Rai's Garage: Event: Free Comic Book Day 2012

Some will say I'm late but I'd say otherwise. Here's Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) in my standpoint.

Obligatory crowd pics

I was up early that day, I made it into the hi-way at around 7:30 a.m. and was at the mall at around 9 a.m. It was one of the fastest trips to Galeria in recent years, thanks to the Expressway extension.

Galeria was still closed by the time I arrived though there were a number of fast food places already opened at around that time serving breakfast. I met with a couple of my buddies who also came early. Around us were a number of attendees eager to get their mitts on the FCBD offerings. I can tell because the mall is not packed with people if there isn't an event like this happening.

Andrew Villar of 'Ambush' fame (appearing in the Manila Bulletin daily) came and asked us to come with him and his children down the venue. This is the first time FCBD is happening on Comic Odyssey's new location. They were formerly located at the 3rd floor of the Galeria but had to relocate due to rezoning issues.

Our entrance was mired by a lot of probing from mall security but we managed to get in line early. I bagged #59 on the line after we registered. All was fine and quiet up until 10 a.m. when all of the sudden, the geek horde waiting a floor above us rushed to Comics Odyssey.

And for a good 3 hours after that, chaos ensued.

It says it all

Kudos to the Comics Odyssey staff and mall securitates for holding the line. This year's FCBD was by far the most chaotic. And I wouldn't be surprised if this year bagged record attendance. I'd have a safe estimate of a thousand-strong attendance, proof of FCBD's status as geek-event-of-the-year.

Cosplayers! Of course!

Waiting in line wasn't long though; I got my lot of freebies 15 minutes after the event commenced. Me and my buddies went to the benches after that to get some rest, meeting all the local artists along the way. i have to commend each and every one of them in their efforts; all the proceeds from their sketch commissions that day went to help Sir Tony de Zuniga, legendary comics artist, who had a stroke not long ago.

As for my loot I got this year's Mouse Guard (actually an anthology), Transformers 80.5: Regeneration 1 and Star Wars/Serenity. Mouse Guard caught my eye last year, brilliant work as it is. The Transformers book is a given for a mecha fan like me while Star Wars/Serenity is my SF fix of the lot. The comics came along with other freebies such as a sticker, coaster, temporary tattoo, loliipop (!!!), poster, pin and FCBD Komiks; Comics Odyssey's own tribute to the event.