Free Comic Book Day 2014 at CNJ Comics
CNJ Comics Free Comic Book Participating Artists Bios!
Friday Night – Saturday Day
Okay True Believers! It’s finally time to reveal our plans for Free Comic Book Day 2014!
This is our 13th FCBD and every year it gets bigger both by design and by organic growth. Feel free to use any images in this email on your social media sites or web pages to help spread the word! (The above image makes a great Facebook Banner for instance)
Free Comic Book Day is always the first Saturday in May; this year it’s May 3rd. Because we are allowed to start giving out the books at midnight, FCBD at CNJComics has split into two separate yet equally thrilling events!
The Midnight Early release event begins officially at 10pm on May 2nd and lasts till about 2:30am. The Day event begin at 10am on May 3rd and last till 7pm.
Here’s a brief summary of what’s going on:
We’ve got 25,000 comic books to give away, 10 per person. These books are split up 50/50 between the Midnight and Day events.
We’ve got 1,000 free graphic novels to give away at different points during both events.
We’re offering a custom Cleveland CNJComics FCBD2014 Lithograph on cardstock paper for only $4. It’s Spider-Man dealing with a water main break and is an homage to Amazing Spider-Man #33. These are limited, and sell fast.
All weekend long we will be featuring a full gallery art show with 20 local artists doing their renditions of Marvel characters.
Artists in this show include Sean Burns, Rich Cihlar, Randy Crider, Ryan Patrick Finley, James Giar, James Guilliams, Ben Hale, Jeff Hulligan, Eric Kaplan, Chad Kimes, Clare Kolat, Angela Oster, Bob Peck, Sahley Ribblett, Erin Schechtman, Tim Switalski, Janie Walland, Robert Walland, Shawny Walthaw and Craig Worrell. All artists are doing multiple pieces and a limited number of prints of the artwork will be on sale for only $10 each.
Here’s some information specific to each event:
MIDNIGHT EVENT:
10pm Event begins
10pm to 2am:
24 Cleveland artists will be doing FREE sketches on a first come first serve basis! The line up at this point includes: Henry Pope III, CHOD, Mark Overlow, Steve King, Thom Zahler, Len Peralta, Adam Pate, Robert Walland, Janie Walland, Greg Golem, Clare Kolat, Ron Hill, Ashley Ribblett, Randy Crider, Ryan Patrick Finley, Tim Switalski, Craig Worrell, Rick Lozano, Ben Hale, David Balan, Ryan Kacsandy, Shawny Walthaw, Abdul H. Rashid, Erin Schechtman, and Reverend Jim Giar! Click here for some of their Bio Info (apologies for any incomplete data)
This is a huge interactive part of our event so please come prepared to engage these artists and learn what they’re all about.
There will also be a Who’s Who of Pop Culture organizations setting up tables to let you know what they are up to in Cleveland! These groups were picked by us as people we have worked with this year or who have successfully pulled off an event that impressed us!
- Doctor Who Society of Cleveland (with a Tardis for photo opps!)
- Cleveland Concoction
- GeekCle
- Pop The Comic Culture Club
- Every Bar in Lakewood/The Side Quest
- Akron Comicon
Also showing up in force and in costume for photo opps:
- The 501st
- The Rebel Legion
- The Mandalorian Mercs!
People are also encouraged to attend the event in costume! It makes it more fun for all and it seems like everyone’s sporting some kind of colors or another.
To reward you for dressing up we’ve got 150 Walking Dead CNJ Comics FCBD 2014 patches to give away at the midnight event exclusively!
To get a patch just find one of our three lovely FCBD photographers, they’ll take your picture and you’ve got yourself a super cool patch!
The lovely Heather, Apryl, and Laura!
10:30pm
Strucker’s HYDRA Pub will open in the foyer next to the comic books shop.
FREE refreshments will be served and at at 10:45pm we’ll be tapping a FREE micro brew beer created specifically for this event by Cleveland Action Brewery! “Strucker’s Pretzel Lager” will have a commemorative FCBD label keeping in Spirit with the HYDRA theme of the bar.
Strucker’s Pub! Drink one beer, two shall take its place!!
There will also be HYDRA treats by Darkside Desserts and Peace Love and Little Donuts!
The bar is my personal project at FCBD and I aim to impress. HAIL HYDRA! (be on the look out for other CNJComics HYDRA exclusives at the bar!) Bar closes at 2am sharp.
12:01am
The Free Comic Book Day line opens!
The first 100 people will get a free graphic novel for their fortitude and stamina! This year we will be running two parallel lines to make the line move twice as fast! (YES!)
Hopefully we’ll have everyone through the line by 2:30 am so we can start all over again in the Morning!!
