Free Comic Book Day, Earth Prime Comics

This past weekend was the annual Free Comic Book Day, and for the second year running, I trooped up in Burlington for Earth Prime Comics on Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace. This time around, I was joined by Mike, proving once again that two troopers are better than one. Oddly, we had three wranglers for the two of us, Stuart, Stephen and Josh. Stuart was in charge of pictures, and the other two were there for backup.

Mike and I arrived at Earth Prime right as they were opening, and we suited up, talked to the people in charge, who had stuff for us to hand out. We hung around in the store for a little while, then took off up and down the market place, after taping a couple of Free Comic Book Day logos to our backs so that people would know what we were doing. Armed with a couple handfuls of free comic packs for kids, we walked up Church Street, and almost right away, we were asked to pose for pictures, and this continued as we walked up. By the time we reached the top of the street, we’d handed out all the comics, and Josh went back for some more.

We made several passes up and down the street. There were a couple lingering college students who were excited to see us, but as usual, it was the little kids that really made the day. There were a ton who were absolutely thrilled to see us, including one little guy who was literally bouncing up and down when he saw us, and was extremely excited to take a picture with us.

We got out of armor around 12:45 while a short parade went up Church Street – something to do with UVM’s hockey team – and got lunch, and suited up shortly thereafter to walk around in front of the store. Apparently, we attracted so many people that the store ran out of the free stuff. I was interviewed by a news crew that was on the street about FCBD, which was interesting, although I haven’t seen the footage or heard if it even made it on the air.

Overall, it was a very fun troop! Pictures can be seen here.

I made the news!

In the Burlington Free Press B-Side, a supliment to their regular issue, for Free Comic Book Day:

A Storm Trooper takes a break from mingling with the customers at Earth Prime Comics in Burlington, and pauses to catch up on his Klingon, Saturday, May 3. (MYESHA GOSSELIN for BSCENE)

Free Comic Book Day Pictures

This is a couple days later than I wanted, but here’s the collection of pictures that I found on Flickr from this past weekend:


A couple of unknowns:




Cloud City Garrison in Seattle:

Florida Guys at Tate Comics:

Southern California Garrison:

Trooper and Vader in Washington:
Golden Gate Garrison:

Canadian Garrison in Ottawa:

Me in Burlington,

Garrison Carida:


Carolina Garrison on patrol:

New England Garrison at Jet Pack Comics: Video!

Mission Report : Free Comic Book Day, Earth Prime Comics

On Saturday, I went and trooped at Earth Prime Comics up on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, where I helped hand out fliers on the market street and mingled with patrons in the store. I was joined by two wranglers, Frank (Vader1130) and my friend Stuart, from college. Another member was supposed to show up, but I think that he ended up trooping at Hero’s Kingdom, up in St. Albans, according to a patron. Frank broke out his ESB Han Solo costume, and we went up and down the merchant street five or six times, handing out fliers and posing for pictures up and down the street. It was a pretty cool and damp day, but we had a great turnout in the store, according to Ethan, the store’s manager. He said that most likely because we were out walking about, and because of that, they had a number of people enter the store who might not have otherwise attended. Interestingly, the director of the recently created documentary, Nerdcore Rising stopped in the store. (Nerdcore is a genre of music, essentially Geek Hiphop/Rap, and features Honorary Member Weird Al and Friend of the Legion mc chris) A photographer from the Burlington Free Press also stopped by and took a bunch of pictures of me and some of the patrons. Hopefully they’ll put the pictures up online. Sunday’s paper didn’t have any article on the event, but I’ll keep checking.
On our first couple runs up and down the street, we handed out the free Clone miniature that they were giving out for the day, and the kids and parents who we handed it out to LOVED it, especially coming from a Storm Trooper or a Han Solo. They gave me one to have, which is really cool!
Earth Prime has agreed to donated $50 a charity of our choice, and they allowed us to put out a donation pot at check out, where we earned a further $17.74 over the course of the day. They’ve also agreed to keep the pot open, which has our logo on it, and we’ll continually monitor that. Earthprime and Quarterstaff are really eager to help us out with things like this, and they were absolutely thrilled to have us, and I believe that we’ll be welcomed back next year.
We also had a bunch of people who were interested in joining up – I handed out our website address to several people who were interested, and hopefully this will help eventually bring up our Vermont numbers a bit. One kid actually had an MR Helmet, and his friend had a Fett helmet that they made from cardboard that looked absolutely fantastic – I thought that it was fiberglass or plastic or something along those lines. He’s apparently already looked into an FX Lite Kit.
Overall, very fun day, I’m looking forwards to doing something with them again, and I’m looking forwards to the next up here in Vermont!

