For fans of space epics and super heroes, the first weekend in May was a treasure trove. This past Friday, May 4th, was Star Wars day! Fans around the world celebrated a terrible pun (May the Fourth be with you) as well as a great movie series! Monsterbat and myself were lucky enough to be invited to our favorite indie bookstore, Backlist Books, for a Star Wars party. There were prizes, popcorn, and Star Wars trivial pursuit. The Yoda Soda (green punch) had Monsterbat bouncing off the walls, but it was worth it.
Saturday was our favorite day of the Year, Free Comic Book Day. Once a year, on the first Saturday in May, participating comic book stores across North America give away special ‘Free Comic Book Day’ editions of comics in order to promote this particular art of storytelling through pictures. I looked up the comics ahead of time, so I’d know which ones I was hunting looking for, and decided my quarry quest was for the Buffy/The Guild flip comic as well as the Zombie Kid (spoof of Diary of a Wimpy Kid).
We are fortunate enough to have several nice comic shops in our area. Our first stop was TOYS TIME FORGOT in Canal Fulton, but we had to come back later because there wasn’t any parking. It was worth the return trip.
Next we visited HEROIC ADVENTURES, where we not only got free comics, but Monsterbat received a signed drawing by our favorite local artist, Joe Miller. The store even hired a band to play and they had food and drinks available outside!-
BILL’S BOOKS & MORE was a bit of a challenge – again for parking. It was a small storefront with a tiny parking lot. We ending up circling several times before snagging a spot. Though the store was packed, this was the first store that carried the Buffy/Guild comic and also the Zombie Kid. Monsterbat was thrilled that they gave him the very last Heroclix Thor figure they had!
-
After that, we drove to
HAZEL’S HEROES, and
COMICS- CARDS AND COLLECTIBLES. Parking at both places was pretty easy, even though the stores were pretty small. Not only did we pick up free comics, I was able to pick up a first edition paperback of
The Time Traders by Andre Norton as well as a paperback copy of
Beneath the Planet of the Apes. I also found a great selection of graphic novels, and I left with a brand new copy of
Darkman vs. Army of Darkness.
-
And, last but not least, we returned to
TOYS TIME FORGOT. This time I parked by the library a block away (we were going there anyway), and we walked to the store. Their parking lot had two tents set up: one for free comics and another for local artists. There was also a face painter who took requests. After changing his mind several times between having his face painted like R2D2, a dragon, and Spiderman, he settled on becoming an Angry Bird. The artist even had the picture on his shirt as a guide, and we also ordered some comics and bought a fat pack of Magic cards. Though it’s a contradiction in terms, Monsterbat left a very happy Angry Bird.
-
We tried to hit
The Big Read Kick-off party in Massillon as well, but we arrived too late.
The Massillon Library was still kind enough to give us a copy of The collected stories of Edgar Allen Poe.
-
Sunday, the entire family packed up to see
The Avengers. As much as I love Super heroes, the Hulk has always been my least favorite. He’s big and stupid and he smashes things. He’s more destructive than helpful in my opinion, and I know Hulk fans will say there’s smarter versions of him but I can’t help thinking of him as just this big, dumb, green guy.
-
This movie made the Hulk likeable.
-
Seriously.
-
That’s quite the accomplishment. I actually loved the Hulk in this! All the other characters were incredible as well, especially Thor. I love Thor. I mean, who wouldn’t love a hunky Norse god with a really big hammer?
-
-
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your time! I will be posting writing prompts and other content throughout the week. Have a lovely day.
-
-
