Free Comic Book Day 2009

FCBD IN RETROSPECT

Free Comic Book Day was this past weekend, and I want to thank everyone that stopped out at Jay’s CD and Hobby to visit with us, and pick up some cool free shit.  I also want to condemn those that did not.  I was trying to decide whether or not FCBD was a success, and by success I mean for the industry as a whole.  It was certainly successful for Jay who had one of his best sales days ever.  It was a success for us as a comic book company because we sold a few books (not as many as I would have liked, but Oh well), and sold some t-shirts as well.   I have been scrounging around the internet trying to pool as much information as possible regarding carious retailers and creators FCBD experience in gauging whether or not the concept behind FCBD was a success, which is to introduce the medium to new readers as well as reintroduce it to old ones.  Besides it gives me great joy in the fact that we geeks have at least one day a year to share our passion with the world. 

My own personal experience that day along with the general consensus across the World Wide Web has been yes; it was a success.  Since I do not want to speak for anyone else here, I will highlight my own personal experiences.  

Our table was in a room of the store next to the free comics, which allowed for some great traffic.  We also had some copies of bloods Own #1 on hand, which we were giving away for free.  There was quite a bit of down time that allowed me to browse the large selection of trade paperbacks all of which were discounted by 40%.  I met a young man who was searching for something any trade paperbacks featuring his new favorite character Dead Pool, and helped him find some books.  While scanning the rows of books we chatted about comics, I asked what type of books he enjoyed reading, and what some of his other favorite characters are.  He was not an avid comic book reader, and enjoyed less mainstream titles, so I directed him towards a number of great independent books such as Proof, Scalped, DMZ, Lock and Key, and Walking Dead (though that may be considered mainstream by now).  I also pointed out some great Marvel titles such as Ghost Rider, and Invincible Iron Man.  He seemed interested in the Black Panther, so I recommended Christopher Priest’s Black Panther run under the Marvel Knights imprint.  He bought a couple of books, and expressed a sincere interest in returning again to check out the other books I recommended.  

I know this seems like a very small gesture, and that you may think it’s only one person, but that one person can certainly has friends and family, and hopefully they can pay the experience forward.  Plus, if every fan, retailer, creator were to share a similar experience with just one person the number of comic book readers would certainly double.  So as small a gesture as it may be it has the potential to speak volumes.  

A second experience comes from the enjoyment I receive when I see the face of a young avid comic fans face light up.  That face happened to be Austin, my brother’s fiancés son (still following me?).  Austin reminds me quite a bit of myself when I was his age; he loves video games, transformers, and comic books.  He was not able to make it out to FCBD, so I brought the free comics to him.  It’s not stealing if they’re free, right? 

Anyway, my wife, daughter and I headed out to my brothers house after FCBD to celebrate the birthday of another of his girlfriend’s children.  I brought a sack of free comics and upon entering the door he instinctively seemed to know that I had something for him.  This isn’t the first time I had given him a stack of comics or toys, so maybe it was wishful thinking on his part.  As soon as I handed him the sack his eyes immediately lit up, and a huge smile crossed his face.  “WOW, comics!” he exclaimed.  He quickly tore the sack apart pulling out each one and commenting how cool they were.  Austin has not yet perfected the “reading” part, but is working on it, and I think that the comics will certainly help.  He at least has the will to read, which a great start is.  

I am grateful to be able to share my passion with someone as great as Austin, and am really looking forward to sharing that passion with my own son in the future.  

Another thing worth mentioning and something I learned at FCBD is to never leave your camera left unattended.  When I left Jay’s Saturday afternoon I mistakenly left my camera behind.  When it was returned to me the following day it was chock full of photos of various movie and album covers, crotch shots of toys and comic art, and even crotch shots of my respective artist/partner.  Let me just warn those responsible, that payback is a btich.