Sunday, May 04, 2008
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY
May 3rd was Free Comic Book Day--you either know what that is, or there's no point in explaining. I had circled the date on my calendar last month, and mentioned it to the wife, to her amusement. I'm pretty sure she thought I was joking about the whole thing.
But I really really wanted to pick up some free comics. And when the day came, I was practically jumping out of my skin to get down to Best Comics, maybe a mile away from my house, to get my hands on the loot. Naturally, this being a Saturday, there was a fair amount of housework to be done, and various other errands, but I had it all mapped out. I knew that I could insert the trip between the grocery shopping and the hardware store. And I'd bring Master Blaster along, so that it wouldn't be a grown man scamming free comics--it would be a dad out for a walk with his kid, who just happened to walk into a comic book store on Free Comic Book Day. I mean, crap, I was making up cover stories as if I was going out to see my meth dealer, or my secret other wife.
But by 2 o'clock I was running late with my errands, and the wife made a case for heading to the grocery store with me. Now on the surface this would save me time, but it also meant I would have to insist that we make a stop at Best Comics. Which I did. Some eyebrows went up. Oh, so you were being serious about Free Comic Book Day? My wife was grinning all the way to Stop & Shop. "I hope someone calls," she said, "someone important. So I can tell them where you are." I could hear her formulating the conversation in her head. "Hi Mr. Nobel Prize Committee Chair! I'm sorry, but my husband isn't here right now. He's at the local comic book store picking up free comics because, you know, today is Free Comic Book Day." I felt considerably less authoritative than a man of 36 years should feel.
I brought the Blaster to the store after my wife dropped me off (yes, my wife dropped me off), still planning on excusing this as some QT with my boy (asleep). When I walked in and asked the guy at the counter if they were participating in the promo, he pointed to a table behind me and said, "You're allowed to take two comics." It seems worth mentioning again that I am 36 years old.
The table was full of dreck that the store couldn't sell, plus Rick Veicht's ARMY AT LOVE, an adult title that shouldn't have been on a giveaway table of any store that's heard about the Gordon Lee case. After going through everything, I picked up the Hellboy promo. For this, I endured jabs from the wife.
When Master Blaster and I got home, the wife told me that some ex-girlfriends had called. It was the worst Free Comic Book Day ever.
May 3rd was Free Comic Book Day--you either know what that is, or there's no point in explaining. I had circled the date on my calendar last month, and mentioned it to the wife, to her amusement. I'm pretty sure she thought I was joking about the whole thing.
But I really really wanted to pick up some free comics. And when the day came, I was practically jumping out of my skin to get down to Best Comics, maybe a mile away from my house, to get my hands on the loot. Naturally, this being a Saturday, there was a fair amount of housework to be done, and various other errands, but I had it all mapped out. I knew that I could insert the trip between the grocery shopping and the hardware store. And I'd bring Master Blaster along, so that it wouldn't be a grown man scamming free comics--it would be a dad out for a walk with his kid, who just happened to walk into a comic book store on Free Comic Book Day. I mean, crap, I was making up cover stories as if I was going out to see my meth dealer, or my secret other wife.
But by 2 o'clock I was running late with my errands, and the wife made a case for heading to the grocery store with me. Now on the surface this would save me time, but it also meant I would have to insist that we make a stop at Best Comics. Which I did. Some eyebrows went up. Oh, so you were being serious about Free Comic Book Day? My wife was grinning all the way to Stop & Shop. "I hope someone calls," she said, "someone important. So I can tell them where you are." I could hear her formulating the conversation in her head. "Hi Mr. Nobel Prize Committee Chair! I'm sorry, but my husband isn't here right now. He's at the local comic book store picking up free comics because, you know, today is Free Comic Book Day." I felt considerably less authoritative than a man of 36 years should feel.
I brought the Blaster to the store after my wife dropped me off (yes, my wife dropped me off), still planning on excusing this as some QT with my boy (asleep). When I walked in and asked the guy at the counter if they were participating in the promo, he pointed to a table behind me and said, "You're allowed to take two comics." It seems worth mentioning again that I am 36 years old.
The table was full of dreck that the store couldn't sell, plus Rick Veicht's ARMY AT LOVE, an adult title that shouldn't have been on a giveaway table of any store that's heard about the Gordon Lee case. After going through everything, I picked up the Hellboy promo. For this, I endured jabs from the wife.
When Master Blaster and I got home, the wife told me that some ex-girlfriends had called. It was the worst Free Comic Book Day ever.
# posted by toner_low @ 11:52 PM 