Free Comic Book Day Press

Free Comic Book Day was this past weekend, with a number of garrisons turning out to their local comic book shops. Here’s some of the press coverage:

Bonanza For Fantasy Fans
Sarge’s Comics hosts its annual Free Comic Book Day
By M. MATTHEW CLARK Published on 5/4/2008
New London – Fans of fantasy came out in droves Saturday to Sarge’s Comics for the 7th annual Free Comic Book Day, a sort of high holiday for the faithful readers of comics, science fiction and other subculture genres.
Bob Miller, owner of Sarge’s Comics, hurried around his State Street store Saturday fielding questions while multitasking on everything from ordering 55 pizzas to hanging sale signs to wondering if his daughter – who was dressed up as comic book character“Sailor Mini Moon” – would still have pink hair during her First Communion ceremony today.
The bookstore, a 20-year-old landmark in downtown New London, was filled with hundreds of people young and old – many dressed in elaborate costumes of their favorite character – eagerly grabbing up free comic book swag.
One of the most popular attractions at Sarge’s Saturday was the“Star Wars” characters. Members of the Connecticut Garrison of the 501st, a national group that dresses in the roles from the famous George Lucas science fiction epic.
Dot Stasny of Bethel wore the easily recognizable uniform of a stormtrooper, the white-and-black members of the Imperial Army from“Star Wars.” Stasny and her compatriot, Stephen Niesz, who was dressed as intergalactic bounty hunter Boba Fett, hammed it up on the corner of Eugene O’Neill Drive and State Street, waving to honking cars and pantomiming hitchhiking.
Gaggles of children swarmed Stasny and Niesz asking for autographs and photos.
Besides giving away comics, Miller hosts local artists and writers, as well as high-profile national artists.

Full Article

Earth-2 celebrates Free Comic Book Day with Tim Sale
Fri, May 2nd, 2008 at 1:02PM PST
It’s the biggest FREE COMIC BOOK DAY event ever at Earth-2 Comics this year, with red-hot artist Tim Sale making a rare in-store appearance! Tim, best known for his recent work on the smash NBC series HEROES, as well as his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb, will be appearing from on Saturday, May 3 from noon until 1:30 p.m., signing copies of his books and doing sketches, with all proceeds going to THE HERO INITIATIVE, a benefit organization for retired comics professionals. The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. The Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for yesterday’s creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity to meet one of comics’ hottest talents, and do some good in the process!
Of course, it wouldn’t be FREE COMIC BOOK DAY without — you guessed it — free comic books! We’ll have special hours for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, opening at 10 a.m. and closing at 7 p.m. Also appearing starting at 10 a.m. will be animator Anthony Price, who’ll be creating free superhero sketches on demand, so bring the kids! And keeping a watchful eye over us all will be the Imperial Stormtroopers of the 501st Legion, so don’t forget your cameras!

Full Article

Comic books fans load up at free event in Rochester
ROCHESTER— No amount of rain could keep comic book lovers from attending National Free Comic Book day in Rochester Saturday.
With smiles on their faces and free comic books in their hands, fans were able to visit local businesses to collect more free comics and even get their picture taken with Jabba the Hut, Boba Fett and Storm Troopers from Star Wars.
Dugie Mott, 21, of Barrington, with a bag in his hands full of free swag, said he didn’t mind the weather. “This is an awesome event with Storm Troopers and everything,” he said. “It’s worth it to be here. My friends are going to be mad they missed it.”
Visitors could also take a quick walk to the Rochester Opera House to get their picture taken with Jabba the Hut and other members from Star Wars. The Opera House was also giving out free comic books and money from the pictures went to help support the Jimmy Fund.

Full Article

A TON of pictures have made it to flickr, and I’ll be posting what I’ve found shortly.

