Annually on the first Saturday in May, comic fans across the nation pull on their spandex and leather renditions of costumes of their favorite superheroes. They then make a trip boldly, to the local comic store and for their effort, are rewarded with an assortment of free comic books on this yearly holiday of sorts called Free Comic Book Day.
Comic book artist and writer, James Lyle (left), was on hand for the Downtown library’s Free Comic Book day events that included door prizes, a movie screening of Iron Man, comics swap and give-aways as well as costuming events. K.D. and Danny Chisham suited up for the event which is intended to reach out to those who are unfamiliar with the comic genre.
What FCBD does is allow the comic book stores to give away special editions of comic books while offering discounts on back issues. The comics aren’t all filler, either, as the major names in the industry, from Disney, Marvel, DC, Tokyopop and independent publishers offer up comics for this giveaway.
What they hope to accomplish with this is to introduce everyone to how cool comics are, to remind those who have lost their way and forgotten the heyday of comics to return to the flock and to give a kudos to the current comic buyers for helping make all the fantastical worlds of the comics stand. And for the most part, this effort is very successful. In the first six years of FCBD, 2,000 retailers in over 30 countries gave away more than 12 million comics.
I, for one, find it an excellent time to get my geek on and visit local comic stores to rub shoulders with the readers, figure out what superhero has died or been revived lately and get a plethora of comics that are not only free, but full of amazing artistry, storyline and mythos.
The reason comics have faded is that people perceive them as something for children, as sort of a picture book. This is false for anyone who has picked up certain popular comics and seen the sometimes violent and sexually suggestive nature of the works. To me, comics I love are more of an art form than “picture books,” because the majority are thought provoking and the art is a higher grade than works like “Goodnight Moon.”
People like Susan Basham, whom I met at B and M Amusement Company on Hwy. 58 during FCBD, might agree with me. Basham was in her Green Lantern costume that day because she wanted to get more mileage out of the costume this year than just at the conventions she attends. The owner of B and M, Buddy Davenport, has owned the shop for 10 years, and for his shop’s events, they offered door prizes every hour and 50 percent off back issues of comics.
Next, I headed to Comic Hound in East Ridge, where the top shelf stretching the length of the store was filled with the 33 comics I couldn’t wait to dive into. The titles ranged from introductions of new comics like “The Mortal Instruments,” “Fearless Dawn” and “Pride Prejudice and Zombies,” to the well known comics like “Iron Man,” “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “The Simpsons.” To choose just a few of these comics was impossible, and thankfully, the owners of Comic Hound realized this and let patrons of the store that day pick one of each of the comics offered.
The last stop of the day was to the downtown public library. The library always outdoes itself on these events, and this year was no exception. A screening of the first “Iron Man” movie was offered along with snack sharing. Door prizes were on hand along with a comic swap table and, of course, free comics were offered.
James Lyle, comic writer and illustrator, was the speaker for the event. Over the past 25 years, he has illustrated several independent comics including the two online comics he is working with now. He has also done promotional art for the Toronto production of “The Toxic Avenger” as well as a series of comics for Jones Soda advertising.
The success of comic book day is inspiring in a time when many have said newspapers, books and all print will eventually be replaced by Internet and electronic media. This example of an industry’s innovation to pull their medium back out into the open sure does give hope to dedicated fans who grew up with crushes on Peter Parker and Clark Kent. I won’t name names.
Email Erica Tuggle at reporter @hamiltoncountyherald.com.