It's a terrible thing to find comic books in captivity. They yearn to be free, to be in the hands of those who are eager to enjoy the four-color majesty they present. So it's nice that once a year, those who keep the books in captivity allow them to interact with the larger population, to show the books and the people that they ought to be together more.
Joking aside, Free Comic Book Day from a fan's perspective is a damn fine idea. I like to get some free books and I rather like seeing so many kids in comic book shops, lairs reserved in the modern day to aging hipsters, nerdy geezers, and the dreaded "teenager". To see actual children, little boys and girls happy to get their mitts on a comic book is just plain cool.
This year I only picked up two books, the offerings from Fantagraphics (always good and this year featuring Don Rosa) and Hermes Press (their second Buck Rogers offering with a wide array of Buck from different eras). Now that publishers have gotten so savvy about making FCBD a launching pad for upcoming storylines, we see fewer vintage offerings from the bigger houses, but it's the old stuff which makes me eager to get off my butt and trek to the store despite some very large crowds.
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My comic book buying has almost disappeared over the years, but I did make sure to hit a comic book shop while on vacation in Michigan to pick up the Uncle Scrooge comic. It was great. I have both stories in my collection, though it had been many years since reading them.
ReplyDeleteOne of the really nice things about my trip to the shop was seeing all the parents there with little kids.
Seeing small kids with comics still brings a smile to my face. It hearkens to a time when reading was a major pastime among folks, not the literally twiddling your thumbs with some numbskull video game.
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