Free Comic Book Day

[chrisco37]

Allright (like anyone believed that last story anyway...)....Here's what really happened on FCBD.

 

I went to two shops that day. My regular and then another that's fairly close that I go to once in a while. I grab my free comic and start looking thru some of the back-issues for some run fillers for cheap and another customer comes into the store (not an 11-yr old girl, but a mid-20's guy like myself). I'm chatting w/ the owner about the new Creeper book and some Daredevil stuff, and this guy comes up to the counter w/ a copy of every free comic offered, plus a couple new issues he was going to buy.

 

The owner tells the guy that he's been pretty steady today, and that there is a one book limit per customer. The customer says, "Well, I'm picking up some for my friend who can't make it, he's working. He's a regular here, can I call him and have him talk to you?" Owner repeats the policy, but the guy keeps pushing. "OK, call him up", says the owner and hands him the store phone. The guy dials up, gets a hold of his buddy and says, "Yeah, I'm up at the store...but the guy is being a real pr*[!@#%^&^], and won't let me get you a free book".

 

Well, no sooner had the insult come out of the customers mouth, when the owner grabs the phone and the books from the customer and says, "Get out of my store!" The customer is like, "Why?" Owner says, "Call me a pr*[!@#%^&^] in my own store? Get the "F" out!!!" Customer says, "Well, you are a pr*[!@#%^&^]!". Now, I'm pissed, so I say, "He said get out, you a-hole!". The guy says, "Who asked you?" I say, "You come into his store and insult him, get outta here!" Owner, by now, is fuming and is like, "Don't ever come back here again!" The guy says, "You know, this isn't the only store in towwn!" and I reply, "Yeah. And you aren't the only customer. Get out!" Then I turn to the owner and say, "Hey, can I have this a-hole's free comic?" He responds, "Sure thing, buddy!" Customer storms out of the store. The guy was a total d*[!@#%^&^]!

 

That's the real story.

 

Chris

 

P.S. Arch - sorry about the masking and all. But, if you have to "strike" me, I'll understand.

[Zonker]

One other thing I neglected to mention in my FCBD report. The second half of the day, (I wish we had done it the whole day but some ideas just don't come early), we selected a couple additional comics beyond what people chose for themselves, to encourage them to read things they might not otherwise try. Saying effectively, "Take this one too, if you don't like it, pass it along to a friend who might..." It's way too soon to tell how effective that was, but I heard several people who were pleased at having something a little different to try...

 

Seriously, Lighthouse, great work! Am curious though which books you chose to to 'ret-con' (heh) as Free? Interested in your views of good entry-level books right now. One of the tamer Ultimates? Bendis Daredevil? Waid Fantastic Four? Loeb & Lee Batman? Moore's Tom Strong? Seems that is the problem with FCBD follow-through: the publishers not putting out enough that is accessible to bring the new readers back every week...

 

Cheers,

Z.

[lighthouse]

Actually, nearly all the books we gave away were FCBD books. I did give away around 30 copies of Patrick The Wolf Boy because I just have to spread the love when it comes to Patrick. And I gave away around 50 copies of FF60 (the 9c issue). One of my employees suggested giving out some extras of the 13c Gen-13 book until I told him we want these people to come back...

 

I just don't see the logic in limiting to one comic per person... "Yes, you are worth 20c to me... but not 60c... no, 60c would be way too much..."

 

A lot of store owners I have talked to treated FCBD like an obligation they HAD to do... In my eyes, it's a rare opportunity to be able to reach out to the masses... Now maybe my perception is colored because my store is clean, brightly lit, with wide aisles, and smells like something other than sweatsocks... Maybe a lot of store owners don't want the general public to come in for a while...

 

Mostly what we did is sort the comics by age-appropriateness. There were four for the "old enough to see Lion King" crowd, ten for the "old enough to see Star Wars" crowd, and five for the "old enough to see the Matrix" crowd. This worked much better for us than saying age 12 or whatever. I know 12 year olds who have seen the Matrix, but I wouldn't hand Frank Miller's Robocop to just ANY 12-year-old... So if a kid grabbed Archie and Ultimate X-Men, we might have handed him Way of The Rat... The 100% Guaranteed book is FABULOUS, not so much for the story itself, but for the two-page list in the back that helps you suggest comic titles to anyone based on what tv or movies they like. They like Friends and Titanic? Here's three titles they might like. They like Fight Club and Fast and the Furious? Here's a couple titles to try... It's a little easier for me, because like Isotope and Titan Comics and Flying Colors, I carry more non-superhero books than superheroes... But even a Marvel-DC only store could use the advice...

 

Oh, and Bug? You didn't have to go to all that trouble... I've got her webcam online... It's just $1 per minute for all the streaming video you need...

[Illiterati-migration]

'House? You got any pics of your store you can post?? Any more pics of Goth Hoochie you can post??

[lighthouse]

'House? You got any pics of your store you can post?? Any more pics of Goth Hoochie you can post??

 

No store pics, Khaos... my competition lurks on this forum... so I deliberately include some bogus info to throw him off as to my true location and true identity... Can't have him steal all my good ideas... Then he'd have a clean, well-lit store that sells Cherry Poptart to 8 year olds too...

 

I wish I had taken some pics of her last week... She is in a play that's in rehearsal right now, and she came into the shop dressed as a just-raped devil-worshipper... You shoulda seen the grumpy old men buying Silver Age to try to impress her...

[Illiterati-migration]

'House? You got any pics of your store you can post?? Any more pics of Goth Hoochie you can post??

 

No store pics, Khaos... my competition lurks on this forum... so I deliberately include some bogus info to throw him off as to my true location and true identity... Can't have him steal all my good ideas... Then he'd have a clean, well-lit store that sells Cherry Poptart to 8 year olds too...

 

I wish I had taken some pics of her last week... She is in a play that's in rehearsal right now, and she came into the shop dressed as a just-raped devil-worshipper... You shoulda seen the grumpy old men buying Silver Age to try to impress her...

 

Dang. I've always wanted to know what a real comic store looked like... and since yours is the only store around here, I figured it would have to do.

 

And may I say that I love live theater?