The first week in May offers one of the greater lesser known holidays ever... no, not THAT one... I'm talking about Free Comic Book Day! And this year, the Rebels of Midwest Base and the Imperials from Ohio Garrison covered more ground in one day then IRON MAN. (great movie BTW)

Things kicked off at 12:01 over at Carol and John's Comic Book Shop, in West Park (my old neighborhood). One thing about comic book fans that has always impressed me is their sense of loyalty: Marvel over DC (Marvel in my case) and you get your comics from the same place that you've always gone to. But it was still a bit of a shock to see people lined up outside on a Friday night, waiting to get the same comic books you could pickup the next day just about anywhere. Carol and John (and the rest of their staff) are a BIG reason the fans lined up around the corner at Kamm's Corner Plaza... they put on a great show.

At first, I wasn't going to go to the midnight opening. A recent family emergency had me watching the skies for the proverbial "bat-signal" ... but like I said before, comic book fans are loyal to their comic shops. So I decided to "crash" the event with the boys from 501st. Besides, it was so close to home that I could still catch BSG.

Checkout the 3 venues of Free Comic Book Day Mission Photos

The next morning was interesting, because we had enough people to split up and make an appearance at both an "east-side" and "west side" (a subject of much debate AND confusion for life-time Clevelanders) location for Free Comic Book Day.

Staying with the "west-side" of town, our next stop was at a RPG Gaming store called recess at Great Northern Mall. Having spent many teenage hours crusing this mall, I can tell ya that it's not the first place you'd expect this type of event to draw people in... but having a group of rebels, caribbean pirates, bounty hunters, and a Norse god of thunder standing around your store DOES help draw a crowd.

Another fun/interactive way to make this "Christmas of comics" more fun is to have some type of game to give out prizes. What recess came up with something called "The Human Slot Machine" where kids and adults got to pull on the arm of a giant slot machine type setup and 3 of the costume characters would "randomly" pick a type of fruit... match 2-3 fruit... win a prize or two! Everyone seemed to enjoy the interactive way of keeping fans interest and for some reaon... when the younglings were up, this rebel pilot's row in the slot machine always seemed to come up "orange" (I can't explain why???)

Meanwhile, over on the "east-side" the gang was having a great time over at Comic Haven. This place was more of a traditional comic book shop, and just like their neighbors on the other side of the Cuyahoga River... they had a loyal following ready to pickup their Free Comic Day issues.

For the members of RL and 501st, this is a much more casual type of event... and for some of us, a chance to prove just how much of a "total comic NERD" (with nothing but love there) we really are. Lisa traded in her Princess Leia "worshipfulness" for an invisible jet and golden lasso of truth... Alex got to show everyone why "that man is the best pirate I've ever seen" by journeying "To Worlds End" by making it out to both east- and west-side events in the same afternoon, and Jeremy with his Han Solo costume got to hang out with his "Crystal Skull" hunting earthly counterpart... "Punch it Dr. Jones!"

When it was all said and done, Free Comic Book Day 2008 was a big success here in northeast Ohio... until next year "True Believers!"

One more thing... Go see IRON MAN!!! (like ya haven't already)