I have to say that today and yesterday have to be 2 of the best days I have experienced in my 16 years of being in the comic business. It began yesterday morning with me being stressed out and asking myself what have I gotten myself into this time,with the big Spidey/Obama comic giveaway. I didn't know what to expect. I had gotten interviewed by the local newspaper about the comic but the story wasn't going to make it out until the day after.Here I am with 1000 comics to give away,and I'm stressing about how the turnout is gonna be. I turn the radio station to Z-104 and I hear Nick T getting the hype going by giving away some copies of the book we donated to the station.I drive to UPS and pick up my shipment and get to the shop at 8:15 a.m..There are 2 people waiting in their cars when I pull up.The store doesn't open until 10 and soon after a few more people show up.It's about 25-30 degrees outside so they are waiting in their cars. About 9-9:15 they start to line up outside. My buddy Chris McGarity shows up to get ready to get into the Spider-Man costume we bought for him to help with the event. It's about 9:45 and Chris goes outside in costume to take pictures with the people waiting in line.By 10 am it's about 50-60 people deep. When we open the store we get a steady rush of people for about an hour or so,then it just dies off. Hardly anybody.Then Channel 10 new shows up to film the event and it's seems like a ghost town. I'm thinking to myself how bad this is going to turnout...the camera guy is really cool and starts filming the shop,Spider-Man some customers,and asks me a few questions.He's really making do with what he had.Soon after he leaves,there's a steady flow of people coming on for the book.For the next few hours there's a steady flow of people coming in to pick up a copy of the book...some asking for more than 1 copy,or wanting to buy more copies.I try to be fair and let them know I wish I had more but I'm trying to keep it down to 1 per person.I guess we're moving 50-75 copies an hour.My wife helped out all day until about 3pm,then had to leave,but it was ok....just a steady flow of people.That was until about 5:00 when it started picking up.People were getting off work and coming by.We get to about 6:15 and then the levee broke!Channel 10 News ran the story and all of the sudden you would've thought I was giving away $20 bills.The phone was non-stop for the next hour and the store was cranking with people coming to get their comic! It was insane.The line got to 15 people deep for awhile there and they were all very patient and courteous.Even when they asked for extra copies that they couldn't get,they all understood and were still saying thank you.I even got a couple hugs from some of the customers!I closed about a half hour late,pretty exhausted and left the shop with the phone still ringing as I locked the door. I figured that was it.The day had come and gone,I gave away about 700-750 copies,and thought to myself it was a good day with really good turnout! I was thinking Thursday was gonna be a pretty calm day,with the hype mostly over.So I take my time getting to the shop.I went to the store to pick up a copy of the newspaper.I checked it out and didn't see the story about the comic so I thought we got bumped to Sunday.We open at 11:00 and I wasn't in a big rush,so I'm getting there about 10:30. I pull around the corner and see 75 people waiting at my door and I start to freak,wondering if Im gonna have enough books to go around.I was afraid I had these people waiting out in the cold for nothing.I knew I had some left but was it going to be enough? I parked around back and walked back around front to open the door,and got some friendly "good mornings" from the people up front.I open up and the people start to fill in.The phone is non-stop ringing for the next hour to go along with the non-stop stream of people. A customer hands me a copy of the newspaper article that I missed!I look up about 11:30 and the line is almost down,along with the last stack of comics I have left.I had maybe 50 copies left that lasted another 30-45 minutes and then I was out....I've got the news on the TV in the shop,and they are still running the story about us giving the books away! The phone is still going non-stop and I haven't had time to put a sign up on the front door letting people know we were all out.Nobody that came in or called were upset that they had missed out.They were all polite. I started taking orders for the 3rd printing that is coming out next Wednesday (the 28th).I've got a large color copy to show people what the cover looks like.The same cover as the first 2 versions but with an image of the American Flag flying in the background,and before I know it,I am up to almost 400 copies on reserve for it.At the end of the day I've got nearly 650 reservationd for the 700 copies we have coming in.It has just been an amazing experience.I got to hear stories from numerous customers that were at the inauguration and others that watched it on TV all day.Everybody just had a good vibe about the history that is taking place in our country.With all the doom and gloom we are getting from everywhere we turn,the last 2 days has been a much needed break from it all. All because of a Spider-Man comic book featuring Barock Obama. This all could not have been possible without the help of a few people. #1 is Susan Pleasants who works for the owners of my shopping center..She went ABOVE & BEYOND to help get the hype going. Thank you very much Susan!! Thank You to WAVY Channel 10 News ,WTKR Channel 3 News,Z-104,The Virginian Pilot,96X,FM99,and anybody else that gave us airtime!!Next is Chris McGarity...the best Spider-Man I could've had! Awesome with the customers,having fun and taking pictures with everybody..thanks Chris!! Next is Derek Alverson..a former employee of mine that came in and did my comic pulls for me this week...thanks Big D!! ...next is my wife Patricia for coming in on her day off and helping with getting the books bagged & boarded and handing them out...and last but not least the customers..THANK ALL OF YOU for coming out and showing your appreciation! Joey
