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BOB'S WHIRLWIND FREE COMIC BOOK DAY APPEARANCES! Saturday, May 3rd. , 2008 saw the return of the annual comic retailers promotion known as Free Comic Book Day! This year, I made the somewhat questionable decision to attend two, separate in-store events on the same day here in the Tampa Bay area. Normally, that would be such a bad thing in itself, but considering that I'd just returned from a two-week promotional convention tour on the Tuesday prior, (and I had contracted a bad case of the flu, to boot!) it made my impending schedule a bit daunting, to say the least. But always subscribing to the axiom that 'the show must go on', my faithful assistant, the fabulous Sorah Suhng and I packed up the car with all our display goodies and hit the road at 10 a.m. Fortunately, all worked out for the best as I opened the festivities at READ MORE COMICS in Brandon, Florida. Thanks to proprietor Scott and his friendly staff, we were able to get set-up quickly and began signing a ton of IRON MAN: Legacy of Doom #1's--as well as doing free sketches for the smallest fans in attendance. But, no sooner that we got a head of steam going, it was time to pack-up and hit the road again for the 90 minute drive to New Port Richey and the site of out second stop--YANCY STREET COMICS. We arrived at about 1:30 p.m. to what turned out to be quite a surprise! The Yancy Street Boyz put on what can best be described as a mini-convention for Free Comic Book Day! Renting out a facility next to their store, Sorah and I walk into this huge room packed with fans and with at least 10 other professionals in attendance, including such notables as Marvel superstar artist Billy Tan and DC's Phil Hester. Needless to say, the crowds were great and they kept me glued to my sketch pad until way after 6 p.m. All in all, it was exhausting, but a great time at both facilities and I highly-recommend both locations if you're ever in the neighborhood shopping for comics and related-items. My thanks to Scott at READ MORE COMICS and to all the caring folks at YANCY STREET COMICS for showing us a good time and treating us with enormous respect and courtesy.
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