The nominees for the 2006 Eisner Awards have been announced, and guess who’s been chosen by the judges for entrance in their Hall of Fame? Floyd Gottfredson!

If you don’t know Floyd Gottfredson from Moses (despite the former looking nothing like Charlton Heston), check out a great little Gottfredson biography David Gerstein put together, complete with samples of Floyd’s work from 1930-1975.

In the meantime, be on the lookout for Gottfredson’s classic Mickey Mouse tales in upcoming issues of Walt Disney’s Comics!

On May 6th, 2006, there is something you must do: Go into a comic shop, and get free merchandise.

That’s right; for the fourth year in a row, the American comic book industry is dedicating one day to spreading the love of comic books far and wide with freebies! In most cases, publishers (such as, say, Gemstone) produce special books for this event — though I’ve known some independant publishers to take the opportunity to clear out their backstock, too. Either way, it isn’t very often you can walk out of a bookstore with a pile of free books! (Well, with their permission, at least.)

Not only can you grab a bunch of free swag, though; Free Comic Book Day is also one of the best opportunities (outside of a convention) to meet your favorite creators! That’s how I first met Buzzboy‘s John Gallagher. (My Buzzboy Diner t-shirt is hands-down the most prized possession in my wardrobe, John!)

So now that I’ve hyped the event so much, you’re probably wondering, “what will Gemstone Publishing be offering this year?” I thought you’d never ask! This year’s FCBD issue contains the following selections from an all-star cast of creators:

• Metaphorically Spanking, by Don Rosa
• Queen of the Ant Farm, by Pat and Shelly Block
• Their Loaded Forebear, by William van Horn

It doesn’t get much better than that! So track down your nearest comic shop (you can use the Comic Shop Locator Service box on the sidebar or call 1.800.COMIC.BOOK) and beat a path to their door on Saturday, May 6th!

(Shoot, I almost forgot to post this!)

In last month’s Diamond Dialogue, Diamond Comic Distributors published their Top 100 Graphic Novels of 2005 (HT: Comic Book Resources), and The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa made #59 on the list, which was heavily dominated by DC and Marvel books. Ooh, that’s nice.

If you don’t know what The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is, shame on you! It’s only about the best graphic novel ever published, with over 260 pages of some of the finest comic book storytelling out there. Go get yourself a copy now!

From Scoop:

Mickey Mouse #286 starts the party with “Coming Up Short,” a feature-length epic by Stefan Petrucha (The X-Files) and Paco Rodriguez. Mickey and Eega Beeva time travel to the island of Torgania in the year 2225, where they’ve heard that futuristic jousters participate in a thrilling tournament, riding atop giant dogs and cats. But wouldn’t you know it? Torgania in 2225 is ruled by despotic king Torga, whose animals are really normal size. The jousters have been shrunken to rat-size with a ray… and Mickey soon meets the same fate! To win back his size and freedom and return to 2006, our highly embarrassed Mouse must become a master jouster, a position he’s in no way physically suited for. Uh-oh!

You know how they say, “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”? Well, that’s doubly-true for Mickey Mouse & Friends. I’ll bet few could have guessed that lurking behind an innocent-looking “Mickey trips while cat chases Pluto” cover lies a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat adventure featuring both time traveling and gladiatorial battles! Yup, we like to under-sell and over-deliver here at Gemstone.

Speaking of selling and delivering, this issue is slated to be on shelves February 22, so if you want a copy, you’d better act fast! Just enter your ZIP Code in the Find a Comic Shop search box on the right (or call 1-888-COMIC BOOK), and you’ll get a list of the comic book shops nearest you. Call one of them up today to reserve your copy! (Special thanks to Diamond Comic Distributors for providing the Comic Shop Locator Service!)

The Sequential Tart, that is.

David Gerstein, our Archival Editor here at Gemstone, talks all things Good Housekeeping in an interview with Tart‘s Jennifer Contino. If you had any questions about Mickey and the Gang, check it out!