Free Comic Book Day was coming. Last year's event was a success, and with any sequel, the bar was raised and expectations were higher. Aside from giving away more books than last year, our only criteria was to make it special and have fun at the same time. It also had to be an event that people felt that they could not miss.

Inviting a comic creator was considered but we would have preferred to center such an event on their appearance. After shooting around a few ideas, we decided to have a costumed hero appear. It was thought it would be a great publicity and would stir up a little excitement. Since the X-Men movie was opening up, we thought about having someone dress up as one of the mutants. We also thought it would be best to get a female hero because, (a) It would attract some attention, preferably from the media, (b) Having someone dress in a costume for the day would generate some excitement and (c) fanboys love nice looking heroines.

Our choices became limited, Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue or Mystique. They were either not well known, or it would be difficult to get a recognizable costume. Recognition became a major factor in our decision. And what female hero was the most recognizable?

We had to find Wonder Woman.

We looked around, but tall dark haired blue eyed Amazons were apparently in short supply in our area. Modeling agencies were a bit pricey and we were reluctant to place an ad in a newspaper. A call was placed to a few of the local colleges to see if they had any theatre students who could fill the suit. We were also referred to a few local theatres that had repertory companies, and asked if they knew anyone who would be interested. A couple of weeks passed, we followed a few leads, with disappointing results. We were ready to give up.

Then one slow Monday we got a call from a girl by the name of Brandy Slagle. Brandy was currently working for a local theatre in the promotions department and asked if we had found a Wonder Woman yet. When I mentioned that we hadn't, she said, "Well, you found her now." Brandy was working a temporary job in that local theatre while she continued to look for acting work. She had seen the notice that we sent and really wanted to do it. Brandy said that was a Wonder Woman fan since she was a little girl and had read some comics. I asked her to stop by later so that we could talk.

About 10 minutes before closing, she came in, wearing glasses with her (dark red!) hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was about 5'9 and had a very sweet smile. In addition to being beautiful, she was well spoken, and enthusiastic. The more I spoke to her, the more impressed I was with her. I showed her a copy of the Alex Ross Wonder Woman graphic novel, to give her an idea what the costume would look like. She looked through the book saying, "This is going to be great!" I showed her that Wonder Woman's hair would have to be darker than hers, and suggested using spray-on hair color. Brandy then looked up at me and said, "Well, I was looking for an excuse to darken my hair anyway". I told her to give me a call in a few days and I'd let her know. After speaking to her for about fifteen minutes, I was taken with how genuinely sweet she was.

The next day a customer, a local DJ, told me that he also knew a girl who might be a good candidate. I received a call from Brandy the next day thanking me for interviewing her and added "If you find someone else better for this part, I'll understand." This pretty much sealed the deal for us; we were not going to find anyone better.

The day before FCBD, I met with Brandy for her final costume fitting and she looked fantastic! She had asked for some Wonder Woman comics to study. I gave her the Alex Ross book: Spirit of Truth, a copy of Wonder Woman: The Hiketa, Wonder Woman Secret Files and the DC Millennium edition of Wonder Woman#1

Free comics aside, the star without question was Wonder Woman herself. If there was a person who was made to be Wonder Woman, it was Brandy Slagle. Brandy arrived an hour and a half early, with her flowing wavy hair colored jet black. Brandy said she was as ready as she was going to be. She asked me to "quiz" her in case someone tried to stump her. She knew Wonder Woman's mother name (Hippolyta), She knew the name of Paradise Island (Themyscyra). She even knew Wonder Woman's first appearance (All Star #8). She knew her stuff. We were all very impressed with her and knew this girl was going to be fantastic.

The second she put the costume on, she became the Amazonian Princess. And she was FANTASTIC. Brandy had a way of charming every person she met that day. She embodied all the grace, beauty, and strength of the Wonder Woman. When people started calling her Wonder Woman and she'd modestly reply, "Please, call me Diana."

Brandy stayed in character, especially when people would ask her questions. "You look pretty good for being 60 years old" to which she replied, "Time passes slower in Themyscira." Some would ask where her invisible plane was and she said, "It is not something that is practical for me to always use. Many find it unsettling to hear something that loud and not be able to see it." Another would say how she looked different in person, to which she countered with "Sometimes the media will have a tendency to provide a vision of something that they want you to see." And then added "I can assure you, Adam West really does not resemble Batman at all." One person even asked her of what she thought of the current world situation. Without skipping a beat she said "It would be ill advised for someone in my position to speak on matters of national security at this particular time."

One customer later told me that he had a genuine sense that he mingled with a true superhero. She signed autographs, posed for pictures (a lot of them) and loved every minute of being Diana and people picked up on it. She went outside and waved at cars, being met with many a honking horn. She even posed for pictures with some members of the local police department!

The day's receipts were double a normal Saturday - in fact, it was our best single day of business in five years - but that wasn't the point. We had a lot of people come in we've never seen and those we haven't seen in years. We saw people of many different age groups coming in looking for the comics. And best of all, most adults brought kids into the store to introduce them to comics. It's been a long time since we saw kids actually want and get excited about comic books.

One thing I've learned is that sometimes you have to pick your shots. With the X-Men 2 movie opening and the Hulk movie opening in about a month, there wasn't going to be a better time or opportunity to promote comics. Joe Field gave us the idea, the publishers gave us the comics, and the rest was up to us. Entertainment Weekly can run all of the articles they want on how cool comics are. Ultimately it's all up to individual comic storeowners to represent the industry as professionals and to help promote and establish comics as a viable entertainment media. We, as comic storeowners had the power to make or break FCBD. Free Comic Book day was a huge success, now it's up to us to maintain the momentum.

And having the presence of an Amazonian Princess didn't hurt either.