I'm so happy to announce that my first ever free comic book day experience was indeed a blast and fruitful!
I didn't get any pictures/footage as I'm a bit shy to do so and since it's my first time around the area I thought I'd just observe and absorb the vibe.Let it all sink in. Got out the house around 9:45 am or so I'm an hour away from the nearest comic book shop (yup pretty far)and they open about 10 am. I'm expecting a lot of people or mayhaps less since it's still quite early dunno exactly what kind of crazy is up ahead.
I'm really glad I drove at that time of day the sun's not too intense,the heat bearable, not humid just the right amount of breeze,saw a white butterfly fluttering away at the freeway I took it as a sign it's such a beautiful day! I almost got lost though as I'm roaming around the commercial buildings looking for the comic bookstore I saw some cosplayers then I knew I'm at the right place so I parked my car near the trees far away from the crowd.
The line was long and I'm the last person for a couple of minutes then I felt a little relieved when a Jedi cosplayer took that last place away from me haha I didn't get his name he's a bit old mayhaps in his 30s? I'm not really sure anyway I forgot my headset I knew I should have brought it along with me oh well in order to past the time I started reading a new ebook in my kobo app. it's called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho you might have seen or heard about it it's a popular book.
It's been on my library forever and so I decided now's the right time to start reading it and OMG! I didn't expect it to be like this and it talked about good omens like seeing a butterfly,lizard or snake etc. and I was like OMG! I saw a butterfly this morning and a lizard the other day coincidence? I think not! so yeah I got those signs about right lingering inside my head praying for a good haul and day ahead. About 5 feet away from the doorway the guy guarding it maintaining order took out his camera and so the kid in front of me who looks like in his teenage years I think him and me tried to smile then I started moving beside the wall as I remembered there's the Jedi guy behind me and mayhaps it's one of those competition things and such ugh I'm really glad for my instincts man! saved me a bit of humiliation pwahaha! after the employee took his photo we're then allowed to enter thy awesome store jampacked with just the right amount of crowd inside. It's my first time to be on that store and to be truly inside a comic book shop (I usually roam and get stuff from general stores or bookstores) I haven't been in one for awhile so yeah great experience so far shelves lined with action figures from starwars to star trek to spaceships some DIY build your own things as well and of course comic books! I think the last time I bought a comic book was when I'm still a lil kid got some batman comic at 7/11,read some magazines and manga too but yeah this one's really mainstream like Marvel,DC,western style,more pop culture kind of stuff. We're then handed free comic book plastic bags on the table up front there's a sign saying we're only allowed to take 10 comics one of each kind my mind starts to wonder what will I pick the selections good some things I do recognize like tokyo pop,Jojo's Bizarre Adventure,X-men,Avatar and Transformers then I just picked some random stuff eventually haha!
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| The Captain America one is actually a poster on the back it's SpiderWoman |
I'm actually surprised there's a raffle! while I was in line a guy 6 places away from me won a wolverine type poster and I was like OMG! that's amazing! I should stay and linger a bit longer look for some comics since I'm here might as well and since that's what I originally planned to also make my trip worthwhile then I saw a rowful of comic heaven bin boxes,unsorted $1 each or 50 cents if you found the on sale dot they're talking about. So I started my scavenger's hunt I have no idea really I just started browsing I do somewhat know what I like though Xmen's really nice and good then I found some avengers stuff got some of those too I tried to look for issues close together then I saw my pile getting a bit high so I started sorting them out then I saw some of Neil Gaiman's comics and was like Oh yeah he did some comics too way back and the day and so I looked for that mainly and got most of the issues after some time. Then the raffle thing came about I looked at my ticket and paid close attention to my ending digits.Most of the people in my batch left (I think) while I continue my search I repeatedly chant silently inside my head my digits wishing,hoping to win as I saw the posters. I pretended it was like business as usual but then again that would be great if I truly get one and then it happened! something magical occurred! the guy on the other side of the table who has a container full of raffle tickets got my ticket stub! I WON! I looked up at him raised my index finger to notify him that's me!? I won! it may look like and it seems like I'm so casual about it but inside my head I was like OMG OMG OMG OMG over and over! as I walked up front the counter to claim my price I'm looking for my ticket in the inner zipped pocket of my satchel cross over bag now repeating inside my head please be here,please be the right number, or else it would be humiliating and truly embarrassing a-ha! I found it oh yeah! the guy up front verified it and a wonderful lady cosplayer handed it to me as I thanked them.
WAAAH! I still can't believe I won! it feels so surreal and awesome too! I haven't won anything for ages oh wow! such a nice feeling. Then quietly in the next aisle I folded the said poster again then placed it safely inside my bag. I can feel other people staring at me and eyeing my poster haha! I'm glad and thankful I have that bag with me or else I dunno where to put it. I resumed and went back to my comic book hunt I didn't know there's a lot of range to cover when it comes to X-men I mean there's the uncanny ones,ultimate,forever and I was like Oh my I hope I brought enough money for all of this. After some time a teenage kid approached me and asked how much I'd like for the poster I won he knew it was a long shot to begin with I smiled and nicely declined his offer and told him I'm sorry.He understood it's not for sale and quickly went on his way.
I think I was there for like 4-5 hours or so 1 hour spent lining up reading my book the next 3-4 winning and browsing to my hearts content since 1. It's a saturday 2. well there's nothing much to do at home so might as well 3. It's so much fun there's a lot of people 4. Support the local comic book store. With those in mind I tried to sort and prioritize what I think I need and like also the issues,covers and stuff.
I found some 1st issues,character profiles and a very nostalgic one ULTRAMAN! I never thought I'd find this one here haha! I tried to look for more but that's all I got. Then to finalize everything after a couple of bin sweeps I went with my Neil Gaiman comic collection it's almost a complete set although I'm missing a few Mr. Hero The Newmatic Man issue #11, 14 and 17 also the remaining of Lady Justice I'm 10 issues short. That would be my mission next time.
I'm about to get the Stephen King ones then I remembered I haven't even finished the one I borrowed from the library so maybe some other time and I got a bit confused with the covers and issue number so yeah plenty to do for next time. I asked the clerk near me if they have more Neil Gaiman Comics that's sorted so I could check it out and mayhaps could get more he told me the store's not sorted by author just by work title also he doesn't know that much and refer me to the store owner who perhaps knows more than he does. I agreed and told him alright that's ok while I resume my sorting and stuff. He then approached my later on about the Sandman series and told him I already read those but still would like to see where they're at.I'm thinking and hoping it's one of those thick omnibus ones that would really tempt me haha but the ones on store are the volume packs I thanked him and told him once again it's alright,I'm good I already read those and went back to finalize my stuff for checkout. I'm quite nervous 1. I have a lot in my hands. 2. Do I have enough to cover for this? 3. Budget 4. Final Elimination 5. Ok let's go!
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How about you? how's your day? did you went to your local comic bookshop? what's it like? tell me in the comment section below can't wait to hear from you!
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