Chimera's Comics Celebrates Free Comic Book Day

The turnout for Free Comic Book Day at was proof of how far the store has come in year, owner Steve Brown said on Saturday.

Brown and his business partner Carmelo Chimera opened to a line of customers already waiting at the door for the event. Over the course of the day, they estimated that 500 people walked through their doors to grab free comic books, pick up new merchandise, and hang out with other comic book fans.

The store was packed at 2:30 p.m., as Chimera and Brown ran around helping customers find new material.

"Do you have any comics about politics?" a customer asked Brown. He pointed out a graphic novel called Ex Machina.

"There's really something for everyone," Brown said of comic book themes.

In addition to free comics books, Chimera's Comics offered face painting and had Matt Waite, an inker for Image Comics, on hand to draw customer's favorite characters for them.

"[The community] has really embraced us," Brown said of the store's first year.

The store was designed to be exciting, inviting and full of color, just like the comic books the owners enjoy. Brown said they've been putting on events that they themselves would want to come out to. Every Friday, Chimera's Comics holds a movie night, and on Wednesdays they've been holding a new event for a game called HeroClix. The game is built around creating a dream team of superheroes and then battling against your opponent’s team. The HeroClix game night has become so popular, Brown said, they've almost run out of room to hold it.

"We need to go buy more tables and chairs," Brown laughed. "It's good that all the shelves are on wheels so we can open [the floor] up on Wednesdays."

Having opened on Free Comic Book Day last year, for Brown, the success of this year's event was a milestone.

"It's nice to see how much the event has grown and how many more people are here today," Brown said. "We'll need to place an even bigger order next year. We'll sell out of the free books by the end of the day."