By Cornelius A. Fortune
Free Comic Book Day
10 a.m.-8 p.m. May 5
Green Brain Comics, Dearborn
DEARBORN – This weekend, as Hollywood crosses its fingers for a huge box office return with "Spider-Man 3," Green Brain Comics plans to give away free Spider-Man comics and a host of others.
Free Comic Book Day, from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on May 5, will feature comic creator Scott McCloud, author of the critically praised "Understanding Comics." Local talent will be on hand to round out the event.
Some six years later (and a vote as Detroit's Best Comic Store by the Metro Times), Dan Merritt, co-owner of Green Brain Comics, is still trying to make Free Comic Book Day a huge family-friendly event that offers more than just free comics.
"I don't want to do the same thing over and over again. So the best way to do that is to make it bigger and better," said Merritt. "This year we have more comics than ever to give out, we have bigger and better names, we have some local DJ talent."
In addition, there will also be a food and book drive in support of the community. "We're asking people to bring in a clean, gently used book for the Friends of the Library Dearborn to benefit their book sales, and we'll give you an extra free comic," said Merritt. "To further the community spirit, we're having a food drive for Gleaners Food Bank of Southwest Michigan. They have been doing a good job helping out needy families. We really want to support them in that goal so we're asking people to bring by a non-perishable can of food, and we'll give them another free comic."
Whatever effect, if any, that big-budget comic book movies have on Free Comic Book Day doesn't really matter, observed Merritt. "It's great that these movies are out there, and getting people's palette kind of primed for the Spider-Man adventures, and we're here to satisfy that papery end of it," he said. "Hollywood spent more on this 'Spider-Man' movie than I think they spent on the war effort in about a week. I don't see any of it showing off the Free Comic Book Day locator service. There's no advertising to get us any attention. My advertising budget is a little, but smaller than that, but I think we do a good job bringing people in."
Green Brain Comics won't be the only business participating in the daylong celebration of comics. Their upstairs neighbors, Stormy Records, will be giving away sampler CDs, magazines, posters and holding a Bjork raffle. The lucky winner will receive a collection of her music. In keeping with the Bjork theme, Stormy Records will have a Bjork listening party for her new CD, "Volta."
"We've got more diverse quality offerings than we've ever had before," said Merritt. "Not only do we have books from all of the sponsors, we also have books that you're not going to be able to get anywhere else. I have stuff for the guys; stuff for the kids; for the ladies. I've got stuff for the grandparents; I've got stuff for every member of the family minus the dog, but we do have comics featuring dogs."
{TAGLINE For more information about Free Comic Book Day, call Green Brain Comics at (313) 582-9444 or visit www.greenbrain.biz. Green Brain Comics is located at 13210 Michigan Avenue. You may call Stormy Records at (313) 581-9322 or visit www.stormyrecords.com.}
