Hello my darlings!! Did you all enjoy the bestest Comic Holiday of them all this weekend? I know I did!!

This is just going to be a short little post about the amazing time C and I had at Free Comic Book Day this year. We’ll get back to the reading list later this week. But seeing as this blog and X-Men in general has become such a huge part of my life this last year, I feel like it’s fitting to share how that manifests itself into my real life every once in a while. Once of the biggest ways is how we choose to celebrate FCBD.

Like I’ve said before, our local comic shop, Carol & John’s Comics goes all out for this event. C and I normally work as volunteers for the event on Friday night. It’s super fun, and really allows us to talk to so many new people every year and get a sort of “behind the scenes” look into how the event is run. Friday night is a HUGE party. The shop lines up lots of local artists who are there doing free sketches. They also commission works from these artists to be hung up in the store front they use for the “Free Comic Room”. These art pieces are for sale and they’re always spectacular. There is also a bar with custom brewed beers (for those old enough to drink) and plenty of pop and water for those who don’t drink alcohol. The shop itself stays open for purchases and to hang out in while enjoying your beer. There are TONS of people in costumes, and the line for the free comics stretches through the entire shopping plaza. The shop hands out and raffles off lots of extra freebies while everyone’s in line to keep the night interesting. There are members of our local Ghostbusters cosplay group and members of Star Wars cosplay groups The Rebel Legion, the 501st, and the Mandalorian Mercs, that come every year. They walk the lines and take pictures with people and help entertain everyone. This year and in years past there were members of Rubber City Cosplay were on hand to take professional shots of anyone who wanted them, either in their own cosplay, with their favorite cosplayers from the night, or with the fun props provided. At midnight, the line starts moving for free comics and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they can move that many people through the line while still making sure everyone has time to pick the books they want to get and has a good time.

This year, my costume took over an hour  to get into,  but it was TOTALLY worth every second of it! I went as She-Hulk from her days in the Fantastic Four! I think this may have been my best costume yet! C went as Wonder Man. We always love dressing up, and this year was my favorite costume I’ve done. It was also my favorite of C’s costumes.

On Saturday, we took our daughter up for her first FCBD! She’s just over a year old, but she had so much fun.

Saturday is all about the kids at Carol & John’s. In the free comic/art gallery room there is a play area set up. Little kid-sized tables with tons of toys and Teen Titans Go! playing on TVs.

There was a face painter there for some of the day and a local artist collective, The Rust Belt Monster Collective spend the day painting a GIANT mural that will be hung up in the shop. Its a lot of fun to watch them interact and watch the mural take shape over the long hours. They’ve done this the last few years, and the murals are all amazing. This year’s theme was a superhero poker game. It’s so awesome!

There’s also a costume contest for the kids and to be honest, one of the best parts of the Saturday event is seeing SO many kids running around having the time of their lives dressed as superheroes. I know I’ve said it like 100 times already, but loves, if you’re in the Northeast Ohio area, you REALLY need to check out Carol & John’s Comics for FCBD and just in general for your comic needs. The staff at the shop is amazing. And the customers are great. It really is a family and a community, and that shows at events like this. It’s all about letting that geek flag fly proudly and celebrating your love of all things geeky with others who share your interests and passions AND supporting your local businesses and artists all at the same time!!

On a more blog-related note, I got some AWESOME Mother’s Day gifts from my baby girl (and my hubby since she’s really too young to make purchases for herself. LOL) I got two books that I cannot wait to read, and that I think will help with the blog quite a bit. The first is “The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy and the History of Comic Book Heroines” by Mike Madrid and the second is “X-Men and Philosophy: Astonishing Insight and Uncanny Argument in the Mutant X-Verse” edited by William Irwin, Rebecca Housel, and J. Jeremy Wisnewski. I’m SOOO excited to read them both, and I can guarantee they’ll be informing at least some of the things we discuss going forward.

I have also discovered my new favorite podcast this past week (about 2 years after it started, but hey, better late then never). It’s all about the X-Men and it’s amazing. It’s called Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men. You should check it out. They are hysterical and awesome and really know their stuff. I’ve been listening to it non-stop from the beginning all weekend!

And with that my loves, it’s time for me to go. I’ve got lots of reading to do!! So, for now, keep searching…