(Photo removed for copyright reasons.)
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
This hasn’t been the best Cinco de Mayo or Free Comic Book
Day for me. I was supposed to attend a
mini comic con at Empire Comics Vault in Sacramento but had to cancel all
because a stupid glitch in the ATM at the bank in Woodland of No Return held me
back. So I drove over to the comic book
store in Davis, Bizarro World, which is a lot closer to where I live. But I
wasn’t able to get there until late in the afternoon so when I asked the owner,
a really nice guy, if he had any free comics left he said he didn’t. That was
both a good thing and a bad thing. It was a good thing because it drew a lot of
people to read comic books who don’t often read them. It was a bad thing in that some people didn’t
get free comic books and yours truly was one of them. Actually, I didn’t even
care that much. If I cared that much about the free comics I wouldn’t have
planned to take an hour’s bus commute to Empire Comics; I would have just gone to
Bizarro World to begin with.
Empire Comics was the store that held the mini con that
celebrated the day. (Free Comic Book Day that is, not Cinco de Mayo. But don’t
think even us Mexican geeks don’t have a place in the Mexican holiday. More
about that in a bit.) The real reason I go to Free Comic Book Day events is for
the culture of it-- to be in an atmosphere of comic book fandom with fellow
comic book fans who tend to be fans of other imaginative things too (for
example, science fiction movies and literature, fantasy role playing games,
horror, etc.) Such geeky culture is our
culture that transcends race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and
even politics in many ways. (Although
that last one does often overlap among us geeks, especially leftist ones such
as myself.) It is a place for us to share our interests and passions and to
converse without feeling like the person we’re talking with does not speak’a our
language. In mainstream, non-geek culture you don’t feel that same bonding.
Now, many people might think that Free Comic Book Day
falling on Cinco de Mayo is a contradiction. It’s not. Sure, two different
events are being celebrated. But if you look at the two in a wider perspective,
you’ll see the similarities. Comic book culture in Mexico and other parts of
Latin America tend to be very big.
Traditionally, Mexico
Watching Mexican sci fi and horror movies, no matter how
high quality or low quality or cheesy they may be, is how this film geek
celebrates his Cinco de Mayo. Not to mention eating--at his favourite Mexican restaurant,
Chipotle’s--a super beef burrito with natural meat and vegetables instead of
the processed crap you get in too many other places, including other Mexican
restaurants. Don’t even get me started on Taco Bell.
Until next time . . .
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