Downtown Windsor celebrates Free Comic Book Day with comics, costumes and a mental health boost

Chimczuk Museum and Art Windsor-Essex are offering free comic books for visitors on Saturday. CTV Windsor’s Chris Campbell has the details.

Downtown Windsor will come alive with comic books, costumes, and community spirit this weekend as Free Comic Book Day returns with a multi-site celebration. This also ties into new research showing that museums benefit mental health and cognitive function.

Rogues Gallery Comics has teamed up with several cultural institutions and local businesses to hand out free comics and host activities across the downtown core on Saturday. Visitors can pick up a map and follow chalk footprints to participating venues, including the Chimczuk Museum, Art Windsor-Essex, Windsor Public Library’s Central Branch, Adventure Bay Family Water Park, and the François Baby House.

“We’ve partnered with Rogues Gallery Comics downtown, and they provide us with free comics to hand out to people visiting the museum, as well as several other cultural institutions downtown,” said Craig Capacchione, program co-ordinator at the Chimczuk Museum.

“We actually have comics in the collection, and on display right now is both the comic as well as an art sketch by local author and artist Jeff Lemire, as part of our Windsor’s Literary History exhibition. So, we’ve got a lot of interesting things in our collection, and it’s always great to promote reading and the arts industry here in Windsor.”

This year’s Free Comic Book Day comes on the heels of a new University of Windsor study showing that museum visits not only boost mood but also improve mental clarity and focus.

“What we found was that, yes. After taking a walk through the museum, we found participants felt relaxed more. The perceived sense of well-being was a lot better than compared to walking through the city,” said Dr. Francesco Biondi, lead researcher and associate professor in the Faculty of Human Kinetics.

“And more importantly, when we have them complete a cognitive test, what we found was that their mental focus was also much better. So, it’s not only that they felt better, but the evidence showed that their attentional focus was, indeed, better as well.”

The peer-reviewed study compared participants’ cognitive performance and self-reported wellness after walking through a museum versus walking through an urban environment. According to Biondi, the research is the first of its kind in Canada to look specifically at how museum environments support brain health.

“Participating in these sorts of activities, participating in other artistic activities in Windsor, or taking a walk in a park, especially during the spring seasons, I think that’s a great way to replenish our mental energies,” he said.

“This is the first study of its kind, looking at the beneficial effects that spending time in a museum environment has on cognition and future work, further work is needed to better understand how these types of activities translate to long term benefits on cognition and socialization, especially among more vulnerable cohorts, like for instance, seniors or young children.”

Biondi will present his findings at a free public talk at the Chimczuk Museum on May 17 at 1 p.m., part of International Museum Day programming.

Capacchione said Free Comic Book Day has become one of the museum’s busiest events of the year.

“We’re also going to have local artist George Rezac here from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., doing free comic art sketches for anybody who comes in, as well as magician Elizabeth Prosser doing some balloon animals and magic tricks here,” said Capacchione.

“After you get comics here and at Art Windsor Essex, there’s also free comic books at the François Baby House down the street, as well as Windsor Public Library Central Branch downtown as well. We’ll actually create chalk footprints leading to each location. So, once you get downtown, if you follow the footprints, you’ll get to each spot and grab a new comic at each one.”

He added that every year, some opt to dress in Comic Con-related outfits.

“Which is great, and it’s just kind of a great, fun family vibe for everybody,” he said.

Shawn Cousineau, owner of Rogues Gallery Comics, said the event has grown from a shop promotion into a city-wide showcase of what downtown Windsor has to offer.

He noted that Free Comic Book Day has been happening locally for 23 years and has actually become a full weekend event over the last five.

“We decided that not only would the three comic book shops work together, but we’d also reach out to other businesses in the area that are family related, that are things that you can go out and do and we made deals with them,” he said.

“We would give them a comic book and in turn they give the customers something from their own place. We wanted to make something that wasn’t just a quick visit, you know? That was something that went throughout the whole city.”

He said the first timers coming through the door, never having been in a comic book shop, that make it all worthwhile. And, dressing up is an added bonus.

“For God’s sakes, dress up. Costumes are not only encouraged, but you’ll see some amazing costumes this weekend,” he said.