On August 14, Dewey’s Comic City in Dover, NJ celebrated the 20th anniversary of Free Comic Book Day in a huge way with not only dozens of official FCBD titles but with over 20 comic book creators to meet fans all day long! With free autographs and even free sketches from artists, this 10am-5pm event cost nothing to enter and was hosted by The Kubert School.
This was my first time visiting the Kubert School and the new Dewey’s Comic City location, which is conveniently located in the lower level of the school. But along the way to pick up our free comics, we were immediately welcomed with a hall of Kubert art. Adam, Andy, and of course, Joe, were all featured in this beautiful entryway:
In fact, the entire facility is filled with art by the Kuberts and the school’s faculty & alumni, which was great to see while meeting the creators or making your way towards Dewey’s, which offered many of the Free Comic Book Day titles (with a limit per customer) on top of its fantastic selection of art supplies, comic books, and collectibles.
The Kubert School also provided artists with comic-sized sketch paper for attendees to receive free drawings. Some artists could only offer pencil sketches while others might have had the opportunity to go above & beyond with full color! But everyone was welcome to a sketch or, if you were lucky, one from each and every artist!
Some of the creators in attendance at the Dewey’s FCBD event were Tom Mandrake, Jan Duursema, Kim DeMulder, Amy Chu, Jim Calafiore, Chris Campana, and Reilly Brown… just to name a few!
While some attendees asked for their free sketches to be done on the provided Kubert paper, others brought their own sketchbooks, blank covers, pads, and sketch cards. Many artists also had the option for you to upgrade your free sketch to add inks, colors, or fuller figures. Above, Reilly Brown is sketching a Spider-Man head shot.
And, of course, there were plenty of indie books, art prints, and ready-to-go art for sale if that’s more of your thing. I was able to pick up Anne Bonnie #12 & Stake #5 from Nick Justus, as well as JP Buzio‘s creator-owned book Danger Cat & a pre-show commissioned Captain Carter sketch card from the latest Marvel series “What If…?” on Disney Plus, and so many more amazing sketches from Lorenzo Jiles, Len Danovich, Nick Caponi, Alexia Veldhuisen, and Fabio Redivo who drew a full-color Optimus Prime for me:
On top of all of that, attendees were trading/giving away their own art, Garden State Comic Fest was inviting fans to their upcoming events, and just good energy all day long. What a way to celebrate the 20th year of Free Comic Book Day! And thanks to the owner of both Dewey’s and Kubert School (Anthony Marques), the event was not only fun but safe with minimal crowds, and masks & hand sanitizers for those who needed them. Lots to see and even more to take home, you couldn’t have asked for a better venue to celebrate nor a better way to discover new art and collect comics to read. Be sure to check out more info on the websites for Dewey’s Comic City and The Kubert School!
LesDudis 