Santa Monica Comic Book Store Hosting Local Comic-Con
With Marvel Studios celebrating ten years this week and their latest movie, Avengers: Infinity War on track to make over $1 billion, one wouldn’t be surprised that comic book characters are popular. On Saturday, May 5, Free Comic Book Day serves to get people interested in picking up a physical comic book in stores around the nation.
Which comic books are given out depends on the retailers, and within Santa Monica, Hi De Ho Comics on 1431 Lincoln Blvd will be participating this Saturday. For this occasion, Hi De Ho Comics plan to hold their own Comic-Con during the day, like the famous one held in San Diego, but on a much smaller scale. Eddie deAngelini, the owner of the store for over three years, explained the significance of the day for comic book stores.
“It’s the biggest day of the year for all comic shops, it’s the day that a lot of shops will have big sales, but it’s also, more importantly, a day that they will give away designated free comic books for the day,” deAngelini said. “A lot of the publishers will do one or two specific comics that shops can get and then give away to get new people into the shops.”
Having hosted this annual event for the past three years, the store set up booths, tables, and invite local creators, such as writers, artists, and publishers. Jaime Hernandez, creator of Love and Rockets, one of the first comic books of the 1980s in the alternative movement, will be in attendance. Other guests will mainly consist of independent comic book publishers, such as Aftershock Comics and Stranger Comics.
“It’s great to see all of the creators that show up that are happy to be here on free comic book day, it’s great to see all the people that come out to see them, and it’s great to see the people who have no idea, who’ve never even been in a comic book shop come and see what a comic book shop is like, it’s really exciting to see that interaction,” deAngelini said.
Started in 2002, Free Comic Book Day was popularized by retailer Joe Field and the 1990s Guardians of the Galaxy artist, Jim Valentino. Over the years, it has increased in size; and now, publishers have created 50 different comic books specifically for this day.
Free Comic Book Day has seen over tens of millions of comic books being handed out. Other comic book stores in the area include Dream World Comics on 12402 Washington Place in Los Angeles, and Pulp Fiction on 4328 Sepulveda Blvd in Culver City.