For those of you new to the comics community, Free Comic Book Day is an annual event where comic book publishers provide comic retailers with books to be given out for free to the public. It is also traditionally associated with some sort of comic book movie that releases around the same time. This year that movie is The Amazing Spider-Man 2!
There is quite a lot going on around the Nashville area for FCBD, and here at 4LN we want you to be informed on all the fun events! Check out what our local shops are offering to celebrate the day!
First up is 4LN’s preferred local shop, and all-around good guys, Comic Collector Live: The Store.
CCL: The Store is located at 131 Sanders Ferry Rd Suite #201, in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Next up is Comix City Too, where our good pals from Outright Geekery will be hosting Geek Jeopardy Trivia!
Over at Rick’s Comic City (2710 Old Lebanon RD, suite 3, in Nashville) there’s a whole list of goings-on!
Ethan Nicolle – Co-creator of Axe Cop
Doug TenNapel – Creator of Earthworm Jim
Jonathan Gibson – Chronicle webcomic
Steven Fox – Nex webcomic
Janet Lee – Artist on Marvel’s “Northanger Abbey” and “Emma” series.
Tribe One will be performing a free Nerdcore concert at 6pm
Robert Midgett – Author of “Vagabonds”
Santiago Cirilo – Julio in AMC’s The Walking Dead
Jason Horn – Ninjasaur
Chris Davis and K Pop All Stars – free concert at 6pm
The Great Escape will be having LOTS of stuff going on at their locations in the area as well. Check it out straight from their own Facebook Event page:
“Mark your calendars! Free Comic Book Day is coming next Saturday (May 3rd)!
For this event we’ll be opening the store up 1 hour early at 9AM!
We’ll be offering 5 free comic books per customer* per day this year during our “Free Comic Book Day” weekend from the following titles (plus a bonus sixth title: DC’s “The New 52: Future’s End” #0):
Simpsons * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers * DC Super Sampler: Teen Titans Go! * Spongebob Freestyle Funnies * Transformers Vrs. GI Joe * Guardians Of The Galaxy * Rocket Raccoon * Hip Hop Family Tree * Archie Digest
…and many, many more! (Plus, you can get 6 free comics during both days of the celebration- making it a total of 12 free comic books that you can receive if you attend both days.)
But there’s more: for every $10 that you spend on merchandise during “Free Comic Day Weekend”, you also get another free comic book! (Just keep your receipt after checking out and show it to our staff in our free comic books area to get your additional free comics.)
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The Great Escape Charlotte Avenue would also like to announce an appearance by noted comic strip artist Guy Gilchrist as part of the SAT, 5/3 portion of this incredible celebration (Gilchrist’s portion of the event lasts from 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m.)
Gilchrist’s “Nancy” comic strip, syndicated by United Features, runs in 350 newspapers in 80 countries. He is also well known as a writer of 49 children’s books and has illustrated a number of other comic strips, including “Jim Henson’s Muppets”, and his latest comic strip, “Today’s Dogg” (a strip that was launched in 2010 on Facebook and later picked up by Comics.com United Features website).
Guy Gilchrist’s workshop on SAT, 5/3 on how to draw & write cartoons is from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. at our Charlotte Avenue location. Anyone interested in attending should bring sketchbooks, pens, pencils, etc. for their participation.
Prior to the cartoon workshop (at 12:30 p.m.), Gilchrist will meet individually with attendees to critique portfolios. He will also be available to do sketches & signings for individuals and will offer original artwork for sale at that time.
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Also appearing earlier on SAT, 5/3 (at 10 a.m.) at The Great Escape Charlotte Avenue will be Joel Gibbs, co-director for the Marvel animated features “Iron Man Extremis” and “Thor And Loki- Blood Brothers” for the production company Magnetic Dreams. Gibbs will discuss the process used for translating comic book stories to animation- and will also show part of an “X-Force” motion comic project that has never been seen anywhere else.
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There is no cost to attend, but space is limited. For reservations for either one or both of these programs, sign up at either our Charlotte Avenue or Madison stores or email us at:
contactus@thegreatescapeonline.com.
There will also be drawings for prizes on SAT, 5/3 at our Charlotte Avenue, Madison and Bowling Green locations- and we’ll have costumers of various sorts at these stores to help kick off the celebration!
Make sure not to miss out on this fun-filled 2-day Free Comic Book Celebration (all locations) from SAT, 5/3 – SUN, 5/4 and artist appearances (Charlotte location only) on SAT, 5/3. Between all the free comic books, prizes and other activities, everyone’s sure to have a great time during this momentous occasion!
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*From our special selection of exclusive “Free Comic Book Day” comics.”
So there you have it local-Nashville-nerds, all you need to know about the FCBD events in our area, all in one place! Go see Spider-Man 2 on Friday and then get up early and support your local comic community!