LIMA — Alter Ego Comics is one of thousands of comic book shops around the world giving away more than 5 million comic books on Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, making it the industry’s biggest annual event and drawing enough customers to make it the store’s highest-grossing sales day.
Free Comic Book Day was the brainchild of California store owner Joe Field, who, 21 years ago, noticed the long lines of people at Baskin-Robbins’ free scoop day. Field applied the same concept and onboarded Diamond Comics, the sole national comic book distributor, to his cause. To finance the event, publishers pay for production, while retailers pay printing costs.
“The goal is getting the industry together to celebrate the comic book art form,” said Marc Bowker, the 48-year-old owner of Alter Ego Comics, located at 230 N. Main St., Lima.
His store will play host to an event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. There will be characters in costume, and organizers encourage people to dress as their favorite comic book characters.
Kendra Reynolds, an Allen East and Bluffton University graduate, grew up as an Alter Ego Comics customer. She became a volunteer, saying she enjoys dressing as strong female characters such as Supergirl and Captain Marvel. Reynolds will return as Princess Leia from “Star Wars” for Saturday’s event.
Reynolds and 17 other local cosplayers also participate in Bowker’s “Heroes for Hope,” a collaboration with nonprofits such as the March of Dimes, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the American Cancer Society.
Kids believe they are seeing their hero, Reynolds said, no matter the color of the person’s skin, their body type, or how well the costume is constructed, and that brings a smile to their face — making it all worthwhile.
An American art form, comics entered their “golden age” with the original Superman in 1938. Comics subsequently produced some of the most recognizable characters in history. Prior to the 21st century when comics were popularized in TV shows and adapted into DC and Marvel movie blockbusters, comic book readers were unfairly stereotyped.
“My best friends in high school didn’t know I read comic books,” Bowker said. “You were a big nerd if you did.”
But that didn’t stop him.
“My love of comics came from 1980s’ TV,” Bowker said. Growing up in Detroit, Bowker would head over to the 7-Eleven store, spin a tall rack and select a comic. His first, at age 10, was “Marvel Superhero Secret Wars.” By the time he was ready to marry, his comic book collection played a new role as an investment, when he sold most of it to buy a wedding ring.
Nerddom got a major boost from the TV show “The Big Bang Theory,” which integrated comic book store owners, science fiction fandom and cosplay into its weekly storylines. The show ran from 2007 to 2019 on CBS. A regular character was Stuart Bloom, owner of The Comic Center of Pasadena. Stuart’s brainy friends regularly hung out at the store and eventually bought it.
Each main character graduated from a top university: Sheldon (CalTech), Rajesh (Cambridge), Leonard (Princeton) and Howard (MIT). Afterward, they worked together at CalTech as successful researchers. While their childlike curiosity made them great scientists, they remained childlike in other ways that, when contrasted with their extreme intelligence, formed the basis of the show’s comedy.
The BBT characters avidly read comic books and acquired action figure collectables. One of Sheldon’s prized possessions was a “vintage mint in-box, 1975 Mego Star Trek transporter with real transporter action” that Penny bought for him at the comic book store. In several episodes, the group dressed in cosplay team costumes as Justice League and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” bridge officers Picard, Data and Worf, and a Borg.
The show’s odd quartet of brilliant scientists soon evolved from pathetic comic book geek to lovably chic. BBT helped bring comic books into the mainstream, so its themes ultimately aligned with Bowker’s goals.
“That’s one reason I opened my shop. I wanted to counter stereotypes, to create a family-friendly store and show comics are for everybody,” Bowker said. “It was cool to see a comic book shop portrayed on television with some things we had.”
Leonard, Sheldon and Howard had girlfriends who they married — Penny, Amy and Bernadette. Over time, the ladies joined in the cosplay, read comic books and could just as easily argue among themselves over the logic behind Thor’s sole ability to lift his hammer.
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