May the Fourth Be With You!

And also the free comic books. Those can be with you, too.

Free Comic Book Day obviously requires a Comic Book shirt. And eyeshadow
from Espionage Cosmetic's Comic Book line. :) (Not that you can tell here).

I started my day at the farmer's market and food co-op, since the comic book store didn't open until noon. I spent some time wandering around the market with a friend, and I bought some delicious apple butter and pineapple salsa. (I know it might sound weird, but pineapple salsa is probably the most delicious salsa ever conceived. It's a little tangier and slightly sweeter than the average salsa). Luckily, as soon as it started raining it was time to head to the comic book shop--G-Mart in downtown Champaign, IL.

Unfortunately, though, the line to get into the comic shop went through the building and out the door. Which meant that we were standing outside in the freezing rain for a while. I felt a little bad, since I had commandeered my friend into coming with me with promises of free pizza (which was gone by the time we got through the store). I have to admit, I wasn't expecting things to be as busy as they were--since I know the store buys a lot of comics to give out, I thought that people would be wandering in and out all day. I guess everyone was just as excited for free comic books as I was, though!

Members of the 501st Legion were in costume, and helped make the wait in line a little more fun. I felt really bad for them, though--I don't know if I'd want to be out in the rain in such amazing costumes! There were a few Tuscan Raiders outside, and the bottom of their light costumes were drenches and dirty :(

There were definitely some good feelings in line, though. Everyone was excited, friendly, and chatty--despite the rain. The best part, though, was when the comic book store got the glasses shop to pass out umbrellas to everyone in line. I had brought my own (just in case), but it definitely made the wait a little brighter.

The store was really small--just a room in a business building--so that's why the line was so long. They had emptied some racks in order to put out the free comic books, and allowed 10 free books per person. I was kind of surprised--I had never been to Free Comic Book Day before, and had expected to only get one book. I was really excited. I picked a bunch of titles/characters I knew I liked. My friend isn't really into comics, and took the free Archie title. I had to mock him a little, but he was a good sport for waiting in line with me so long.

And the line wasn't done, though it did go a little faster. I bought a few comics in the store (most things were on sale). I tried to match the number of comics I bought with the number of free comics I took, but I miscounted and bought eight while I took nine. I didn't get to look around the store as much as I would have liked (and I felt rushed by the other customers, so I sadly bought a few issues out of sequences), and I would like to go back soon. They also had this Ra's al Ghul figure I've had my eye on for a while, but I'll have to wait until I get paid to buy it.

Here are the free books I took:

The Steam Engines of Oz
Aphrodite IX
The Walking Dead
Judge Dredd
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures
DC Nation Super Sampler (With Beware the Batman and Teen Titans Go!)
Marvel: Infinity
Mass Effect (though I may need to finish playing the game before I read it. It also has R.I.P.D and The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys included, which I have never heard of).
Star Wars
(They also tossed in a free Iron Man Heroclix figure. And the bag was Man of Steel themed. *drool*)

I'll let you know what I think of those once I read them (probably after finals). The same goes for the comics I bought, which were:

I'm not quite sure what's with Blogger and it's desire to rotate my pictures.
Any tips would be appreciated :)

Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness
Batgirl (volumes 8, 15, 16, 17 and 19) (I CAN'T BELIEVE I GRABBED EIGHT INSTEAD OF EIGHTEEN! Oh, well, at least 8 is Gail Simone).
Before Watchman (Dr. Manhattan #4 and Comedian #6)

And, barring some lunch, that was the end of the fun part of my day. Now that this blog entry is done, it's time to work on my final papers. Wish me luck!