s important for to invite readers and retailers to discover why,” said Sablik. “While our competitors are straining the wallet of the average fan, Top Cow is making it easy to try new comics.”

“Retailers are eager to support this innovative promotion, with the hope of proving that new ideas can lead to new readers for quality titles,” said Joe Field, president of the comics retailer group ComicsPRO. “Our mutual goals with this program are to expose thousands of new eyes to Top Cow’s singular brand of comics and to lead more readers to enjoying Top Cow comics and buying them from ComicsPRO member stores.”

Atomic Comics head honcho Mike Malve said the Mesa store will be open on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. To get the free comic, he said, you will need to be there to pick up a copy — you cannot call and reserve one or order it from the Atomic online store.