Holy cow, what can you say about this year’s Free Comic Book Day that isn’t in ALL CAPS? Even though we ordered way more books than ever before (12,000!), we gave nearly all of them away, to the HUNDREDS of fans who showed up, many of whom were lined up well before we opened the store at 10am!

Free Comic Book Day is always the biggest day of the year for us, but this year everything really came together just right. It was warm, but cloudy enough to not be really hot. It was cloudy, but the clouds never did open up and rain. We set up a giant tent in front of our store, and within minutes of our 9 special guests arrival, there were lines snaking all over the place, as they signed autographs and did FREE sketches! Literally, all day the space under that tent was crammed with fans and pros, just kinda hanging out and getting to know each other.

Inside there was a line snaking around the store for pretty much the entire day–we always do a lot of business on Free Comic Book Day, but it seemed like this year EVERYONE bought something, including all the kids who showed up. This is hugely gratifying for us–having kids come in to get some freebies is one thing, but when they come in and buy a bunch of comics, it means they’ve become comics readers. This year we definitely saw a HUGE increase in the number of kids actively buying comics, which is awesome.

Pretty much the whole staff was on deck and working hard all day long, with Seth and Shelton starting things at 7am! Phil, Rusty, and Adam shut things down, an even more unforgiving task, given that the rest of us had taken off for a party our friends Anne Geary and Scott Valeri threw for staff and guests. But don’t worry–the three last employees made it to the party after they closed the store down, and we all got to enjoy some delicious barbecue and some cold beverages.

All in all, this Free Comic Book Day might be this reporter’s favorite yet–just a general good vibe and a great time for everyone! But don’t trust me: I’ve put up a TON of photos on our Flickr site, most with some sort of unnecessary description. Check em out! But while you’re hear, please accept our earnest thanks for making this Free Comic Book Day the best ever! And thanks also to our staff, who really came through in a big way!