Free Comic Book Day 2021: August Edition
Normally, Free Comic Book (FCBD) Day falls on the first Saturday in May, but this time, given the pandemic, we had the chance to experience it during the summer on August 14. Here, after a year of no free comics, I decided to throw on my mask and attend a series of comic book shops each promoting their own versions of FCBD for their many diverse patrons. Here, however, I’ll only discuss one, the world famous Fortress of Solitude.
Joe Field, Creator of Free Comic Book Day (image from Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Origin Story
Free Comic Book Day came from the creative mind of Joe Field, and this day has allowed us to go into comic book stores across America to grab, and read the great works of art as we celebrate our favorite characters at discounted prices for our eyes to see. A staple of geek culture, an unofficial nerd’s national holiday, I decided to visit 3 comic book stores to not only grab free issues, but look at some collectible merch that’s only released on FCBD. My adventure led me first to the Fortress of Solitude.
Fortress of Solitude - Newark, NJ.
Fortress of Solitude (FOS) is as its namesake describes, an almost actual fortress. Conveniently located on University Ave, on a one-way street, FOS is a city’s comic bookstore. A collection of visual consciousness in the form of print and collectibles for the eyes to see, FOS boasts an eclectic array of comics by different publishers and hosts a variety of patrons ranging from high schoolers to police officers to health care workers to professors. For some, this is considered holy ground as many have come here to speak on the multiple T.V., Amazon, Disney + and HBOmax shows that pertain to the comic book realm. Walking in, you’ll hear the typical Marvel vs. DC conversations as well as hearing about some new, up and coming artist on the horizon. For FCBD, the store’s owner, Jose, invited some great artists and pop culture enthusiasts for the occasion.
The Rise of Project Naosis
Paul Thayer
Prior to entering the Fortress, I ran across an up-and-coming artist, Paul Thayer and his work, Project Naosis.
Paul Thayer (PT): Right now, I’m selling the Project Naosis book, getting some awareness out, giving out the first issue, where Crimson Pain is taking on the Guild of Titans in the year 2090. Next week we’re gonna be on Kickstarter for episode one. It will be over 40 pages with so many great deals going on, so check us out.
Joseph Watkins (JW): What was the idea behind Project Naosis?
PT: Well, I was just tired of reading the same old book, so I wanted to make a universe of my own. The first one starts with the villain and then makes a whole new generation of heroes that are action packed; once they die, they die, gone forever, so its gonna be stellar.
JW: Awesome.
Starting with the villain in mind is a great way to bring your work to the table. Encompassing the evil and embracing it first to set the scene for the heroes is always a good approach for plot development. I immediately bought the project.
Art of ELI and the Duality of Perfection
Eli Ramos
His artwork of Black Superheroes on canvas was what gravitated me to him. Art teacher, mural artist, storyboardist, painter and wonderful soul, the artist, Eli Ramos came out in support for free comic book day. As we talked and discussed comics, he expressed his thoughts on being an artist and the duality of perfection on a particular Batman piece that I saw:
JW: You said something very prolific about being an artist with the Batman painting….
Eli Ramos (ER): Oh yes, as an artist, we hate what we create. It’s almost like there’s a part of it where we’re like, ‘I could change that, I could do better’. It’s probably the perfectionist [in me], so that Batman painting, that’s the one painting, where I’m like, you know what, ‘ I could see one percent of it that I can change’. I’m staring at it right now and I’m not going to tell you what it is, but that one I keep, and someone wanted to buy it from me for $700, and I couldn’t do it. It hangs in my house.
JW: Oh wow, so that’s like, your baby?
ER: Yeah, I painted that in a Batman Costume…
Eli’s contribution to pop culture is amazing as I saw a plethora of his artistic abilities on FCBD. As I saw his artwork, I took a moment to think about the Black superheroes and couldn’t help but notice the huge influx of characters that’s coming to the big screen and television. From newcomers like Miles Morales’ Spider-Man to Batman’s Tim Fox, to OG characters like Spawn’s: Al Simmons to Static Shock’s: Virgil Hawkins, Eli’s portraits of them gives me hope that the Black Superhero Revolution is growing and is becoming more and more receptive to mainstream audiences.
