FCBD!

Saturday was the 9th annual Free Comic Book Day. As it always falls within a week of my birthday, I'm usually flush with some extra b-day cash to go on a day-long adventure. I usually try to hit my favorite stores, not so much for the free stuff, but to see how this day works in terms of outreach and community-building within the comics retail environment.

One of my favorite stores is Ralph's Comic Corner just north of Oxnard, run by Mike Sterling. I don't get up there as often as I'd like (it's about 55 miles from where I live, which in Southern California miles is more like 80 miles). It's a great store with a nice selection of everything, friendly employees and a relaxed atmosphere. This year, I wanted to gift Mr. Sterling with a small token of gratitude:

This horrible drawing combines two of Mr. Sterling's interests. I hope he likes it. I'm afraid my terminal shyness got the better of me, so I may have come off a little crazy stalker + process server...

Well, more than normal, I guess.

I just wanted to offer thanks and appreciation to guys like Mike at Ralph's Comic Book Corner, and the workers and owners at other comic book shops, who use Free Comic Book Day not as an opportunity to get a few extra bucks out of their already existing customers, but to develop a new fan-base for comics, so that dads and moms can bring in their kids and introduce this medium I love to a whole new generation of readers, writers, and artists.