Style
Saturday in May, a day when comic book companies put out books for comic shops
all around the world to give away for free. Some use this as an
opportunity to showcase a new series or a special event, while others use it as
a sampler to show readers what their company has to offer on a regular basis. I
live in Philadelphia and I thought it would be really cool to share with you
the Philly experience, or as I like to call it, Free Comic Book Day: Philly
Style!
Philly and the surrounding area. The two big guys though are Atomc City
Comics on South
Street and Fat
Jack’s Comicrypt on Sansom St. My plan was to hit both stores and see what each had to
offer, to give a more well rounded experience of Free Comic Book Day here. But
things don’t always go as planned. While the experience at Atomic City
Comics was truly awesome, Fat Jack’s Comicrypt was
not, due to the fact that they were hit really hard and within an hour and a
half of opening were down to just three free titles and offered nothing outside
of the Free Comic Book Day offerings.
couldn’t showcase two great experiences, I choose to focus on the positive and
showcase the epicness that Atomic City Comics had to offer.
First, I want to explain what South Street is. South Street is a street here in Philly that runs East to West for
blocks and is full of retailers. If you can think of it, they have a shop for
it on South Street: comics, books, music, clothes, food, bars, hats, adult
items, crystals, etc. You can find a store that specializes in preppy clothes
and a few doors down one that specializes in goth clothing, pretty much
something for everyone. It’s a great little community within our community.
Day and this little community made it HUGE. The weather was perfect, upper 70’s
and bright and sunny. There was food, drink, live music, cosplayers, and yeah,
FREE COMICS! There was that cool vibe about the whole thing that felt like
Comic Con meets a block party. Everyone was enjoying themselves. From little
kids to seniors, this was truly fun for all ages.
I was there for a few hours and
got to meet some pretty cool people and took pictures of some of the many
cosplayers that were there throughout the day. I have never cosplayed (I just
wear Super Hero t-shirts), but these guys made it look totally fun. They were
some of the nicest people I have ever met, and each one a true fan, and very
dedicated to their craft. The John Constantine guy really played up the role
(even having a lit cigarette at all times). He looked like a cover brought to
life. It was really fun to see Scorpion from Mortal Combat posing
with the Watchmen Rorschach. The Gotham crowd
was really cool, Poison Ivy really played up the sexual nature of the
character, and when she teamed up with Harley Quinn, the two were right from
the Animated Comics. Batmannever broke character and was a classic take on the
character, while Nightwing was a female version of the Teen Titans: The
Animated Series character. But after the cancellation of the show, I
think the Young Justice group was my favorite. They really got
into the roles for the little kids there and was just an all-around great
group.
but very organized. They really controlled the flow of people there and had a
great spread of books, even hours after opening. I got my free books and my
weekly titles, along with some extra goodies that were very well priced, with
60% off!
South Street, and join in the festivities.
experience. What did the comic shops in your city do for it? What books did you
get? What else, if anything, did your shop do for the day outside of the free
books offered all over? Let us know and share your experience in the comments.
