Saturday is the first annual “International Read Comics in Public Day.” The idea is to be caught reading comics you know, out among the public, with the hopes that somebody will ask you what you’re reading and allow you to start explaining until they and their jock buddies start wailing on you.
August 28 is coincidentally the the birthday of the late great Jack Kirby, co-creator of many of Marvel Comics famous characters including Captain America and the Incredible Hulk.
My recommendation is that you pick up the first volume of “The Walking Dead,” which is coming to the small screen on Halloween on AMC. It is a story about a group of characters struggling to survive after the zombie apocalypse. Told in black and white but with a no holds barred approach, it is pretty much the greatest running title in comics.
Another good choice would be “Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter,” which is an adaptation of a 1960s novel, one of a series about Parker, a hard-nosed tough guy and his dealings with the underworld of the time. The retro art style and ruthlessness of the plot make this a pretty awesome read. Of course, it doesn’t look very much like a comic book unless you look at the pages, so purists might not accept this choice.
The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye (v. 1) on Amazon.com
Parker: The Hunter (Richard Stark’s Parker) on Amazon.com
The Sac Rag 
I was up in Olympia, WA that Saturday, so taking a cue from your post, I went to Danger Room Comics, the only comic book store in that town. (And virtually the only comic book store in the area: apparently most residents go to Seattle or order stuff from Amazon if they want the latest graphic novel.) But nobody knew anything about the event. I was so disappointed in my fellow geeks I wanted to leap into the sundogmobile and race back to Sac.
Btw, The Walking Dead series rocks, I agree. But don’t read it if you’re easily depressed or even remotely believe a zombie holocaust is imminent. These comics are so well written they’ll convince you that resistance is futile.
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