Today is the first Saturday in May, and if you’re into the “heroic” side of life, then you probably already know what that means: FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. The annual FCBD is a celebration of the world of comic books – a way of uniting all generations of readers and supporting local small businesses all in one colorful swoop. We missed last year’s FCBD due to a scheduling conflict, but after writing about our experiences in 2013 and 2012, we’re back in the swing of things for 2015. While I’d intended this to be my first year taking both girls, that plan changed due to “parenting” having to step-in. 5½-year-old Addie, who was planning to be Wonder Woman today, decided to make an angry and powerful kick that landed intentionally on Batgirl (2½-year-old Finley) this morning, thus revoking her privilege to accompany us to FCBD. I think I might’ve been more disappointed than she was, but we don’t reward a villainous turn, so Finn and I were on our way to Jay’s Comics in Third Lake, Illinois…
While every local comic shop sets their own ground rules, Jay’s had a generous allowance this morning: Your choice of up to ten FCBD titles, plus everyone was welcome to sample DC Comics’ DIVERGENCE #1 and MARVEL Comics’ SECRET WARS #0 – both of which serve as the lead-in to some important events from the two biggest publishers in the game.
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We snagged both of those, along with DC’s SCOOBY-DOO! TEAM-UP (featuring SUPER FRIENDS)/TEEN TITANS GO! split, IDW’s TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE, MARVEL’s The All New All-Different AVENGERS, BOOM! Studios’ TEN YEAR CELEBRATION 2015 FREE COMIC BOOK DAY SPECIAL, BONGO Comics’ BONG FREE-FOR-ALL (featuring THE SIMPSONS), TH3RD WORLD STUDIOS’ THE STUFF OF LEGEND/THANATOS DIVER split, CBLDF’s DEFEND THE COMICS, and Dark Horse Comics’ FIGHT CLUB/THE GOON/THE STRAIN split.
And then we bought a few things, because it’s all about supporting the cause…
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It was time to catch up on out MARVEL STAR WARS reading with STAR WARS #3&4, DARTH VADER #3&4, PRINCESS LEIA #2&3 and KANAN: THE LAST PADAWAN #1. We also grabbed IDW Publishing’s JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS #1, which appropriately has a holographic logo. Additionally, Finn got a Funko Pop! Vinyl Skipper from the PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR.
This was our first FCBD at this particular shop, as our old favorite (featured in my 2013 report) sadly closed last year, following the death of it’s owner. Jay’s is a small location, but it was packed with fans of all ages – and we immediately spotted one of our neighbors and his son upon arrival. Outside, there was a guy dressed as MARIO (no Luigi to be found), and folks were passing out flyers for Count-I-Con, coming to the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake, IL this August – a small convention that focuses on creators. The day is still young, so if you’re reading this on May 2, 2015 – there’s still time to find a local comic shop to take part!
Did you go to FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2015? What was your experience? Share it below!
