Cranium Comics

Admittedly, I haven’t been good about shopping for mainstream comics lately, but decided to test the waters again at five local comic shops around town. Free Comic Day provided the perfect opportunity to get out and explore. In addition to people like me who need to reconnect with their local merchant, it’s a great opportunity for the industry to really show people unfamiliar with comics how diverse and interesting they can be as a form of entertainment. The following is my account of how my Saturday morning went.

Plan of attack

I was intent on figuring out which places I would hit first. I needed to coordinate opening times, distance from my house, and if they were in route to meeting my wife for lunch in the early afternoon. I decided on five places in the immediate area listed on the Free Comics Day web page: Rogue’s Gallery, Hastings, Capstone Comics, Dragon’s Lair Comics, and finally, my old stomping ground, Austin Books.

First stop: Capstone

I called around and figured out that Capstone Comics was the most convenient to my home and opened an hour earlier than the rest. Upon arriving at the shop close to 9:30, I immediately noticed a crowd of people hanging out in front perusing many of the back issues Capstone had on display. This was a nice touch since it was separate and removed from their free comics offerings, but presented in a way that facilitated people purchasing older comics should they have an interest. One of the most impressive things about Capstone, aside from their life-sized Iron Man suit prominently displayed in the store, is their selection of statues and busts for sale. They’ve got several display cases devoted to their wide variety of wares and there were plenty of staff on hand to assist. There were artists rendering free illustrations and several promotional offers that were well orchestrated to coincide with the event. The owner did a great job of creating a buzz around his store and it felt like a place I could have  hung out at for a long time. After I reached the five comic limit, I decided it was time for me to move onto the next place.

Hastings Comics?

I wasn’t really familiar with Hastings until I saw them listed as a vendor on the website. After stopping by and seeing the limited selection and presentation of their comic offerings, I realized Hastings is a business who hasn’t really decided what it wants to be. Is it a book store or a movie rental place? Is it a quickie mart or a music store? One could say all of the above if you were to visit them. They are similar to Barnes and Noble or Borders in that they’re primarily about books and music, but they also have movie rentals in addition to a slushy machine in the front of the store in which the cashiers dispense cups from behind the counter upon purchasing. The front table next to the door where they had the free comics wasn’t very well looked after. It wasn’t difficult to meet their four comic limit simply for the fact that they only had four to six titles on display. Compare this to the dozens of books available at other establishments. Unlike traditional comics shops, I had to get a receipt for my comics at the register even though no money was exchanged. The sales person said this was for inventory purposes, but I question that rationale since so many others didn’t employ this technique. On to my next stop…

Rogue’s Gallery

In contrast to the lack of attention the comics received at Hastings, Rogue’s was full of interesting and knowledgeable people from comics enthusiasts dressed up as superheroes, to actual comic writers and artists who were more than willing to talk about their work. While the limit on comics was only four, I had fun talking to the folks there, even getting an autograph from Alan J. Porter, the writer of Disney’s Cars comic. Writer and artist Thom Zahler was at the same table, sketching out characters from his book Love and Capes. I hung out for a bit, then decided that the good number of people waiting to speak to creators was going to limit me if I wanted to get to some of my other destinations, so I moved on. Rogue’s was new to me and I was happy I stopped in.

Into the Lair

One of the larger shops in the area, Dragon’s Lair was my next stop. Always accommodating to their patrons, DL has a nice mix of hard core enthusiasts in addition to regular gamers, and casual collectors perusing their isles of games, memorabilia, pewter figures, etc.. In addition to its size, they had tables set up for gaming. Card based games were located to the left of the register, whereas the more elaborate fair (including some amazing playscapes, models, and figures) was relegated to the back room. They had representatives selling their items at various tables throughout the store and even offered visitors free drinks for stopping by. I had seen several people I recognized from my Staple! experience in March and felt comfortable there. The limit for comics here was five, however the refreshments made up for any disappointments there.

Get in line

My last destination was Austin Books. They had the biggest line by far, but were very accommodating to the folks that were waiting. In addition to having what equates to a carnival barker come around periodically and explain how the event would work, the manager was a constant presence, checking in with his regulars and making sure everyone was having a good time. It really felt like a true event and even had a velvet rope separating the street from the group of people wrapping around the building waiting for their fill of comics. There were groups of people dressed up, more so than any other venue. After patrons received their comics they could either have staff hold them while they shopped around or just take them home from there. I decided to stay around and speak to the celebrity from Who Wants to be a Superhero? who went by the name “The Defuser.” After sharing his experiences with the rest of the cast, he mentioned he was raising money for Breast Cancer Awareness. After getting an autographed photo and donating to the cause, I decided to call it a day. I had my ten comics and autograph, plus the other comics I had collected throughout the morning. What more did I need?

All in all, it was a great event that made for a nice prerequisite to seeing the new Wolverine movie at the Alamo Drafthouse that afternoon. With the amount of comics I collected from each place, I will have plenty to share with my Elementary aged students I mentor. While many of them were just promotional material for existing series, some, like the TMNT reprint and the Avengers comic, were stories that could stand on their own with minimal investment.