Saturday, May 4, 2019

May the Fourth Be With You/Free Comic Book Day 2019!

It has been four years since May the Fourth kicked off with Force Awakens.  At least I was aware of it with Force Awakens.  Steadily, there has been less and less events and product out for Star Warriors.  This year, I decided to go to Downtown Disney since I heard there was a line last year.  No line this time.  I went at the about the opening, most stores were closed, and saw World of Disney was open.  The surprising thing was no promo of anything Star Wars.  There was a section behind the Marvel toys and shirts, but it was standard Star Wars fare.  I asked around and went to the register, there was a May the Fourth Be With You pin with a stormtrooper, nice.  Still, I was told there was another pin and shirts offered at the theme parks.  I then went to Wonderground Gallery and saw the “Fuzzball” by Kristen Tercek postcard and the “Sisters of the Force” painting by Ashley Taylor.  I bought the postcard as my Chewbacca item and then went to check on Galaxy’s Edge.  Kristen Tercek's website is at: http://www.cuddlyrigormortis.com/shopping. 

Back stage for Galaxy's Edge, today, photo by the author.

I actually didn’t check out Galaxy’s Edge until about 2017 and it started construction on April 2016.  This was when the building for the Rise of the Resistance attraction (which is delayed until “later this year”) that had the skeletal structures up and the black spires were just construction towers and two skyscraper cranes hung above them.  Then, in 2018, there was hints of the black spires with construction rigging around them, the buildings had walls and the squarish boxes were painted red with only one construction crane.  Now, it looks like the Black Spires were completed, the back stage area still has gaps behind the spires which can be seen from the Mickey and Friends parking structure.  It was interesting to see the progression.  I’ve seen it from the parking area, walking past it on the street, and from the top deck of the Mark Twain on stage.  Galaxy’s Edge opens to the public on June 24th.  Reservations begin on May 30th to June 23rd.  I have a reservation for June 6th and hope to do extensive coverage in the four hours for my party.  

Galaxy's Edge, June 2018, photo by the author. 
Next, I headed over for my rounds of the comic book stores for Free Comic Book Day.   My usual pattern is to either take a trip and go to comic book stores with events like signings or try to travel a bit and shop at stores in a relatively close distance.  I chose the latter and of course plans fall apart.  My usual comic shop was lively, slowly became crowded, but offered five free comics.  There is usually a limit, which of course you have to ask or see a sign, and this store had a whole table of free comics.  Sometimes, which I saw later, there is an offering of six or so comics.  Of course, I had the comics that saw on the Free Comic Book Day website, but I realized that I have to have a checklist.  Part of the fun of FCBD is finding new comics that you may not have tried.  Still, you have to pick up your favorites.  Stores can offer five, three, or even one free comic.  It is really up to the retailer and not the companies.  Also, two stores had stamps and stickers on their free comics to promote their stores, there is a section on the free comics to do so, I like them untouched, not to sell, but to keep in my collection.  

Galaxy's Edge, Force Friday, 2017, photo by the author.
The most important part of Free Comic Book Day is of course the kids.  Stores can’t thrive unless there are new readers.  The other part of FCBD are the sales especially the dollar books.  If kids are not able to go, it’s key to look out for free comics that might interest them.  I really go through the dollar comics not to just find issues I’m looking for, but the comic books I may have passed up and would try, just like the free comics.  There are also the sales which again made me think I would buy that comic for that price.  The free comics that seem to be emphasized were DC’s Year of the Villain (which was also priced at 25 cents) and Avengers FCBD #1.  I picked up the free comics for Stranger Things, Doctor Who, and Star Wars Adventures. The surprises for me were not ones that I focused on; Ignition, the new line from Humanoids, I just read the most pages from it even though I’m super tired, and Bloodshot (which has a preview of the Fallen World).  I have not gone through all of the comics, but these are the standouts.  The Free Comic Fever struck me so ended up traveling miles and hours to different stores.  This was a long, exhausting day, it will take me some time to go through my stacks of comics, but it was in its own way fun.  

Free comics table, photo by the author.


#StarWarsDay, #WondergroundGallery, #GalaxysEdge, #FreeComicBookDay

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