This article is co-authored by Mathias Lewis and Megan Hanson.

Crossed is a comic book series by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows that first saw release back in July 2008, with a special preview edition at San Diego’s Comic Con International. The series, published through Avatar Press, tells the post-apocalyptic tales of citizens attempting to survive in a world where an unknown event led to millions of humans gaining red, cross-shaped scars across their faces as they gave into baser instincts, slaughtering and raping all non-’Crossed’ humans they came across. Think zombies, but far more twisted and evil. The rather sucessful and mature comic book series lasted 9-issues (plus a #0 and sketchbook issue) and was followed up by 3 spin-off series: Crossed: Family Values, Crossed: Psychopath, and Crossed 3D. The spin-off series brought on a new array of comic creators, such as David Lapham, Raulo Caceres, Gianluca Pagliarani, and Javier Barreno, and with it a new array of fans.

Enter March 14th, 2012, otherwise known as C-Day. C-Day is an event constructed by the Crossed publishers, Avatar Press, to promote the new on-going Crossed series, Crossed: Badlands, and webcomic, Crossed: Wish You Were Here. The new on-going is starting out as a bi-weekly series, with the initial storyline done by the original creative team of Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows. The webcomic is being handled by Simon ‘Si’ Spurrier and Javier Barreno. Both series saw release today and, to celebrate, parties and events were held at comic shops around the world.

 

One of the comic shops hosting a C-day party was Las Vegas, NV’s Comic Oasis. There you could not only pick up Crossed: Bad Lands #1 and variants, but also get your face painted in the Crossed fashion and enjoy special ‘Crossed Cakes’ (Crossed themed red velvet cupcakes from the Cupcakery, a rather sinfully delectable bakery). The entire shop was themed to the dark comic book series, with Crossed faces and bloody windows. The store also offered 50% off all Crossed & other Avatar Comics (excluding the new Badlands series) as well as 35% off all Crossed and Avatar TPBs & HCs. Attendance for the party was rather impressive considering the graphic and adult themes of the Crossed comic book series. Megan, not being comic book savvy, found attending the event a little awkward at first, but soon entered a conversation with Comic Oasis’ owner, Derrick Taylor, and was easily sold on the Crossed series. Enjoying zombies, horror, and adult themes the event combined with the store owner’s knowledge and patience has convinced Megan to do an Indie Review on the original Crossed mini-series for this site later this month. Not only has C-day returned veteran Crossed fans to the new on-going series, but it has brought newcomers on board with it. For those that live in Vegas or are just visiting, it is always recommended that you stop by Comic Oasis, for their great events, amazing staff, and awesome comics.

 

San Marcos, CA’s Sky High Comics was one of the stores hosting a somewhat smaller event for C-day. Not being one of the official party locations, Sky High simply had the Crossed survival kit and a strong supporting attitude for the series. Sky High manager, Darren Schram, is a huge supporter of Avatar and Crossed, owning every single issue and variant of the series so far. At their shop you could easily find the copies of Crossed: Badlands and its variants, along with free Crossed masks, pins, and tattoos. Over the course of the day, many fans cheerfully adorned Crossed masks a they picked up their copies of the book. In fact, Sky High has almost sold out of their copies of the series in just the first day! This is somewhat of a unique event for Sky High, as the manager states they normally would not display such a graphic an adult series so openly in their shop. However, Schram, who cheerfully wore the Crossed mask and called himself, jokingly, “Neckbeard, the eviler brother of Horsecock” (Yes, there is honestly a character in the series named Horsecock), truly wanted to support a comic book that he so thoroughly enjoys. California residents and tourists can easily swing by Sky High Comics to pick up future issues of Crossed: Badlands and know they are in good company with the comic fans who run the store.

 

 

Overall, C-day was a great success for both Avatar Press and fans of Crossed it would seem. Comics books were sold, store owners and customers alike had fun, and, most importantly, comics were enjoyed!