Weekend Report: Free Comics and Spidey!

Just a quick note on this past weekend. Besides helping the ever lovely Judy plant some new foliage in the backyard gardens, I did steal some time to hit a comic book shop on Free Comic Book Day and participate in making Sony Pictures richer by attending a showing of Spider-Man 3.

This would be my first Free Comic Book Day that I have attended and I have to say it wasn't what I expected. After reading all the hype and events that they have in other cities I was thinking it would be sort of a little comic book party. So I took a lunch break from the yard work and on the way to pick up some take out I stopped at my local comic haunt. There were about three people in the shop, two clerks and the usual Magic card player chatting it up with the guy behind the counter that specializes in card games. I was greeted by the second clerk and he immediately let me know it was Free Comic Book Day.

So here's what I thought going into this for the first time. I knew that the comic industry printed comics specially for this day so I wasn't going to walk away with just any comic for free, so, so much for making it away with Detective Comics #27. Like "my" shop even had that, right? I did think that maybe that they would give you a chance to pick up two or three various titles, some variety if you will. So I asked "what's the limit?" expecting to here a couple. One, one per customer. Okay so at this time I'm asking all three of my readers if, one, they attended Free Comic Book Day? and two, what is your comic book shops policy on Free Comic Book Day?

Needless to say I walked around the shop, they had rearranged a few things since I had been there last, and ended my journey back at the display of free comics. I looked over the titles and selected one that I liked the illustration style of the cover and said "I'll take that one". Now I wasn't aware that I would also get a choice of a free mini poster, so that was a bonus. Transformers or the New Fantastic Four Flick. Silver Surfer won on that one. The comic? Lets just say that later that night I decided to do my research and was checking out LOG and low and behold my comic wasn't listed as one of DC's finest that were to be given out this year. You guessed it I got a recycled Free Comic Day comic. Yep, none other than the 2006 Free Comic Book Day Justice League Unlimited comic. A side note my son went with me and so I thought if he didn't want his comic, I might have a chance for a second, but he left empty handed, saying nothing peeked his interest. Kids, you can't even give them free comics.

Lesson, do your research before hand and make arrangements with your accomplice before you go into the shop to grab you a second comic, even if they don't see anything they like. Oh well at least I did get a cool mini poster and a free comic to read and pass along to some younger reader who will just thinks it's cool to get any comic. Hope everyone had a cool Free Comic Book Day and I'll give some of my readers a chance to see Spider-Man 3 before I go on about it. Oh and the pic on this post is of the Spider-Man 3 plush that the company I work for produces for the amusement market. You can check out more plush goodness here!