Hey, Folks!
Well, the blessed week has finally arrived and everything is in the box and ready to go! What am I prattling about? Why, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, of course! After a one year hiatus followed by one year held in August, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY has returned to its regular day on the first Saturday of May, in this case May 7th. Naturally, we here at Monarch are all very excited about it and can’t wait to welcome the width and breadth of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan into the store to take a look around and get some free stuff!
Honestly, this will very much be a return to the days of yore with a couple of slight changes necessitated by the pandemic. There will be a wide range of FREE comics available at the counter as in years past and Brian and I will be racking them with the All Ages selections along the bottom, the Teen+ selections in the middle, and the more Mature content along the tops of the racks. We will be instituting a 5 comic book per patron limit at the beginning of the event although I may relax that once the initial rush is over and I am sure that we have plenty of comics to go around. I still have plenty of free comics left over from last year’s FCBD along with tons of new selections from this year’s offerings so I do believe we will be well stocked! I will, of course, be at the FCBD racks all afternoon welcoming folks and answering any questions you might have so please do not be shy! Despite the amount of complaining I tend to do in the store about FCBD I confess that I am thrilled to welcome such a diverse crowd of fans into my humble shop.
The Monarch Avengers, Toledo’s premier cosplaying society, will once again be gracing us with their presence this year and I couldn’t be more excited by the line up! This year’s team will include Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Catwoman, Spider-Man, Storm, Harley Quinn, and Deadpool, as well as new the new additions of the Joker, the Mandalorian, and the Mighty Thor! I have also once again hired the fantastic photographer Kurt Nielson who will be once again joining the cosplayers with his mobile photo booth and will be here to snap your pic with your favorite cosplayer and then add the photo to custom Monarch FCBD frame and e-mail or text you the result! I also want to let any other cosplayers in the area know that you are more than welcome to show up in costume as the more the merrier is the Marvel Way! Also, please be aware that the cosplayers and Mr Nielson will only be here between 11-3 on Saturday!
I have also continued Monarch Comics partnership with Shivers Ice Cream this year! Every patron who goes through the line will receive a coupon for a free Junior ice cream cone or small slushy what may be redeemed across the street at Shivers! FREE comics AND FREE ice cream!?! It’s like some beautiful dream! Please be careful walking across the street, however, as Key St can sometimes get busy in the afternoon.
Monarch will also once again, weather permitting, be setting up a bunch of new Dollar Boxes in front of the store for customers to check out! Feel free to take your time going through the boxes and know that when you are ready to purchase your selections you do NOT have to wait in the Free Comic Book line! Former employee, Jake Teelander, is joining us again for the big day and will be working the door and he will allow you to right in to the register in order to make your purchase. Of course, there may be a line at the register, but at least you won’t have to stand with a pile of dollar comics in a line halfway down the block…lol. If you are interested in the free comics as well as the dollar books then I suggest going through the lone for the free comics first and then hitting the dollar boxes afterwards…😊
And that is pretty much it! Monarch Comics will be open our regular Saturday hours of 11-7 although if we are ready before 11 then I may open the flood gates a few minutes early! Additionally, if you can’t make the event we will also be open our regular Sunday hours of 12-5:30 and any FCBD titles that we have left will still be available for you to grab!
Have a great weekend, Folks, and I sincerely hope to see you on Saturday!
Eddie