[dc]A[/dc]nother Free Comic Book Day come and gone. But not forgotten!
No sir. Free Comic Book Day is always a big day for me—and this year even more. As I wrote earlier, I split the day between two comic book shops in Lansing: Clem’s Comics & Games, and Red Fox Comics.
Clem’s Comics & Games (8:00 AM to 10:30 AM)
First, thank you to Alec and the gang at Clem’s for asking me to be a part of their Free Comic Book Day event once again, for the third year in a row. (Read about 2013 and 2014)
Hey! That’s me!
The crowd, like every year, was large and hungry for comics. I met plenty of young comic book fans, including a charming young lady (maybe 10 or younger) holding a lightsaber and wearing a Doctor Hooves t-shirt. She told me she was an avid fan of My Little Pony comics, and as her lightsaber suggested, loved Star Wars.
Clem’s asks artists to give free head sketches for kids (12 and under)¹, which usually means I end up drawing interesting stuff. My first year, it was Sonic the Hedgehog. The next year, Deadpool. This year, there wasn’t one popular thing, aside from drawing a couple of kids wearing a Batman mask.
The rest of my sketches were: Stealth Elf (Skylanders), Goodra (Pokemon), Sailor Moon, and Wonder Woman.
Sadly, I forgot to snap photos of these. I did six sketches total, and it was a 50/50 split between boys and girls (counting the ‘kids as Batman’ sketches).
What Sold? coloring books (3), a watercolor random cartoon², several mini watercolor cartoons (what I used to call sketch cards), and stickers.
A random cartoon I did at Clem’s.
Red Fox Comics (12:00 PM to 4:00 PM)
Thanks to Daniel and Keri at Red Fox Comics for asking me to be a part of their event.
I tore down my table at Clem’s, packed, and dashed over to Lansing’s West side for the Free Comic Book Day event at Red Fox Comics.
Unlike Clem’s, this was the first Free Comic Book Day event for Red Fox Comics, so I didn’t know what to expect (I had high hopes though, because their local artist event in December went great).
Good news: the event was a hit. Lots of people and kids, all day. Red Fox Comics opened an hour earlier than planned because people were waiting outside (a good problem to have).
Random cartoon: tentacle+owl+tank+fantasy
As the only artist at Red Fox Comics, this meant very little downtime at my table—always a good thing. I even had some repeat customers from the local artist event in December.
Random cartoon: silly hat+platypus+dinosaur+robot
What sold? Coloring books (4), two Big Monster prints, two black and white random cartoons, stickers, and a mini-comic.
Final Thoughts
- A busy day all around, and a very successful day too. I didn’t sleep well (or at all) the night before, which left me worried I would not have the energy to sell all day. Well, be it adrenalin, endorphins, or all the positive energy, I did just fine (I’m sure a few hours of sleep would have helped even more though).
- My new coloring book sold, and sold well. Selling one would be a triumph, but selling seven made me all kinds of happy. The color covers really helped as an eye-catcher.
- Stickers sold and continue to sell well. I added color stickers this time around, which helped. It’s good to have stuff for only a dollar (and in this case, 2 for $1).
- Random cartoons were a hit—and this time I had a sample watercolor cartoon on display next to the sign. This helped sell folks on the idea, because they saw the funny painting and I could explain the process.
- I was happy to sell a couple of my Big Monster prints. I decided to throw in a free small print with each purchase, which probably helped.
- For those who foolishly think women and young girls don’t read comics need to attend a Free Comic Book Day event (or any comic event). Seriously. As I said on Twitter:
Whoever thinks girls don’t read comics needs to meet the 6 year old girl who held court at my table explaining Beast Boy’s powers.
— Daniel J. Hogan (@danieljhogan) May 2, 2015
Another great Free Comic Book Day!
Next: Capital City Comic Con Recap
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¹ I planned to do the same at Red Fox Comics (it wasn’t asked of me, I decided to), but I was so busy I forgot to put up my sign.
² Credit where it is due: As I’ve said before, and say at shows, I got the idea to offer random cartoons after reading about Dave Malki’s (Wondermark) Roll-a-Sketch. I do mine a bit differently, but that’s where I got the idea.
