UPDATE: Black Friday deals are available now (WEDNESDAY, Nov 23rd) at the Comic Bug and, after a day off for turkey and football and sleep, will run from Black Friday through Sunday, November 27th!

Check out the deals below and stock up on your comic book gift giving now!

Or let Mike break it down for you…

We will be selling copies of Captain America #600 on Monday, June 15th.  This will be the book that leads into the return of the REAL? Captain America, Reborn #1.

Where were you when Captain America died? It’s the anniversary of the day Steve Rogers was killed, a day of reflection and mourning in the Marvel U…a time to look back on the things Steve did and what he stood for… or is this issue actually the beginning of the most wicked plot twist since issue 25? Yeah, actually it’s both. Plus, contributions from Cap creators past and present, including a very special essay by Joe Simon, a classic story from Cap’s Golden Age, a full gallery of 600 Cap covers, and more anniversary shenanigans than you can shake a shield at!

It’s that most wonderful time of the year again! The Comic Bug is bringing it with thousands of free comics to be handed out over the course of the day. We’re working on getting some guests to surprise and amaze and draw fun sketches for the already converted. And for all of the new faces, we’ll be giving you a bunch of free comics so you can see just why we love comics so much!For more info, check out http://www.freecomicbookday.com/

The Comic Bug is gathering a host of creators, writers, artists and super-hero characters to be present for FCBD. Artists will draw free sketches and talks about their creations. Real super-heroes will be available for free photos. There will be discounts on merchandise and fun activities!

Bring your camera to take photos with Superman and Wonder Woman

Special memorial screening of “The Rocketeer” with screenwriters Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo

WHO WILL BE AT THE COMIC BUG?

Sam Sarker (writer, Caliber)
Dave Wilkins (cover artist, Caliber)
Phil Ortiz (artist, The Simpsons)
Scott Koblish (artist/inker, Marvel Adventures: Iron Man)
Joshua Dysart (writer, Buddha, BPRD: 1946)
Rafael Navarro (artist, Sonambulo, TV’s Spectacular Spider-Man)
Robbi Rodriguez (artist, Maintenance, Hazed, Tek Jansen)
Javier Hernandez (artist/creator, El Muerto)
Ted Seko (artist, Billy Cole, TV’s SpongeBob Squarepants)
Ray Anthony-Height (artist, Spider-Man Family, Noble Causes)
Danny Miki & Crime Lab Studios (inkers extraordinaire, New Avengers & more)
Norm Rapmund (inker, Supergirl)
Michael Aushenker (writer, Gumby, Back Issue)
Mel Smith (editor, Gumby)
Ryan Winn (inker, The Darkness)
Jose Cabrera (artist/writer, Crying Macho Man)
Lord Mesa (artist, Chibi hero art)
Brett Nance (artist, Spazz, Manboy)
Michael Delipine (letterer, Grimm Fairy Tales)

Meet the Southern California Yo-Yo Champion and learn the art of yo-yo courtesy of www.pierkites.com

Lego demonstration and sets to be displayed courtesy of Mr. B’s Bricks at www.mrbsbricks.com

Local library representatives will be on hand to discuss all the benefits of having a library card and will accept applications.

The Comic Bug has teamed up with the mighty forces of CGC and none other than Stan “The Man” Lee to spread a little holiday goodness and cheer to the merry boys and girls at The Hero Initiative!

Never one to leave you, the loyal comic book collector, out in the cold (it IS December after all), we’ve posted TEN of these titanic tomes up on Ebay!! You, too, can enjoy the fruits of our favors!

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to gather up some of Marvel’s most classical books autographed by one of comicdom’s most classical men! Have at it…

Check out our eBay auctions here!

We would like to thanks “30 Days of Night’s” Dan Wickline, “The Simpsons” Phil Ortiz, Emmy Award Winning animator Rafael Navarro, “Clockwork Girl”s Sean O’Reilly and “KISS”s Tone Rodriguez for donating their time and artistry.

Stand-up comedian Robb Fulcher let out a barrage of jokes with great laughter, even from Mike who was often the target of the jokes.