North Atlantic Funko Fiends
North Atlantic Funko Fiends (NAFF)
I didn’t know this group existed, but I’m glad that they do and at Fortress of Solitude, I had the chance to meet the North Atlantic Funko Fiends (NAFF). At first, they resembled the movie-biker group Sons of Anarchy, with their authentic patches on their jean and leather vests; but there was something more. Looking at each of their jackets up close, each one of their tapestries held a greater secret as each vest held the DNA of their travels, victories, and their collections.
Ecstatic, I had the opportunity to speak with the Chapter’s President, Anthony Peeples to discuss what motivates them and why they do what they do:
Anthony Peeples
JW: Please explain to me the NAFF Chapter.
Anthony Peeples (AP): We’re one of seven national chapters of Funko Fiends and we’re a group of collectors who want to spread 100% Hi-Five, Fantastic Love in the collector community. We collect comics, we collect patches, we collect pins, we collect funko pops, we collect designer toys from local artists like Rios from Rios Toy designs, Red Guardian NYC, [and] Chris RWK; We really love Fortress of Solitude, it’s a place where, the owner fosters artists that are in the local area.
We represent 11 states in the North Atlantic Region, we do charity events, and we have members scattered throughout. One of our members came up from Baltimore today, we have some members from Connecticut who came over today, upstate, Boston area, New York and New Jersey area.
You can also find us online @funkofiends_na on IG.
JW: What does one have to do to join?
AP: That is a great question, that you’re asking. Currently, membership for joining is closed. We just had a changeover of leadership and I just became the president, so what we’re focusing in on now is getting a core group of members that share our like-minded philosophy, so that when we do bring in new members, we have a really strong bed-rack, a really strong basement to our house for all of these new members to walk into and have fun at wonderful events like this.
JW: This is like an awesome reversal of Sons of Anarchy, like a Funko Sons of Anarchy and this is amazing that you guys are doing this.
AP: Thank you. We really appreciate it.
AP: We all have our vest, and the thing about our vest, each member has individually designed the vest for their particular like, so it’s a great way to instantly be able to tell what a member is into, it helps you to get presence for that member, it’s helps you to have things to talk about with that member. The similar things that you’ll find are the backpatch that we have here.
This is the patch for the mother chapter, so this is the patch for all seven chapters and each individual chapter has their own design patch (See right).
Anthony Peeples and the North Atlantic Funko Fiends are amazing. The president also discussed with me their philanthropic events as they had a charity event for children by making ‘Geeked out Baskets’ for kids, which contained comic books, funko pops, pins and a host of many other pop culture merch. The image was designed by one of the members visual artists, Karl.
Overall, the individual and collective identity of NAFF parallels that of the Justice League. As each hero brings their own talents and abilities to the chapter, what shines is a collective beacon of fun in pop culture, an immense power that provides hope and wonder for the eyes to see. Respect to NAFF for their great work.
Final Thoughts
Fortress of Solitude provided comic book aficionados an enjoyable experience as they had a chance to grab free comics, purchase art, and interact with a great group of pop culture enthusiasts. As I had the chance to meet with them and explore, I couldn’t help but reflect on the world of comics and pop culture in general.
One of the many great aspects of the comic book ecosystem is the subculture, with its own language, customs, and traditions. For some, it’s a secret society, encompassing multiple rituals to enter, whereas for others, it’s an escape to a visual world, encompassing intricate story lines with new characters emerging on the daily. For me, I look at it as a continuously evolving medium holding sacred characters and lines of font that continues to evolve with the changing times and for one day, on Free Comic Book Day, millions had a chance to go into their local comic book shops to get a chance to experience their favorite characters again, meet new ones, read their sacred words and pass on their collective knowledge to their family and friends.
Free Comic Book Day is more than just comici liber gratis, it’s a chance for people to enjoy their childhood and to experience why they fell in love with the visual medium in the first place. So, to comic book stores across America and to Fortress of Solitude, thanks for helping us love comics again on this majestic day.
