My Response to Hatcher Re: FCBD

[Kid Omega]

(I tried posting this in response to Greg's article on CSBG, but it wouldn't post for some reason. So I put it here, in hopes that there might be some discussion...)

Greg-

I have to admit, I'm a little confused and disconcerted by your article, having read it a couple of times and thought about it.

I'm frankly surprised by your negativity, and a little bewildered by your short-sightedness. You're ready to roundly dismiss an event that has nothing but the nicest of intentions (to give away FREE COMICS) based on the observations of a handful of stores.

You could have asked around a little bit... you could have at least asked me, old buddy! And you might have found that for every retailer who has no idea what the point is, I can give you three who use it as the biggest customer outreach of the day. But rather than do a mild bit of research beyond your zip code, you've decided to shout "j'accuse!" at the whole system, when plenty of evidence supports the contrary opinion; namely, that FCBD is a blast, man! It makes me sad to see you grousing so angrily, but this is apparently not a day for you. If you're going to dig around in a gift horse's mouth looking for fault, it's possible you will find some. I, for one, am just happy the horse is out there and kids are happy to see it.

What's the point?

The point is to say "hey! Free stuff! Bring your kids!", watch people show up, give these people comics, and say "Here you go! This is just a taste of what there is out there! Lynda Barry, Peanuts, Rick Geary drawing GUMBY, Eddie Campbell, classic Mickey, WHITEOUT... damn! Comics are awesome!

Now folks are in the store, happy as can be with a pile of new books... they look around and say "hey- this looks pretty cool! I'll have to remember this place!"

And you have a new casual reader. Voila! How is this a bad thing? Why is this something to gripe about?This is what the Gospel of Comics is all about, and if you're not ready to preach it, at least don't pee in everybody else's lemonade!

Some of us are staking our livelihoods on the Awesome Power of Comics, and really believe that they are a viable art-form, and they need to be in the hands of every out there who's interested, and FCBD is a damn fine idea. So rather than pooh-poohing it because you had a Gloomy Gus day, why not say "well heck, if it works in one store in one town in the whole wide world, it's worth it."

I think the success rate is far better than that, but you get my meaning, I'm sure.

As the man says, "Snail, go climb Mt. Fuji... but slowly!"

[Sir Tim Drake]

Alex's argument sounds more reasonable than Greg's argument, although that could just be because I read Alex's post before I read Greg's blog posting. (To paraphrase Thucydides, "most people are not inclined to find out the truth, but are much more willing to accept the first story they hear.")

It seems like Alex and Greg would agree that there are two types of retailers. One type (let's call it type A) is represented by the person whose store Greg visited: an antisocial, unfriendly moron, who apparently couldn't care less whether his store remained in business in the long term. The other type (type B) is represented by Alex: a friendly, conscientious person who's committed to keeping comics a viable industry. (Obviously, this is a spectrum, rather than an either-or proposition; some retailers will be between type A and type B.)

So Alex and Greg basically agree on the facts, but what you disagree about is your interpretation of the facts. Greg thinks that the good that's being done by the type A retailers is not enough to make up for the harm that's being done by the type B retailers. Alex believes the opposite.

I tend to agree with Alex. Even if type A retailers are in the extreme minority (which may or may not be the case), if there are just a few type B retailers, then FCBD is a worthwhile project. The existence of stores like Rocketship is enough to justify the existence of FCBD.

[Michael P]

I visited four stores on FCBD. Out of them, I would say three were of, or at least trying their damndest to be of, Type B. Jim Hanley's Universe had creator signings and their usual friendly and helpful staff; the only downside was the line to get the free comics was so long, I had to wait about twenty minutes, and the guy behind me was an irritating neckbeard who wouldn't stop crowding to try and see to the front of the line. Other than that, it was a blast (although Dan Slott was mortified when I told him I wasn't really into Scott Pilgrim. Sorry, Dan, but I can get the same stuff from Sluggy Freelance for free every day!). One woman ahead of me, a young mother, was gleefully selecting from the kid-friendly books with Dan's help (after picking out her own books, of course).

Cosmic Comics had run out of several books by the time I got there, so clearly they'd been having a good day. Someone, I never saw who, was signing over by the statue display, and there was a 30% off sale on all the items in the store (excepting the free comics, of course). The group while I was there seemed to be mostly regulars, but a good time was being had by all. The girl at the counter was super-helpful.

As for Rocketship, I'm obviously biased, but they were doing a steady business, had a great display, had Fred Van Lente signing, and the staff (read: Mary and Alex) was their usual helpful and friendly selves (Alex even managed to keep up steady conversation with a bad sinus infection). Most people there walked out with something in addition to their FCBD purchases; I myself helped a customer decide which cover of Buffy #3 to get (the Jo Chen, of course) before picking up Fafrd and the Grey Mouser, the first Nextwave collection, and the Sensational Spider-Man annual.

The Type A store, Midtown Comics's East Side location, was about like the store you mentioned, Greg; the free comics were set up at a card table, and the guy running it was inattentively flipping through his own comic and dead-voicedly reading out the store policy (one of everything per person) to anyone who approached. However, I've heard good things about the West Side setup for the day, and East always seemed to me to be less well-run store of the franchise.

Overall, FCBD is only as good as the stores, and a store's only as good as the people who run it. My experience, and anecdotal evidence from around the comics sphere, says there are a lot of good people running great stores out there.

And hey, where else am I gonna get vintage Gottfredson for free?

[Perry Holley]

(I tried posting this in response to Greg's article on CSBG, but it wouldn't post for some reason. So I put it here, in hopes that there might be some discussion...)Perhaps there was a delay, but your response is there in the comments section (#46).