Great performance from Vaudeville (www.myspace.com/vaudevillepop), The Sweet Hurt (www.myspace.com/thesweethurt) and the world-famous, awe-inspiring KIDS OF WIDNEY HIGH!!! (www.kidsofwidneyhigh.com)

The Comic Book Artist Guild donated their time and raised money for wildfire relief. During the event, CAG West Coast Chairman Philip Clark sang and played the keyboard and saxaphone.

The Comic Bug screened the documentary “Independents” (www.independentsdoc.com) The film is an investigation into the creative spirit and interviews over 25 of the comic book industries’ unhindered spirits. Independent comic book legends Batton Lash (http://www.exhibitapress.com/) and Wendy and Richard Pini (www.elfquest.com) were present and participated in a Q&A with director Chris Brandt.

FREE comic books will be given out all day starting at 11am until supplies last, so come by early to get your books. The Comic Bug will feature hot writers and artists who will autograph books, do sketches and talk about their creations. There will be special savings for those who come by this special event.

We have a tentative schedule of the upcoming events and guests who will be at The Comic Bug starting at 11am.

Peter Johnson, writer of Wildstorms Supernatural and producer of the TV series. He also wrote Marvel’s Powerless and writes the up-coming Namor series.

Joshua Dysart, writer of Conan & the Midnight God and numerous other series from Captain Gravity to Swamp Thing.

David Wohl, credits include Top Cow’s Witchblade and Darkness.

Rafael Navarro of Sonambulo

Robbi Rodriguez, artist of Oni Press’ Maintenance and others such as Image’s Hero Camp.

David Schwartz, writer of the hit Image title, Meltdown.

Check out the details at www.freecomicbookday.com

Come by and The Comic Bug will be making a special offer for those who come in at that time, donate a blanket that will be given to the homeless and you will get a FREE copy of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #1. The Comic Bug is teaming up with the charity Poverty Matters to help the homeless during the recent cold nights.

Check out their website at www.povertymatters.com.

The busiest shopping days of the year is over and busy is an understatement. Even though our building has been red-tagged since the fire on Wednesday, we were still able to conduct business from our parking lot. Our customers have been extremely supportive, buying up smoke damaged merchandise to help our store. We are now operating out of a couple containers in our parking lot and hope to be moved into a nearby location soon. Thanks to everyone for your support! Updates to follow.

November 25th Update: Buy 1 Get 1 Free on Every Pre-Fire Merchandise!

The damage has been assessed and it is much worse than we thought. All comics and trades exposed have some damage. Bagged, boxed and packaged items are damaged but the interior is fine, however they are not great for collectibility. We are selling everything “Pre-Crisis” at buy 1 get 1 FREE in order to re-stock with clean & new merchandise for when we move to a new location. The building has been red-tagged but we will continue business out in the parking lot in a couple of containers. We don’t need electricity, water or gas! We have spirit and positive attitudes and look forward to a bigger & better store in the next few weeks (we hope). We will keep everyone posted and hope everyone will come down and buy some stuff! Thank you for your support!

Posted November 23rd: The Comic Bug Fire Sale! Literally!

Here’s the deal: We want to sell as much merchandise as possible in order to re-open our store in another location with NEW merchandise! We are offering BUY 1 GET 1 FREE on ALL merchandise except for this weeks new comics. Battle-damaged items will be sold at lower prices or just make an offer. Bear with us until we find a new location which will be soon!

Posted on November 22nd: Fire Bad! The Comic Bug kind of closed on Nov 22

If you tried to get your comics today, you were likely met with a shocking sight. No, it’s not “Mike’s No Pants Wednesday” again (we put a stop to that). We arrived this morning to find that our neighbors’ dry cleaning business had been gutted by fire. Thankfully, no one was hurt and it didn’t spread very far, but it did some damage to everyone’s shops.

If you can hold off for a few days, we are hoping to open our doors as soon as Friday to feed your manic post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping needs. There may be no electricity, it may smell like smoke, there might even be smoldering embers but if you can put up with then so can we.

We will be offering The Comic Bug’s First Annual Fire Sale in place of our sale we had promoted! All battle-damaged merchadise will be deeply discounted and we do have the new books for the week in non-scorched condition! So come on by and we may have smoked turkey to serve!

Check back here for updates and information as we get it.