In prepping for a Free Comic Book Day report from my part of the world, I’d been warned by my local comic book shop of record — Austin Books — that there would be lines forming before their way-earlier-than-usual 8 a.m. opening. Considering EVERYBODY eats breakfast around noontime on Saturday in Austin (that’s the way it seems to me and Ms. CEO), I was a bit skeptical.
Boy, was I wrong! At least a half-dozen folks, including one guy pushing a double-stroller and somebody else arriving in a cab, were waiting patiently at the front door before they were directed to a previously vacant area in the back of the building Austin Books leased just to stage the day-long conga line Free Comic Book Day has become for them.
To make things even more interesting, Austin Books was one of at least three stores in the area inviting local creators to show off their work to folks who might never see it otherwise, creating a sorta/kinda Staple feel in the room. Among the creators accepting the open-ended freebie invite: Jenner Carnelian (Tales From Planet Aeruen) and Kristen Hogan (Dead Squirrel Girl) seen below.
Having already scoped out the books I wanted — First Second’s preview of their star summer offering The Black Diamond Detective Agency by Eddie Campbell, Dynamite’s Lone Ranger/Battlestar Galactica flip book, Fantagraphics’ Unseen Peanuts, RudeDude’s Nexus preview, D&Q’s Lynda Barry Activity Book, Chris Mautner’s Canadian Comics Festival 2007 and Image’s The Astounding Wolf-Man — I spent an hour or so watching the crowd spend more time than you’d expect scoping out the free offerings.
That was to expected, however, considering the heavier than normal ratio of moms and dads monitoring what books their kids were picking up (books were placed on tables with signage deliberately warning folks about the differences between the kid-friendly and the more adult offerings).
For the gentleman I spoke with yesterday, seen below with his two daughters, hitting FCBD early reminded him of his weekly trips to the comic store, a pleasureable piece of personal nostalgia he can finally share with his children, and something I did with my now-soldier son some 23 years ago on our far too infrequent trips to raid the quarter boxes at the long-missed Roy’s Memory House in Houston. (It was also a good excuse to visit my wonderful friend and shop owner Roy Bonario of some 35 years more than once a week.)
Come to think about it, watching kids and grownups filing through free comics was as much fun for me as snagging some cool comics
May 8th, 2007 at 9:45 am
You know how they say that the small comic shop is dying due to Barnes and Noble and the like? I gotta wonder about that sometimes, my local shop was very crowded and from what I could tell most of the others in Seattle were too (granted we do seem to be a comic friendly town with so many shops). So what’s the real deal? Are the small shops closing, or just the ones that don’t seem to adapt to the new way of doing business (make things bright, open, and kid friendly)?