When we planned this years event, we were presented with opportunities of having live radio remotes and food carts outside, but we thought it was best to keep it simple, and in-house.  Free Comic Book Day has become a juggernaut for us and we felt the best way to keep a tight reign on it was to manage it our selves without turning it over to others who didn’t really get it.  And that meant we had to really work to get the word out there about FCBD.

 

One of the biggest hurtles was we didn’t have the luxury of having Nicole, the girl who has helped us the last few years on Free Comic Book Day.  Nicole dressed up as Poison Ivy and Storm for the last few years and did a slamming job.  She knew how to schmooze with the customers and obviously enjoyed it.  The only other person who did a comparable job was Alicia who became the assistant manger of the store this year. Alicia dressed up and the iconic Supergirl as well as the incomparable Harley Quinn with equal enthusiasm to the delight of our guests at FCBD. With the addition of two new people to our staff this year, there was really no way Alicia could have helped run the event and be in costume at the same time.

 

A mutual friend introduced me to Nina Tucciarelli, the triple threat producer, director and writer of the Lipstick Lovelies- a local burlesque troupe who’s been playing locally and in New York City for the last few years. They’ve been accurately described as an amalgam of the Carol Burnett Show and Benny Hill.  With their fearlessness on stage and their infectious energy, I defy anyone to watch it without cracking a smile. After explaining Free Comic Book Day and what we needed to do to promote it, Nina said that she was on board and suggested using another member of the Lovelies, Erin Hamm.  Nina chose to dress as the X-Men’s Phoenix and Erin opted for the Avengers Scarlet Witch.

 

We placed a few ads in the local alternative newspaper, but we didn’t want to totally blow our budget on advertising.  One of the best advertising is to make an impression- people can gloss over ads in a paper or on TV, but it’s hard to ignore a beautiful woman in a costume.  And the best place to make that impression was at the movie theatre during the opening night of the biggest film opening of the year- Spider-man 3.  Our plan was to hand out comics (with a FCBD flyer for our store tucked neatly inside, of course) for the midnight premiere of Spider-man 3

Almost everybody loves publicity and movie theatres are no exception-  they welcomed the idea of having costumed heroes in the theatre promoting not only their movie but  FCBD for us, as well.  It didn’t hurt that both Nina and Erin, both beautiful in their own right were stunning when they appeared in costume.  Both girls handed out the comics working the crowded line of fans waiting hours to see the movie. When they passed out the comics, they made a point to tell everyone who received one that they could get more by coming to our store on Saturday for Free Comic Book Day.

 

Ten minutes prior to opening the doors, we had a long line starting to form at our front door.  We saw new people with children as well as some old customers and friends.  To add a bit of geek to the festivities, we ordered fortune cookies with quotations from Doctor Doom inside each one.  We originally called them mis-fortune cookies, but just ended up calling them the Doom Cookies.  We even made a box with stuff like “Product of Latveria” and “Inspected by Doombot#23” stamped on the outside.  Although some of the newer customers didn’t get the joke, they were a bit hit with the comic readers.

 

There were no visits from the newspapers or local tv news,  but surprisingly, it didn’t matter. The best thing about this year’s FCBD was not about the publicity, it was a more genuine appreciation of comics and most importantly, the fans who came out to the store to help us celebrate.  Fans of all ages came in to not just to see the Super heroines in person or even the Doom Cookies- but the main attraction were the comics themselves.  Many of the publishers offered more desirable books - Spider-Man, Justice League, Family Guy, Transformers, and the surprise hit of the day- The Unseen Peanuts. 

 

Everyone who worked at the store put in a huge effort and undeniably made this years FCBD the success it was- Alicia Messineo, Tom Stevens, Will Cordero, Trish Lenihan, Alex Trigonis, Jesse Corradino, Nina Tucciarelli,  Erin Hamm, Zara O’Rourke, and Valiant Robinson,.  A great time was had by all and we’ll being doing it again next year as Earthworld celebrates it’s 25^th anniversary!

 

New calendars come out in June.  Buy one and circle Saturday May 3^rd- Free Comic Book Day 2008 and Earthworld Comics 25^th Anniversary- you don’t want to miss it !

 

And a special message to those who ate the Doom Cookies from His Royal Highness Victor Von Doom.

For those who had consumed the Doom Cookies, be advised that your life as you know it - is over.  Your life now belongs to DOOM and you shall spend the rest of your days obeying my every command, my slightest whim- without question!! Thanks for coming to Free Comic Book Day, lackey.