Bad Idea Saturday

I've written about Bad Idea a few times before, and by "Bad Idea" I mean the comic book company. I wrote about them in 2021, 2023, and last year, 2024.

Apparently, I haven't unsubscribed from different Bad Idea email alerts, and one of them from a few weeks ago was about a get together in Eagle Rock at a comic shop called Revenge Of. This was a post convention party and you had to RSVP, but it was free. I was not going to whatever convention it was associated with, but I'd thought I'd RSVP anyway. Maybe they wouldn't care. Maybe I could spend a Saturday evening out of the house like a normal adult.

I was on the list, but they never checked. I got my freebie comic, and had it autographed. They had fre pizza and free beer, which was nice. They had many pinball machines and handed out five dollars in tokens to anybody who wanted. They had an event space behind their shop where they had a DJ, a table covered with meat and cheese and fruit, more drinks, the pizza station, and a photo-op mock up of the mech suit one of their characters wears.

On the patio of the actual grounds, they had a themed corn-hole setup as well as wall mounted signage:

I bought two comics from the shop, one for each of my kids. Outside they had a coin-operated claw machine full of stuffed animals, teddy bears and panda bears, both sporting Bad Idea shirts. I was there earlier than the madness of the later times, and I approached the machine. I didn't really have quarters to pump inside, but when I got there, I moved the joystick and the claw jumped to life. A digital readout started counting down from 19. I moved the claw to a nearby pink bear on top of a pile, pressed the button, and caught the bear. It was the easiest claw maneuver I ever had. I moved the claw over the hole, and proceeded to carry the bear for the remainder of the night:

"Ooh! You got a bear!" people would gasp. "Yeah, it's for my daughter..." I would answer. I soon realized that I needed to get another comic for my son, just to even the gift caper out.

Mike, the erstwhile comic shop owner from our building, was there with his cool wife, and we chatted for a bit. It was nice to talk with other adults. It was nice to be out and about on a Saturday, but I would have liked Corrie to have been there. The free beer was nice, but since Long Beach and Eagle Rock are 40 minutes apart in no traffic, "free beer" is more of a concept than a real thing to fully enjoy.

Bad Idea strikes again! Thanks for the fun!