FCBD Traveling Caravan

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. Rather than hitting the usual haunts here, I was invited to join some Twitter friends for a "comics caravan". So I took the Amtrak train at any ungodly hour down to Richmond, Virginia. The caravan was actually a nine-person van. This worked out well, since we didn't have to worry about following other cars or odd directions. The caravan was a near even split with three women, three men and one small boy. He was quite well behaved and seemed to enjoy himself.

The fun for me was seeing someone else's comic shops and how they're organized (or not). The comics caravan went to four in total, all with different approaches to the day.

The first one was a small badly organized maze with one person handling everything. All the "gold" level book covers were on the counter and you pointed to whichever ones you wanted. Everything else (including ones from previous years) was below the counter and you had to know about them to ask, which defeated the spirit of discovering something new and different. That store had the most bizarre selection of toys and statues. They also had stormtroopers helping with the line. I had a bad Disney moment when I saw a stormtrooper without his helmet; it was like seeing Mickey Mouse wandering around without its head!

The second store was larger and quieter. They had a nice selection of the pulp reprints, both Tollin's Shadow/Doc Savage/Avenger/Whisperer reprints and the Adventure House reprints. The comics geek in me is still amused by the Whisperer being Police Commissioner James "Wildcat" Gordon. Does Ted Grant know this? And what does Batman think of Gordon horning in on his act?

The third store was Velocity Comics in downtown Richmond. That store was the artiest of the four stores with heavy selection of independents and lesser known comics. Also the only one of the four with a decent manga shelf, but there's always the regular bookstores/Amazon. They also had a nice sale/discount which encouraged extra shopping.

The fourth store Richmond Comix had Tiny Titans' Franco and Jamie Cosley at the store. They were both doing sketches for the kids. Cosley did an adorable Aquaman complete with sea creatures. Franco sketched an Ace the Bat Hound and Flash while I watched.

What I liked about the last two stores was the large all ages/kids sections. Some stores tuck them away on some spinner rack somewhere. These were large sections with lots of back issues to wade through and find treasure. They felt very welcoming to my inner nine year old.

All but the second store seemed to be doing a booming business on the day. People seemed to be buying other stuff, along with snagging their freebies. I was heartened by the number of kids I saw. I do wish there had been some "girly" book to point to, though.

I enjoyed myself mightily. It was good to put names with faces with my twitter friends and also chat about comics in person, rather than limited to a lj/twitter post. I do wish there had been some more time for discussions. Hopefully there will be other opportunities in the future.

The FCBD books I acquired: Iron Man/Thor, Owly, IDW's Library of American Comics, Sixth Gun, Oni Press Free for All, DC Kids Mega Sampler (signed by Tiny Titans' Franco) and War of Supermen. I also snagged an old Justice League of America #0, which I loved for the Trinity moments. I definitely pushed myself outside the box on this Free Comic Book Day, rather than sticking with the tried and true.

I also wound up with Heroclix War Machine. At the last stop I actually saw the Heroclix game being played, so now I understand it in theory.

My regular online service, DCBS, allows us to preorder up to five of the books, so eventually I'll have Stuff of Legend, Love and Capes and the Green Hornet issues to add to my pile.

I bought a batch of other things: the Aquaman & Etrigan issue of Brave & the Bold, Black Widow & the Marvel Girls, Night Owls, and Pluto volume 8. The last one I was grateful for, because I hadn't been able to find it in any of my local stores. (So much for living in a major metropolitan area...) My friend Caroline also loaned me the first volume of Ooku and gave me the first issue of Hickman's SHIELD.

All in all, a long but fun day with lots of future reading material.

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A change will do you good

I've expounded at length on Twitter and elsewhere about my woes with my comics pull list. I won't go into all the gory details, but suffice it to say, I wasn't a happy customer. But the options in the DC metro area are surprisingly limited. Some places require a minimum number of books before you can have a pull list; at that point I wasn't certain I was buying enough to manage that minimum.

So I started checking the options online. Having books shipped directly to my door sounded like a win-win combination to me, even if my credit card is having severe doubts.

