Shawn Demumbrum of SpazDog Comics in
Free Comic Book Day began early at SpazDog Comics. We opened two hours early for our box subscribers with a big sale that we called Secret Store Invasion. Our first customer arrived 30 minutes early and started piling statues up by the checkout soon after the doors opened.
By 10 a.m., we had a store full of customers as the general public started filing in. One of the first groups to walk in the door was a Cub Scout den. They were excited about picking up their first comics ever and were also excited to meet some of our comic book creator guests. Luckily, Jason Cheeseman-Meyer arrived two hours early and saved the day. He started sketching for the kids and everyone left happy. Our event videographer Jacque La Grange and photographer Stephen Goldstein were busy recording the event. Around 12 p.m., Daniel Davis, Armand Villavert Jr., Brain Miller and Kristy Miller joined Jason greeting customers, talking about their latest creations and collecting donations for the Hero Initiative (www.heroinitiative.org).
At SpazDog Comics, we try to create events that involve charities. This year we worked with the Desert Mission Food Bank to host a food and essentials drive. Spring is a difficult time for food banks as donations are typically lower and need in recent months has been higher than expected. Since this was no small task, we enlisted the help of the Arizona Ghostbusters and Citizen Prime to gather donations. The Arizona Ghostbusters had been busy handing out flyers at some of their other events to increase participation. At the end of the day, we ended up collecting 167 lbs of food for the Desert Mission Food Bank.
Free Comic Book Day is a community event, so we also involved our local retailer community. Papa Johns Pizza came out to make sure that Free Comic Book Day attendees had hot and tasty pizza to eat. State Farm had balloons and gliders for the kids. They also had information for the adults on how to insure their collectibles. The Autumn Nails Spa had a special Free Comic Book Day mani/pedi special. ACE Hardware gave away coupons for a free key duplicate.
Free Comic Book Day was a huge success. We didn't run out of any comics. Everyone left happy. One of my volunteers commented on the diversity of the crowd--young to old; first time comic book readers to comic collector veterans. There was something for everyone.
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