BROWNSVILLE — While thumbing through boxes of comic books Saturday morning at Nostalgia Video Games and Comics, Carlos Marshall found a few gems. Chief among them were three issues of Amazing Spider-man that made up one large poster when placed side by side.
It was just the first of four comic book stores around the Valley that Marshall and five friends came from Matamoros to visit during Free Comic Book Day, celebrated on the first Saturday of every May by comic book retailers nationwide.
“It’s like Christmas in May,” he said. “In Mexico, we don’t have it because it’s not a culture over there. It’s considered a hobby.”
Jesus Cortez and Omero Vasquez own Nostalgia Video Games and Comics, nestled in a red-brick plaza at 315 Kings Highway.
Cortez said the event is a way to get new customers in the door and show appreciation for loyal supporters. It usually coincides with the release of a big comic book movie — “Avengers: Infinity War” this year — and new title releases or relaunches by comic book publishers.
The store offered three free comics per person, Hulk figurines, snacks and an action figure giveaway.
“It’s a growing community,” he said, adding that the store has more than 70 pull boxes. They function like mail boxes for customers who have asked the shop to pull aside new issues of the comics they read every month.
The store sprang from the owners’ love of collecting classic video games and comics. Cortez said they were working at a call center when they began selling their wares at a flea market. Eventually, their wives tired of the items piling up in their homes.
Cortez said he and Vasquez set out to find a storage space but found a storefront instead. They opened their doors in August 2015 and offer a gamut of vintage video games, going back to Nintendo cartridges, in addition to comic books, Japanese manga and action figures.
Comic book fans like Marshall look forward to the event each year. The 27-year-old, who owns Fallout Comics in Matamoros, pulled his shirt collar aside to reveal a neat, circular Spider-man mask tattoo on his right front shoulder and the Avengers logo mirrored on the left.
“The stories are really fulfilling,” said Marshall, who’s been a comic book fan since age 4. “You make a connection with these characters.”
Gloria Martinez of Brownsville took her two daughters and two nieces to the store in hopes of getting them interested in reading comic books. Her 10-year-old daughter, Angela Hernandez, already is an avid reader of the crime-fighter “Lunch Lady.”
“I think it’s really good,” Martinez said, adding that comic books get children away from screens. “Instead of (having) them watch movies or watch cartoons, it’s always better for them to read it and use their imaginations.”
Cortez said it can be intimidating for comic book newcomers to jump long-running series that may be on their 700th issue, but there’s a comic book for everyone.
“If you tell us what you’re interested in, we’ll help you find something,” he said.