Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Free Comic Book Day: You Gotta Be Here!


That's JENNY welcoming everyone to FLYING COLORS COMICS for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY this Saturday May 6.

It's the 5th Annual FREE COMIC BOOK DAY at Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff in Concord, CA--- as well as close to 2000 other comic book specialty shops all over the US and in 20 other countries around the world. If you can't be here, we urge you to visit a comic specialty shop near you--- there's a handy store locator at FreeComicBookDay.com.

Our BIG event here features Special Guest, from BONGO Comics--- BILL MORRISON!

Besides being the Creative Director of Matt (Simpsons) Groening's comic book company, and being the #1 Simnpsons comic artist, Bill is also the biographer of the late great ARCHIE Comics' artist Dan DeCarlo. Bill is scheduled to sign the BONGO Comics FCBD edition, as well as other BONGO comic books and compilations from 11am-3pm!

Along with our special guest, FLYING COLORS always rolls out the red carpet treatment for all our store visitors, especially on FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. Along with your FREE comics, you can also score some great deals on tons of comics-related cool stuff we have in stock.

I really loved getting your feedback on the "What was your first comic book?" entry--- and you can still respond to that by scrolling down to the April 25th entry on this blog.

I'd also love to get your feedback about FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. Whether you're a long-time fan or brand new to comics---- no matter who you are, I'd love to hear from you about your FCBD experiences. Post a comment to this blog, if you would, OK?

FCBD is almost here! C'mon Saturday!

FlyCoJoe

4 Comments:

Anonymous Loren said...

Hey, Joe...it was nice finally getting to OFFICIALLY meet you today. Thanks for coming up to me and asking me if I was one of the people who posted a story about the first time we read comic books.

Anyway, I know you probably want experiences about the upcoming Free Comic Book Day, but I just wanted to interject that I look forward to it every year...and not just because you get free comic books (that's just a perk). I've actually found several good independent comics by picking up their books. For example, last year "Runners" by Sean Wang was one of my favorites. I never heard of it before, but I ended up buying a trade paperback at Comic-Con last year and had Sean sign it. I told him how I had gotten to know about his book through FCBD and he was pleased to know people enjoyed it.

I'm looking forward to finding more great creators and their projects this year! See you then!

7:44 PM  
Anonymous Loren said...

I had a great time on Free Comic Book Day at Flying Colors. When I got there, the line was around the building, but I chatted it up with a family who was there to see what it was all about. One young woman handed me the sales flyer and newsletter while a young man gave me a raffle drawing card to fill out (Oh, I hope I win!).

When I got in the store, I picked up my three free issues. Flying Colors had the comics divided into "all ages," "teens and above" and "adult readers." I decided to get one from each category. In the "all ages" category, I got John Gallagher's Buzzboy: Sidekicks Rule! (I enjoyed this book last year and wanted to see what they were offering this year). In the "teens and above" category, I got Liberty Girl from Heroic Publishing (which publish all the titles based on the Champions role playing game). And, finally, in the "adult reader" category, I got Bluff & Tales from a Forgotten Planet because a) it had a cute dog on the cover and b) one of the creators is of Asian descent and, this being Asian American Heritage Month, I had to support my peeps.

After getting my books, I headed on to the table where Bill Morrison was signing. I brought in my own books to sign, one of which was Bartman #4. The cover parodies the famous issue of The Amazing Spider-Man #50 in which Peter Parker is "Spider-Man No More." Mr. Morrison recounted to Joe and me his delight in hearing that John Romita was thrilled about being parodied in a Simpsons comic book.

After getting my books signed, I picked up a couple of issues I seemed to have missed (Outsiders #36 and Jonah Hex #6 -- by the way, if you're not reading Jonah Hex, you're missing out on a GREAT series), as well as some older comics (Metamorpho #5, Naza: Stone Age Warrior #8, and Blackhawk #251), and then some comics that I had heard about and wanted to try (Dan Slott's Big Max and Archenemies).

As I waited in line to get checked out, Joe's lovely wife Libby introduced herself to me and handed me a slice of cake (which was decorated like the Free Comic Book Day logo). Then, Brian checked me out at the counter. He asked me if I liked Jack Kirby -- WHO DOESN'T? So, he gave me a copy of Godland from Image Comics (Which I've actually really been wanting to read) as well as Red Sonja #0, Wildsiderz #0 and a Wolvering Hero Clix. Brian is always good at looking through my purchases and suggesting new stuff -- and he's never wrong.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough -- now, when's next year's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY?

3:25 PM  
Blogger Mr. D said...

Hi Joe,

We all just got back from Free Comic Book Day at your shop. Your generosity and kindess is inspiring. You really have accomplished something with this Free Comic Book Day idea of yours.

I've been a teacher for the past decade, and first heard of Free Comic Book Day from a student who I taught last year. After Googling the event, I was pleasantly surprised to see that our local comic headquarters was the founder of this event.

I've read a couple interviews you've done explaining how you got the idea from the Baskin Robbins free scoop event. It's amazing how that idea transferred so well, and perhaps even better, to comic books. I'm also struck by how humble you are about being the inventor of this spectacular event. You don't boast about it in your advertising or have any eccentric plaques extoling your greatness as the events inventor. You are a class act!

This is my second Free Comic Book Day. My sons, wife, and mother's also. My oldest son enjoys it as much as Christmas, well... maybe not that muh... but a lot. I asked you about a dragon comic for him, and your Hobbit suggestion was right on. I thought it might be a bit too advanced for him, but he is absolutely enthralled. Thanks so much.

Brady DeLaurenti
brady@redkid.net

P.S. Here is a picture of my son hoarding his new comics.

3:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Joe,

We all just got back from Free Comic Book Day at your shop. Your generosity and kindess is inspiring. You really have accomplished something with this Free Comic Book Day idea of yours.

I've been a teacher for the past decade, and first heard of Free Comic Book Day from

3:46 PM  

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