I went with Discount Comic Book Service. I had heard good things about their service from other customers and I had a good experience with their sister site Instocktrades. The process was mostly painless. I filled out their massive Excel spreadsheet, uploaded it, and voila! My order appears up on the screen – as long as you marked the right space, you should get the right issue, no questions on whether it's the right title or if it's spelled correctly.

Now it's not without human error. I filled out my lovely spreadsheet for my first month only to discover after the fact I'd left off a title. No problem, I emailed their customer service and it was promptly added to my shipment. For future shipments, I have been much more careful to double and triple check things "Did I miss anything?" Of course I always do forget something.

Those Excel spreadsheets are extremely deadly. They contain everything off the Previews catalog, including all the variants, trades/hardcovers, manga, merchandise – you name it. They're also very nicely discounted, so you can afford that extra trade sometimes. I really had to reign myself in a few times in the follow-up months, which have gotten progressively more expensive. Even with discounts, you have to know your limits. Do I really need that Absolute? Can I live without that mini series? Oh, that's finally out in trade, should I get it? It's a vicious circle.

Customers have a couple of shipping options – weekly, biweekly or monthly. I went monthly, so my books go out after the last book ships. That means I see my comics after everyone, but I'm fairly used to that idea. You can also see which books shipped and which didn't on your account, which is reassuring.

My first batch arrived a few weeks ago. Only two books didn't ship because of delays. Both were expected, so I'm not too worried. They also included a batch of Free Comic Book Day titles in my shipment, so I could read the Wolverine, Avengers, and Shonen Jump offerings.

The following months will tell the tale of tape to see whether the change is worth it, but so far, so good. At least I can look forward to getting comics again... even if they're not on Wednesday.

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Free Comic Book Day

For sports fans, the first weekend in May usually means the Kentucky Derby.

Ask a comics fan and it’s Free Comic Book Day. This event was set up as a way to lure potential new customers or entice old ones back into the comic shops. Comic book publishers create special editions or samplers of their books for the participating stores to carry that day. The Gold level sponsors are usually the heavy hitters, while the Silver level includes the lesser known stuff.

The books are all intended to be "family-friendly". There's usually a good lineup of kids title that appeal to all ages. Two years ago I saw the cutest thing at my local comic store. A little girl came in with her parents to ask for a free comic book. No one said "Oh, you're a girl, you shouldn't be reading those." They just pointed to the all ages selection and let her look. They pored over the table for something she'd like, along with one for someone else, possibly a brother or sister. At one point, she picked a black and white title and her father commented how there weren't any colors in that one. She said matter of factly she could always color it herself. Although the comics collectors might wince at that prospect, I smiled at a budding colorist in the works... we can always dream, right?

FCBD provides a great opportunity for those independent publishers to be exposed to new people that might not find their series otherwise. I’ll use two big examples: Owly and Love and Capes. Owly is an adorable kids comics about an owl and his friends. Love and Capes is a superhero romantic comedy. I would never have heard of either of these books without Free Comic Book Day.

As a comics fan, I’ll admit it – it’s really easy to get complacent. We all have our favorite characters. We all like to stick to what we know, rather than try out new things. So it’s kinda fun to have a chance to stray from the beaten path. Instead of picking up that usual title, you can try something else. If you don’t like it, there’s no harm. If you love it, hopefully there’s more to find.

So how did I spend my first weekend in May?

Well, I went over to the Big Planet in Vienna for my FCBD festivities. They had most of the better known titles available. In retrospect, I should have practiced what I preached and tried something new. But I stayed with the tried and true by getting the Blackest Night #0 and the DC Kids Mega Sampler. I also downloaded three of TwoMorrows Publishing magazines (Alter Ego, Rough Stuff and Write Now) in pdf format. (A friend scored me a copy of the Love and Capes FCBD issue, which absolutely made my day.)

I also bought a few other things. My haul included: Agents of Atlas #2, Mysterius the Unfathomable #3 & 4, Queen & Country definitive edition v4, an Appleseed trade and two volumes of the Pluto manga. This was more than I expected to buy truthfully, but I’m very happy with my purchases all the same.

Later I saw the X-men Origins: Wolverine with a couple of friends. So it was definitely a day to celebrate comic books.

And not a mint julep in sight.

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