There was something different about the friendly neighborhood comic book store Saturday.

If you walked into ‘Play the Game, Read the Story’ in Carousel Mall, or really any comic book store in the country on Saturday, you would’ve notice it, too. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the geeks that caught my interest. Far from it. Instead of the usual gang of lovable, socially inept people were … normal people. The ‘muggles’ of the comic book world. Hanging out in our store. The smell had improved. Patrons actually talked to one another. The faces, they were … friendly.

On Saturday, the comic industry was invaded. To our eternal disappointment, it wasn’t by Skrulls, New Gods, Atlanteans or even Amazon Warriors. It was ordinary people discovering the majesty that was ‘Free Comic Book Day.’

‘Wait, free comic books?’ Well, sort off. Free Comic Book Day was started back in 2002 as a way to encourage new people to check out comic books. Hence the soccer mom with 15 copies of ‘The Hulk’ in her arms. The promotional event has always been held on the first weekend in May and has only grown in notoriety as more publishers and comic book shops get onboard. Usually, companies just re-publish old back issues that could appeal to anyone, but within the past few years actual original content has been created for the event. Comic books with a banner on the top, noting they are for Free Comic Book Day, are available and there is no limit on how many copies comic book lovers can take home.

Free Comic Book Day is more or less ‘recruitment day’ for geeks. Think of it like campus tours we always see in the spring. We bring in the newbies, pump them full of positivity and strategically show only the best in the business. Some comic shops turn the opportunity into a full-blown event, getting industry insiders to visit. Yeah, it’s a sly business move, but it’s worked pretty well so far. By giving a slight sample of what people can expect, Free Comic Book Day aims to show the world just how mighty comics really are.

Without a doubt, it was different to see normal people invade the comic book store. I thought superhero T-shirts were dress code. That’s not to say it was a bad experience. Far from it. In fact, we need the non-nerdy for Free Comic Book Day as much as they want free stuff. Geeks are a rare breed. Try as we might to spread social taboo, our numbers are just too small to effectively get the job done. This is what makes Free Comic Book Day so important — because not only are we snagging free copies of ‘Iron Man,’ outsiders are snagging some new members, too.

If the comic industry plans on surviving the next few centuries, it needs a strong backbone of readers to keep pushing it forward. As much as I hate to admit it, none of us are getting any younger. Soon the fan boy will become the fan man and after that, who’s next? We need to start finding our replacements now, and Free Comic Book Day helps ensure that the industry’s fan base will only get deeper. But don’t let them near the Batman pajamas just yet.

So nerds, listen up. Don’t let this chance pass you by again. When the next Free Comic Book Day hits, you better have at least five new recruits. Besides, half the fun in being a geek is finding new converts. Yeah, it’s a little weird having outsiders barging in our man cave, asking insanely naive questions such as ‘What’s Batman’s real name?’ (What, not everybody knows that?). Teaching the people is the only way our numbers can grow.

So, while we only get one nationally recognized day that actually acknowledges our quest, everyone should be treated like it is Free Comic Book Day. Except for the soccer mom with Hulk. That was still pretty weird.

Flash Steinbeiser is a communications and rhetorical studies and writing major and the feature editor. This brings the end of the geek column, and Flash wants to thank everyone for giving it a shot. If he made anyone even consider picking up a comic book or video game this semester, then it wasn’t such a huge waste of space. He can be reached at ansteinb@syr.edu.
 

Published on May 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm