While Brandon and Jason were screaming with glee at Texas Frightmare Weekend (Editor’s Note: Mostly Jason…), I visited Madness Games and Comics in Plano, TX for this year’s incarnation of Free Comic Book Day. An annual celebration of comic books, pop culture and general geekery, Free Comic Book Day is one of my favorite days of the year and there is no place better in D/FW for FCBD than Madness Comics.
From DC and Marvel to Boom! and Archie Comics, Free Comic Book Day had something from everyone, for everyone. Big names use the “holiday” to introduce both inexperienced and experienced fans to current stories, while indie darlings try to entice the attention from new readers.
This year, more than any other, I ended up walking with a very random assortment of comics: The Amazing Spider-Man, written by Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley (my favorite artist, previously from Invincible), Dark Horse Comics’ The Legend of Korra, Stout Comics’ The Mall and Boom! Studios’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are some of the highlights of the (completely free) issues I walked out the door with.
Exclusive to Madness Comics, the rows of free comics were also lined with a myriad of actors and celebrities to meet. Perfectly tying in with the Power Rangers’ current story arc, Shattered Grid, Madness (in partnership with our friends at Galactic Productions), invited a staggering list of Rangers from Angel Grove (as well as everyone’s favorite floating head Zordon) to join the festivities. And, in my continued quest to meet the people who shaped my childhood, I was able to get a photo with my favorite Ranger, Johnny Yong Bosch, the second Black Ranger. We even had a full conversation, something I had never really experienced at any of the larger conventions. It was really great to talk about his time on Mighty Morphin’, as well as his voice work for Akira, Bleach, Persona 4 and Digimon Tri. After we took our photo, we said our goodbyes, wisely taking my girlfriend’s advice to not mention how I dressed up as him when I was 8 years old (Editor’s Note: Justin, where is that photo … ).
For me, Free Comic Book Day 2018 was a huge success and Madness did a wonderful job making it feel like an accessible entry point for any type of comic book fan. With attendees of all ages, free comics and a long row of Power Ranger actors, the day felt like a Mini Comic Con. (Madness Comics also hosted a store-wide sale, of which I took full advantage of, slowly giving me the realization that I may need to buy more storage space for my books for next year.)
