Cameron's Comics: Free Comic Book Day

            You’re going to see the latest superhero movie with some friends, you have your popcorn in hand and you’re ready to have a great time. The lights dim, the previews play through and the title sequence lets you know that you have indeed entered the right movie (raise your hand if you’ve ever entered the wrong one, I know I have and was forced to see the ending of Shrek 2 twice without knowing what happened during the first half hour of it). You’re enjoying the movie when suddenly a new character pops up, a character that wasn’t in ANY of the previous movies and come to think of it, you’ve never heard of them before. You shrug it off and sit through the rest of the really enjoyable movie. Once the final credits roll, you finally ask your friends the question that’s been burning in your brain. Where did that other character come from? Your friends all give you blank stares until one of them questions, “Didn’t you read the comic?”

            The next question then becomes, well where do I go to get a comic? The answer, my friends, is simple; just stop into Cameron’s Comics and Stuff in Downtown Bowling Green, Ohio. Cameron’s Comics opened in BG in 2017, as a way for the owner Jonathan Smith and his son, Cameron to offer a comic book selection to the city. The father-and-son duo were no strangers to the business having
also run a comic store in Adrian, Michigan. Their BG location has provided them a bigger space to expand their already vast collection featuring popular sellers like Marvel and DC comics to your smaller indie publishers like BOOM! and Silver Sprocket. Cameron’s Comics doesn’t just sell comics, they offer everything from graphic novels, kids comics, toys, games and a wide variety of other books

            So now you’ve learned about this awesome comic shop, but you’re still a little hesitant about buying your first comic. Every year on the first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day! Free Comic Book Day (or FCBD as I'll call it through part of the article) is an event that started in 2002 and gets people that may not know that much about comics to see what comic books are all about. In addition to getting new people to try out comic books, this is also a day to celebrate people that want to still obtain physical copies of the books. When it comes to comics a lot of people really enjoy the artwork that comes along with the story. When you get it online, the screen directs you where to look and you don’t get the full experience, but getting the physical book, you are able to read the book exactly as the artist and author intended.

            With the rise in popularity of “nerd culture” and the superhero genre, Jon is seeing a huge spike in the interest of comics. With that and FCBD comes many people that don’t know where to start when it comes to buying their first comic book. Jon says, “It all depends on what [you’re] into. There’s something for everyone, if you’re not into superheroes, then there are books about crime, books about drama and love stories. Anything you could see on TV and a lot of the stuff that is on TV comes from comics. Batman, The Amazing Spiderman and The Walking Dead are some of our most popular comics.” When it comes to titles that have even been on TV, Jon and Cameron have people coming in that didn’t realize it was a comic and want to know more of the backstory of these shows and characters that they have become invested in. Jon also notes that one of the cool things about this rise in popularity, is that he has seen many people that wouldn’t necessarily communicate, bond and have a half hour conversation about this story or character that they’re interested in and that initial conversation may form into another conversation about something totally different.

            With all of these comics at his disposal Jon mentions that some of his favorite comics are ones that are absurd and funny (Shirtless Bear-Fighter and Grizzlyshark VS Sea Bear among the ones he mentioned). He’s also a fan of horror comic and one-shot comics, one-shot comics being a comic that has a different story per book instead of a series that tells one story throughout multiple books. As far as FCBD releases go, Jon is most excited for Barrier by Brian K. Vaughan, a 6-issue mini-series released by Image Comics and The Mall, a crime story released by Scout Comics.

            Cameron’s Comics will have a few other things in the shop to help celebrate FCBD. Josh Nealis, a local writer will be on-site signing his material, artist Anna Short will be drawing caricatures, a cosplay contest and even more! You can check out some of the Free Comic Book Day releases on www.freecomicbookday.com. Make sure to stop out to Cameron’s Comics and Stuff on May 5, 2018 from 10am-8pm to check out all of the festivities!