2011 Free Comic Book Day and Graffiti Previews
Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day and I got to hang out at Rick's Comic City over in Donelson, showing my work, talking with wonderful fellow comics fans and giving away mini comic preview copies of the first chapter to the Graffiti graphic novel I'm working on.
It was absolutely wonderful! The weather was good and beautiful for most of the day (unlike last year, where Free Comic Book Day fell on the first day of the 2010 Flood That Hit Nashville) so it was a great turnout. The event began early and turned out to be a lot like a mini comicon, complete with long boxes full of .50 comics, giveaways, a life size statue of Spidey and a live Supergirl that you could pose and take your picture with, and then other fans were dressed in terrific costumes, too!! That started with Rick's sister dressed as the Supergirl (How cool is that!? You own a comic shop and your sister can pull off being Supergirl!!) and his daughters: the younger one dressed as the side kick from Kick-Ass and the elder dressed as a manga character in a gorgeous purple-ruffley dress (I'm sorry I don't remember the name!) The crowd also included several boy and girl Ghostbusters, a girl Jedi knight, a Ghost Rider (hanging out at creator Gary Friedrich's table!) other manga characters and a cute couple on their way to the Renaissance Festival (dude was wearing a KILT -- how cool and NERVY!!)
Rick had even invited Captain Marvel (a.k.a Shazam!) from the 70's Saturday morning TV show. GEEK OUT! I was diagonally across from Jackson Bostwick and it was only when he was getting ready to leave later that afternoon that I worked up the nerve to tell him how I LOVED that show (I so watched that EVERY Saturday morning!!) and what a treat it was to see him. He's got gray hair now but is still dashing -- incredibly tall with a super hero build. So COOL!!
I had a great time! Rick wasn't able to get the extra space like he had last year, but it was cozy and busy inside and outside his beautiful shop on 2710 Old Lebanon Road. I sat behind the counter next to the fantastic Sam Payne who had brought sweet new prints and original art for sale. I had my Graffiti previews and portfolio with original art from The Miller Sisters and Best Mann for the Job (strips 056-074) so people could flip through and see them. I also had found some copies of mini comics I'd made for the 09 NY Comicon -- of The Den and ¿Qué es Amor? so I gave away a few copies of those, too.
One of the best highlights of the day for me was when my friend Daniel brought in his sketchbook where he's collecting sketches of Captain America drawn by different artists. He asked me to contribute and I spent the better part of the day looking down and working on that (which, since I was also dealing with a minor eye injury -- long story -- really turned out to be the best thing for me.) Now I don't usually draw costumed superheroes ... The closest I'd gotten was when Chris and I did our spoofy Penultimate Adventures a few years back ... but I was so thrilled for the challenge (and frankly flattered that Daniel asked!) that I really enjoyed drawing it a lot. It's scary to draw such an iconic character -- especially since I was already drawing on the page following a gorgeous fully inked-and-colored rendition! Egad. Talk about pressure. But drawing Cap really helped make my day a lot of fun.
Not to mention we got a fantabulous stash of free comics and cheap back issues ... my favorites in the freebie stack (so far that I've had a chance to read) were the ones from Bongo Comics, the Top Shelf Kids Club, The Intrepid Escapegoat, and The Tick (naturally!) In the cheapie bins we got loads of back issues with art by Tom Mandrake and Bernie Wrightson and we got a Thor hardcover with artwork by Steve Rude -- and that's only for starters! What a thrill. So I'm a mighty happy and delighted camper.
It sure was nice to have Free Comic Book Day!
It was absolutely wonderful! The weather was good and beautiful for most of the day (unlike last year, where Free Comic Book Day fell on the first day of the 2010 Flood That Hit Nashville) so it was a great turnout. The event began early and turned out to be a lot like a mini comicon, complete with long boxes full of .50 comics, giveaways, a life size statue of Spidey and a live Supergirl that you could pose and take your picture with, and then other fans were dressed in terrific costumes, too!! That started with Rick's sister dressed as the Supergirl (How cool is that!? You own a comic shop and your sister can pull off being Supergirl!!) and his daughters: the younger one dressed as the side kick from Kick-Ass and the elder dressed as a manga character in a gorgeous purple-ruffley dress (I'm sorry I don't remember the name!) The crowd also included several boy and girl Ghostbusters, a girl Jedi knight, a Ghost Rider (hanging out at creator Gary Friedrich's table!) other manga characters and a cute couple on their way to the Renaissance Festival (dude was wearing a KILT -- how cool and NERVY!!)
Rick had even invited Captain Marvel (a.k.a Shazam!) from the 70's Saturday morning TV show. GEEK OUT! I was diagonally across from Jackson Bostwick and it was only when he was getting ready to leave later that afternoon that I worked up the nerve to tell him how I LOVED that show (I so watched that EVERY Saturday morning!!) and what a treat it was to see him. He's got gray hair now but is still dashing -- incredibly tall with a super hero build. So COOL!!
I had a great time! Rick wasn't able to get the extra space like he had last year, but it was cozy and busy inside and outside his beautiful shop on 2710 Old Lebanon Road. I sat behind the counter next to the fantastic Sam Payne who had brought sweet new prints and original art for sale. I had my Graffiti previews and portfolio with original art from The Miller Sisters and Best Mann for the Job (strips 056-074) so people could flip through and see them. I also had found some copies of mini comics I'd made for the 09 NY Comicon -- of The Den and ¿Qué es Amor? so I gave away a few copies of those, too.
One of the best highlights of the day for me was when my friend Daniel brought in his sketchbook where he's collecting sketches of Captain America drawn by different artists. He asked me to contribute and I spent the better part of the day looking down and working on that (which, since I was also dealing with a minor eye injury -- long story -- really turned out to be the best thing for me.) Now I don't usually draw costumed superheroes ... The closest I'd gotten was when Chris and I did our spoofy Penultimate Adventures a few years back ... but I was so thrilled for the challenge (and frankly flattered that Daniel asked!) that I really enjoyed drawing it a lot. It's scary to draw such an iconic character -- especially since I was already drawing on the page following a gorgeous fully inked-and-colored rendition! Egad. Talk about pressure. But drawing Cap really helped make my day a lot of fun.
Not to mention we got a fantabulous stash of free comics and cheap back issues ... my favorites in the freebie stack (so far that I've had a chance to read) were the ones from Bongo Comics, the Top Shelf Kids Club, The Intrepid Escapegoat, and The Tick (naturally!) In the cheapie bins we got loads of back issues with art by Tom Mandrake and Bernie Wrightson and we got a Thor hardcover with artwork by Steve Rude -- and that's only for starters! What a thrill. So I'm a mighty happy and delighted camper.
It sure was nice to have Free Comic Book Day!
Labels: Comics, Free Comic Book Day
posted by Erica Well at
10:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home