More Free Comic Book Day Shoutouts

A couple of newspapers have mentioned the 501st in a couple articles about Free Comic Book Day:

Comic books are free for the taking

By EMILY SHRADER
TEENS IN THE NEWSROOM

last updated: April 30, 2008 03:08:10 PM
Calling all comic book fans! Saturday is the seventh annual Free Comic Book Day at participating comic book stores across the nation, where comic books will be handed out to anyone who visits.
Local artists Clay Atkins, Patrick Barr and Vince Underwood also will be on hand. And while they’ll be coming by car, not by Republic attack cruiser, “Star Wars” imperial troops from the Central California Garrison of the 501st Legion also are set to make an appearance.
Full Article

And,

A heroic effort: comics for free
By Steve Echeverria Jr.
Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 1:02 p.m.
This year, The Dark Side is featuring members of the “Star Wars” costuming fan club The 501st Legion; local artists will be sketching characters; and there will be a “World of Warcraft” competition. Comic books will also be given away at the Selby (1331 First St.) and Fruitville (100 Coburn Road) public libraries. The North Sarasota Library at 2801 Newtown Blvd. also will host a free event from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Full Article

Free Comic Book Day – Coming Up

This was an interesting reminder in the Post-Journal in New York – they highlighted a comic book store, Chautauqua Comics. Already, this event is shaping up to be a big one for the 501st. There are around 30 or so events planned by a number of garrisons across the country.

Here’s the article:

Local Store To Participate In Free Comic Book Day
By Jessica Wasmund jwasmund@post-journal.com

4/11/2008 – For the millions of people across the globe who have grown up reading comic books, and those who have always been curious to pick one up, there is a chance to celebrate.
The seventh annual Free Comic Book Day will take place again this year on Saturday, May 3.
‘‘Anywhere in the world there’s a shop, free comic book day is happening,’’ said Al Steffens, owner of Chautauqua Comics. ‘‘This is an attempt to get people not only excited about comics, but back into reading through comic books.’’
Last year, Steffens said, more than 1,200 people came through the door of his shop, located at 214 Fairmount Ave., to partake in the event.
‘‘Since the shop is only 1,500 square feet, we’re talking a lot of people — the line was out the door and around the corner with people waiting to come in,’’ he said. ‘‘This year we’re hoping to do it all over again.’’
Each year to celebrate, the comic book industry produces a number of brand new comic books for the occasion. The distributor will then send them out at an inexpensive price, and the shops will in turn give them away for free. Steffens explained that anybody who comes to his shop that day will get two books for free. If they choose to donate $.50 or more toward St. Susan’s soup kitchen, they will receive an additional third comic.
‘‘We really want to make a difference and this is our second year working with St. Susan’s,’’ Steffens said. ‘‘I realize there’s a lot of people out there who aren’t as fortunate as others, and I want to make a difference. Jamestown has been very good to me, so I want to give back. Also, if they sign up for our Web site, they can get a fourth comic book, also free.’’
To commemorate the event, the shop will be running a series of events throughout the day. There will be door prizes, a raffle for a lithograph, a Narauto tournament and for those who deem themselves experts of comic trivia, Comic Book Jeopardy.
Chautauqua Comics will also be grilling hot dogs outside, and special guest appearances will be made by a few of the most well-known superheros, including Spider-Man, Iron Man and Batman.
‘‘What makes this year a little more special is we have Roger Stern,’’ Steffens said. Stern is the author of The New York Times bestseller ‘‘The Death and Life of Superman.’’ Stern has been writing comic books for more than 30 years, composing stories for characters such as the Green Lantern, Spider-Man and Captain America. Steffens said Stern is also credited with writing the story on which the third installment of the Spider-Man movie was based.
‘‘We are also going to have members from the Star Wars 501st Legion, which is a group of guys who spend large amounts of money to replicate the Star Wars costumes,’’ he explained. ‘‘They’re all around the country and sanctioned by George Lucas. We’ll be having four of them coming down from Syracuse and Pennsylvania — a couple storm troopers and maybe even Darth Vader. They’ll be outside entertaining the crowds while people are waiting to get in.’’
Full Article

I’m going to be at Earth Prime Comics in Burlington Vermont, hopefully with another trooper or two. I know the New England Garrison will be at several locations, as well as a bunch of others.
Oddly, I’ve never been able to participate in Free Comic Book Day – There’s always been something that’s precluded me from attending. Not this year!