DAY EVENT: (or, here come the kids!)
10am
Free Comic Book Day line opens again to a restocked fresh supply of books! The first 300 people in line will get an All Ages Graphic Novel (either Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, or Thor)
We’ll hand our 100 more Dr Doom/Sinister Six All Ages Graphic Novels to the first 100 kids we see in costume!
Also at 10am
We’ll have more artist doing FREE sketches for kids! The day line up is a bit more flexible than the nights, so through out the morning and afternoon you’re likely to see the likes of Henry Pope III, Greg Golem, Ryan Patrick Finley, CHOD, Mark Overlow, Philip Fried, Jeff Crowther, Adam, Pate, Angela Oster, Wil Reyes, and others who will be popping in from time to time. Click here for some of their Bio Info (apologies for any incomplete data)
At 11am
Guest Of Honor MARC SUMERAK will be autographing 200 FREE copies of his Eisner and Harvey Award Nominated Book Franklin Richards Son Of A Genius Volumes One and Two!
Move over, Mr. Fantastic, Marvel’s First Family has a brand-new star! Join Franklin and his robot pal H.E.R.B.I.E. as they head into Reed’s lab for all kinds of fantastic fun, amazing adventures and more trouble than you can shake an Ultimate Nullifier at! All ages fun by one of Marvel Comics’s top All Ages Talents!
Noon
Right in front of the shop, the RUST BELT MONSTER COLLECTIVE will spend the afternoon creating a LIVE Mural to go in the shop featuring MARVEL Superheroes!
What began as a weekly art blog has turned into a colorful expression of civic pride for the Rust Belt Monster Collective. Tim Switalski, Ben Hale, Jim Giar, Randy Crider, Erin Schechtman and Craig Worrell are six accomplished illustrators who work together to create improvised, collaborative paintings, usually in a live setting.
Identified by their trademark work shirts and painting for hours at a time, they are quick to remind viewers of the hard work ethic that makes the rust belt special. Coming from diverse styles and backgrounds, each painting is comprised of six individual voices that harmonize into a distinct collaborative style. The resulting work of art is a lush animated narrative that captures the energy of the event where it was created and celebrates the people who attend
Eager to spread the joys of artists working communally, RBMC founded the Cleveland chapter of The Drink And Draw Social Club and worked with children in Cleveland Schools and at BAYarts. With each interaction, the group is quick to encourage a life in the arts and a celebration of the regional art scene.
7pm We close down shop. Gracefully.
This is all just a blueprint for the weeks festivities! We’ve peppered the weekend with surprises and other giveaways that you’ll just have to keep your eyes and ears open to hear about!
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Here’s the number one thing to remember about Free Comic Book Day and it’s sort of a paradox. The Free Comics are not the most important thing about free comic book day! Sure, like Christmas “It’s the reason for the season” but the day is about coming out and proudly showing your love of all things comics and engaging your comic book community.
That’s not to say that we don’t have 25,000 comics to give away, we do. We’ll take care of that. But trust me, if you judge a successful FCBD by getting the exact 10 comics you were shooting for, odds are you’re going to be disappointed. If you’re looking to hang out, dress up, talk comics, see some amazing creators and see just how big this hobby has gotten, then this is the event for you. The key to success? Participation. No spectators. Engage others. Be a friend.
Here’s the main image we’d love for you to share and pass around:
Here’s what you can do to start getting ready:
Things you can do to prepare for FCBD 2013 at Carol and John’s Comic Book Shop
Do your Research. Look up the books from www.freecomicbookday.com . Read up on visiting creators.
Make plans to go see Amazing Spider-Man 2 to get yourself jazzed up!
Plan to get to the events early for the best selection! (people always ask me when the line starts to form. Strangely this is the one the I have absolutely no control over)
Get your costume ready! Dress for success! (At the midnight party and early on Saturday it seems like everybody dresses up. There’s no way you can feel like a weirdo)
Bring a friend! Plan a family outing! Help us to expand our community!
Spread the word by blogging, posting and sharing your FCBD plans. Use #cnjcomics both at the event and at home!
Here’s our personal theory and why ‘No one does Free Comic Book Day” like Cleveland:
We push the event to our financial limits hoping to break even at the end of the day to cement our relationship with our fair city. Our work on Free Comic Book Day has been recognized by The Cleveland City Council and the Secretary of the State of Ohio as being a righteous event promoting literacy and creativity through comic books!
Please consider stopping in the shop and putting some money back into the system if it’s in your budget. Buy that thing you’ve been thinking about! This is your Holiday! If not now, when?!
We can’t thank everyone enough for the support and hard work of everyone involved in helping make this the premiere comic book event in the City of Cleveland.
Peace!
John Dudas
