Steven Bates of Bookery Fantasy in Fairborn, Ohio approached Free Comic Book Day 2004 with trepidation:
Free Comic Book Day 2004 scared the hell out of me. The event overlapped with Fairborn's Independence Day Block Party, a small-town get-to with pork fritters, snow cones, live bands, death-trap carnival rides, and the kind of homier Midwestern ambience reserved for made-for-TV movies. The locals eat it up -- we're still a small enough town to enjoy these things -- and the turn out is usually pretty hefty. Now, don't get me wrong, I love crowds, but to facilitate the block party, the police shut down the entire downtown business district, isolating those of us with businesses within the downtown. Our regulars are forced to park blocks away and walk -- remember, these are comic book readers and gamers -- and the vendors on the streets outside compete for the money of potential new customers.
I considered relocating FCBD to another venue, and had a commitment from the nearby Regal Cinemas to hold the event there. They were excited by the prospect -- after all, we had already hosted very successful promotions there for Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men 2, and other premieres. The thought of Bookery advertising driving hundreds of people into their lobby was very appealing.
As a member of the Downtown Fairborn Business Association, I felt I had to give the Block Party a chance to work for us. It was a frightening crapshoot: if the block party hurt FCBD, it would do so dramatically; if it boosted attendance, I might be woefully unprepared. It seemed on the surface a lose-lose proposition. But I allowed the Block Party Committee to convince me to try this potentially costly experiment.
Advertising would be key to making this FCBD a success. 400 direct mail flyers. 14 advertisements in four different community papers, two in the widely-circulated Dayton Daily News targeting film-goers and music fans. Press releases and interviews with pop culture columnists. 1,200 Spider-Man 2 grab bags handed out at Regal Cinemas opening day. Prize packs given away by radio station Z-93 rock jocks Scott Mallory & Campy during morning drive time. In-store flyers. Co-op with area businesses. Invitations to day-care centers. FCBD t-shirts worn by my best customers to work. Participation in the local Fourth of July parade. About the only type of advertising we didn't attempt was sky writing (wait till next year).
As the hours ticked down to Free Comic Book Day I stressed even more. I had ordered well (very well) on Marvel Age: Spider-Man, Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures, Gemston'es Mickey Mouse/Uncle Scrooge flipbook, Teen Titans Go, Duel Masters, Archie, and the Image sampler. Unlike last year, I actually ordered some of everything (after customers complained of going from shop-to-shop to find the alternative and small press FCBD offerings). However, after breaking into the boxes, we discovered that some of the material might be inappropriate for younger readers, books that had been marketed as 'all ages appropriate' that were in fact aimed at teens and up. So we established a three-tiered picking order of books: ALL AGES, TEENS & UP, and GROWN-UPS. With my staff controlling distribution, I was somewhat confident that we could prevent any complaints from irate parents, but the possibility of a book with nudity or excessive violence winding up in the wrong little hands still existed, unless I shelved the idea of passing out certain entries altogether.
Lines began to form about an hour prior to opening on Saturday. It looked like we would at least have an early 'rush' as we had the previous two years. But the barricades closing off the streets went up at 10:00 AM, as the Block Party commenced. I'm sure I would've pulled hairs from my head had I not shaved it the night before. The doors opened at 11:00 AM, and Free Comic Book Day was off.
I could drag the suspense out even more, but why torment you? Free Comic Book Day at the Bookery rocked! The line was steady all day long, as the 'rush' of regulars and people responding to the advertising poured in early, followed by the curious driven in later in the day from the Block Party. About 75% of the FCBD comics were distributed in the first half of the day, and 25% in the later half. All told, we gave out nearly (over?) 1000 bags of comics, each bag containing between 10 All Ages comics and 31 All Ages/Teens & Up/Grown-Up FCBD selections. We also gave out 1200 HeroClix Spider-Mans, and broke out cases of Superman and Batman 10 Cent Adventures and leftover FCBD books from previous years when some of the lower-ordered books ran out. The first dozen people in line each received a Free Comic Book Day t-shirt or polo, which some of them wore throughout the day at the Block Party. Several members of the Block Party event staff stopped in to congratulate us on the turn out, and the announcer promoted our give-away several times. CBS affiliate Channel 7 shot video footage of customers stocking up on free comics, and ran a segment on the 6:00 news, driving in a few last-minute fans looking for free comics.
Again this year, Bookery Fantasy produced our own FCBD mini-comic with Gemini Serials artists Justin Wasson and Roxanne Scarborough, detailing the plot of Dr. E.M. Wrath to eliminate comic books, using a hypno-ray to 'free' collectors from their comics. Justin and Roxie signed copies of the mini-comic and provided free sketches to any fan who requested a drawing, illustrating dozens of Spider-Man pictures, portraits of 'Spike' from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and even Spongebob Squarepants. FCBD attendees enjoy meeting the artists and getting a free sketch so much, Bookery scheduled a 'post-FCBD' signing with Jerry DeCaire, illustrator for Marvel and Moonstone Comics, for Tuesday, July 6th. As I write this, Jerry is signing copies of Wolverine #47, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Cisco Kid, and other comics, drawing free sketches, and reviewing the portfolios of budding comic book artists. Free Comic Book Day never ends -- and I'm not complaining.
Like many of the retailers with successful FCBD events, I believe what you get out of it is equal to or greater than what you put into it. That philosophy must be adopted by all retailers participating in next year's event. So must publishers. My one real issue with this year's FCBD was the selection of material. Not enough original material, and not very dynamic reprints. A big exception was Beckett's Ballad of Sleeping Beauty, which served to launch the new series (as DC did with Batman Adventures last year). Archie also gave us something original. Dishing out reprints of books only a few months old (Marvel Age: Spider-Man and Teen Titans Go, for example) seemed last minute and low budget, and the Spidey book only peripherally tied-in with the blockbuster film all of Free Comic Book Day 2004 was built around. Customer complaints about the selection and the mature content (of some books) must be addressed by the publishers, or this ambitious outreach effort to build up the comic book industry will backfire.
I don't know what the next Free Comic Book Day will be tied-to (Batman Begins, perhaps?), but I'll be there. Hope you will be, too.
