My day started as I arrived at the store thirty minutes before the ten a.m. opening. Already there was a line down the block of eager bearded comic book fans. (I say bearded because many were sporting free fake beards that were being given out to promote the upcoming movie, The Dictator.)  The parking lot was roped off with a bounce house. There was also a tent set up for a free Bongo comic book signing by Scott Shaw!  Music was provided by DJ PDub. (Kudos to PDub for mixing in comic book movie and TV music such as vintage superhero cartoon themes like Challenge of the Super Friends and the 70’s Incredible Hulk theme as well as feature film scores such as Batman and Superman.)

There was another line going the opposite direction from the storefront Those people were in line for the 11am signing by the cast of The Guild. There were tables in front of the store featuring a sidewalk sale of graphic novels as well as $5 dollar grab bags of random comics. Each bag was valued to be at least worth $15 and some bags had tickets randomly inserted that could be redeemed for prizes The crème de la crème were the five tickets eligible for a drawing of Daredevil #1 signed by Stan Lee.

At 10am, the owner of Golden Apple, Ryan Liebowitz, came out and escorted the line through the parking lot to the back of the store where all the free comics were set up. Patrons filed past the tables picking up their free comics, as well as other random posters and trinkets that were free. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, there was a taco bar with free tacos available with any purchase. I gotta say, it was all extremely well organized and despite the long lines for the freebies, I saw not a single person lose their cool.

At 11am, the cast of The Guild arrived for their scheduled signing.  After the initial crowd of people taking pictures subsided, those fans that had waited patiently were brought inside to get their stuff signed and take pictures of the cast.  Many smiles were to be had as the cast were all extremely warm and friendly.  At noon, there was another surprise as the Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwich Truck arrived in the parking lot.  If you’re a foodie or at least a fan of ice cream, you will definitely want to check them out. These ice cream sandwiches are amazing!