Saturday, May 4th was Free Comic Book Day nationwide, and it was Star Wars "May the 4th be with you" day, too. In today's blog, you'll learn about both, and follow me to some of the many events in the city of Rochester, New Hampshire, where I participated in the costume contest as the Green Lantern.
(Photo: Me as Green Lantern, and behind me is a woman dressed as Death with a scythe, and in the far back is a guy as the Batman from the 1966 TV show)
WHAT IS FREE COMIC BOOK DAY? Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May https://www.freecomicbookday.com/. ROCHESTER, NH'S HUGE EVENT - In Rochester, NH it's a city-wide event! There were lots of vendors, artists, writers, novelists, toy vendors, comics vendors, food and music. I didn't even get to the comic book store because there was so much near the costume contest.
(Pic: Rob and John. We both participated in the costume contest, started talking and learned we have a lot in common. Credit: R.G.)
THE COSTUME CONTEST! There had to be about 60-70 people participating in the outside costume contest. Fortunately, it was in the upper 50s, so it kept everyone cool (A little chilly actually). GREEN LANTERN FLIES AGAIN - I decided to go as Green Lantern (I've worn the costume before at a previous year comic-con). The character of Hal Jordan, test pilot turned galactic hero, Green Lantern, was created in 1959 by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane, and first appeared in Showcase #22 and was an update to the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, of the 1940s. HOW I CREATED MY COSTUME - It took me about 1 month to put my costume together, but the top part I bought. I had to paint my cowboy boots green, find a bottom of black leggings, find a metal green lantern ring and elbow-length white gloves!
(Photo: One of the contestants dressed as the Sandman (comic book character also in the Netflix series)
WHO IS THE SANDMAN? - When the Sandman, aka Dream, the cosmic being who controls all dreams, is captured and held prisoner for more than a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.
(Photo: John to the left, and a woman dressed as Raven (right), the mystic from the DC Comics' Teen Titans supergroup - also a streaming show!)
WHO IS RAVEN - Raven is the daughter of a demon named Trigon. She instead became a hero and joined the Teen Titans (that includes: Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Flash, Tempest, Cyborg and Beast Boy). She has energy projection abilities and uses magic.
(Photo: Two of the costume contest coordinators)
THE FUN OF MEETING OTHERS - Costume contests are a fun place to meet people of like minds. After the contest, I was talking with John and Jon, two guys who manage the nearby Woodman Museum in Dover, NH. They had a table at the big event.
JOHN'S AMAZING STAR WARS COSTUME - John created his storm-trooper costume of plastic and material and he said it took him 80 hours. It was incredibly ingenious. He said, "I'ts a suit of Phase II Clone Trooper armor, which appears in the 2000s Star Wars films. Mine is most closely referenced off a show that ran 2008-2013 called Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The pauldron signifies high rank, but I chose not to represent a specific character, rather, develop one of my own."
He also has good taste in comics I learned (what else do you discuss on Free Comics Day?)- Like Nightwing, Batman and Green Arrow- some of my favorites.
(L to R: John in his homemade Stormtrooper costume, a woman as a character I don't recognize, and (left) "Barf" from the movie Spaceballs (John Candy's character). Credit: R.G.)
WHAT IS "MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU DAY"? - Star Wars Day is an informal commemorative day observed annually on May 4 to celebrate the Star Wars media franchise created by filmmaker George Lucas. Observance of the day spread quickly through media and grassroots celebrations since the franchise began in 1977. Star Wars has millions of fans who celebrate this day every year. Star Wars is the second largest franchise in the world after Marvel and has the second-largest fan base in the world. The date originated from the pun "May the Fourth be with you", from the Star Wars catchphrase "May the Force be with you."[1] Even though the holiday was not created or declared by Lucasfilm, many Star Wars fans have chosen to celebrate the holiday. It has since been embraced by Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Company as an annual celebration of Star Wars.
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