Sarge's Super Comic Giveaway

Wolverine, Shadow Cat, Ghost Rider, and Bat Girl were just some of the superheroes who converged on for International Free Comic Book Day on Saturday. The annual event attracted comic book fans of all ages and from all over the state, all eager for an opportunity to dress up and pick up some of their favorite comic books for free.

This year’s freebies offered something for everyone with titles that included the Green Lantern, Young Justice, Batman Brave and Bold Super Sampler, Adam West, The Tick, Darkling Dark, John Stanley Summer Fun, Kung Fu Panda, Richie Rich, and the Smurfs. The books are created by comic book artists especially for the event, which is held at comic book stores around the world.

“This is our ninth year,” said store manager Heather Cheney. “It’s a little bit bigger each year. We give out thousands of comics.” Sarge’s was certainly packed on Saturday with a long line of customers, many in costume, snaking around the store. With about 9,000 books to hand out, however, no one was going home empty-handed.

In previous years, there was no limit to how many books one person could take, as long as everyone promised to read them all. This year, however, Sarge’s gave away six titles for free, with a limit of one title per person, and bundled some of the most popular titles in packs of five that were free to customers who spent more than $10. Customers who spent $50 received one of each title for free.

The change was implemented by Joe Massimino--who bought Sarge’s from longtime owner Robert Miller last July—with a view to making sure that free comic books would be available to a greater number of people in the community. “We keep a few to give out throughout the year,” said Cheney. “We give them out to teachers and schools to promote reading for kids.”

The event at Sarge’s also attracted a number of Connecticut comic book artists, who used the opportunity to introduce their work to a wider audience. “I do books for kids,” said Brett Swanson of Sick Puppy Studios in Mystic, who self-publishes two titles: “Power Kid Comics,” for readers ages four and up; and “The Sentinel,” for teens and up. “I’ve been drawing forever but I’ve been doing the books since 2006,” says Swanson. “It’s been going really well.”

Matt Ryan, who heads the Comic Book Artists Guild of New England, has been publishing his own comic books since 1998. He was at Sarge’s signing a selection of the seven to 11 comic books and graphic novels he produces each year. Ryan, who also offers comic book and graphic novel art and writing classes at his Free Lunch Studios in Granby, brought a number of his students to the event as well.

Although the comic book industry remains a male-dominated profession, Liz Ortiz, of Hartford, and Shawnti Therrien, of Gales Ferry, represent a growing number of women who are entering the field. Ortiz created her comic book series, “Rasgal,” in 2008 after finishing tenth in a national online comic book contest. She also produces an anthology titled “Mysterious Visions.”

Therrien, who launched her comic book series “Am I Immortal” in 2003, also publishes an anthology of graphic shorts titled “Meth,” which she plans to turn into a novel. The great thing about being an artist, Therrien says, is that “you’re always growing. It’s never perfect. There’s always something you can improve upon.”

Although the one-day event at Sarge’s ended on Saturday, the store’s comic book sale continues throughout this week offering a 10 percent discount on all titles; a buy one, get-one-back-issue-free promotion; and packages of free comics for anyone who spends $10 or $50.