Greenpoint’s Hey Kids Comics! (157 Huron St.) is celebrating its one year anniversary this weekend. The brick and mortar store opened on October 1, 2021, but Greenpoint local, Jason Mojica, and his son began their bookselling venture in 2020, selling comics outside on Franklin Street. After the success of the sidewalk sales, Mojica decided to open the storefront.
Mojica humbly told Greenpointers, “When you open a business, you never really know if it’s going to work…But from day one, the outpouring of enthusiasm we received from Greenpoint families and out-of-town visitors has been incredible.”
Hey Kids Comics!, named after the spinner racks that used to sell comics in convenience stores, offers a tightly-curated selection of titles including sections devoted to humor, adventure, fantasy, true stories, spooky stuff, historical fiction, and superheroes.
To celebrate their one year anniversary this weekend, Hey Kids Comics! has a few fun things planned. To start, the store is hosting a couple of readings and signings on Saturday, October 1.
First, at 11:30 a.m., Mika Song will read from her new book, Pizza My Heart. Song, who also wrote Donut Feed the Squirrels and Apple of My Pie, will turn the store into a paper theater and present her book in the Kamishibai storytelling style. Afterward, she’ll sign copies of her new work. This event is more suitable for younger readers and their parents.
At 4 p.m. on October 1, teens and older readers can meet Josh Bayer, the author of works like Theth, Raw Power, RM. Bayerwill present his new book, Abysmalation, andsign copies afterward.
On October 1, Hey Kids Comics! will also kick off an anniversary raffle, giving away $1000 worth of gift cards to the lucky winners. Starting on Saturday, raffle tickets will be given out with every purchase the whole month of October. The raffle will end with a drawing on Instagram live on October 31 at 6 p.m.
Hey Kids Comics! will also pass out prompt cards for those who want to participate in the annual drawing challenge, Inktober. Mojica explained that “Inktober isn’t a contest so much as a personal challenge undertaken by artists around the world during the month of October to draw every day.”
The Inktober site posts an official prompt list, but many don’t adhere to it or publish their own lists. Hey Kids Comics! will have its own list featuring prompts based on iconic graphic novels. The store will also have a drawing station outside for passersby to leave a quick sketch using that day’s prompt. “The cards we’ll be handing out are in hopes of encouraging people to set aside a few minutes each day to draw–at home, on the train, while waiting for dinner, etc.,” explained Mojica.