It's the biggest FREE COMIC BOOK DAY event ever at Earth-2 Comics this year, with red-hot artist Tim Sale making a rare in-store appearance! Tim, best known for his recent work on the smash NBC series HEROES, as well as his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb, will be appearing from on Saturday, May 3 from noon until 1:30 p.m., signing copies of his books and doing sketches, with all proceeds going to THE HERO INITIATIVE, a benefit organization for retired comics professionals. The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. The Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for yesterday's creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. Don't miss out on this rare opportunity to meet one of comics' hottest talents, and do some good in the process!

Tim Sale first broke onto the comics scene in 1991 with his CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN miniseries, in collaboration with writer Jeph Loeb, a darker, moodier look at the classic Jack Kirby team of adventurers. Loeb and Sale formed a partnership that would bring them both great success, as the two created a distinctive vision of the Dark Knight with their BATMAN projects, THE LONG HALLOWEEN and DARK VICTORY. The duo moved to the Man of Steel with SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS in 1998, and later tackled Marvel icons like Spider-Man, the Hulk and Daredevil with their series of color-themed works, SPIDER-MAN: BLUE, HULK: GRAY and DAREDEVIL: YELLOW. Sale's work reached a whole new audience in 2006 with the debut of the smash hit television series HEROES, for which Sale provided the artwork created by the precognitive artist Isaac Mendez, as well as the comic-book 9TH WONDERS!, drawn in the series by Mendez and read by comics fan Hiro Nakamura. Sharp-eyed viewers will also recognize the font on the on-screen captions and credits for HEROES as being Sale's work as well.

Of course, it wouldn't be FREE COMIC BOOK DAY without -- you guessed it -- free comic books! We'll have special hours for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, opening at 10 a.m. and closing at 7 p.m. Also appearing starting at 10 a.m. will be animator Anthony Price, who'll be creating free superhero sketches on demand, so bring the kids! And keeping a watchful eye over us all will be the Imperial Stormtroopers of the 501st Legion, so don't forget your cameras!

Earth-2 Comics & Collectibles, founded by Jud Meyers & Carr D'Angelo, has been buying and selling comic books, action figures, trade paperbacks, graphic novels, trading cards, memorabilia and collectibles for over 20 years. Our retail store and Internet portal are located in Southern California and we ship out every day to customers all over the world. Earth-2 Comics was the 2007 winner of the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International: San Diego, which is given to the individual retailer that has done an outstanding job of supporting the comics art medium both in the community and within the industry at large.