My first Saturday of May has for the past several years been reserved
for Free Comic Book Day.
What is Free Comic Book Day? Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) “is an annual
promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring
readers into independent comic books stores”. What does this mean to you?
Free. Comics.
That’s right. If you take some time out of your Saturday to visit one
of the participating retailers, you are treated to a stack of free comic books.
Depending on the retailer you could get anything from one free book to an
entire pile. Last year, I fell in line at Comic Odyssey at
Robinson’s Galleria and they crew at the store handed me an stack of 50 back
issues of various 90’s titles to go along with the official FCBD issues.
This year, FCBD is going to be on May 5, 2012. For the past few years,
it’s been celebrated at both Comic Odyssey and Fully Booked (though FB celebrates it on the third Saturday). Last
year National Bookstore joined in, I believe. This year, newcomer Comicx Hub is
getting in on the action as well.
The event has been going strong for the past 10 years and for this
eleventh anniversary, FCBD is going to be tied to the Marvel's
The Avengers movie opening in the States (May 4, 2012). We’re sure to see
at least one Avengers related title in the pile, and hopefully some other
promotional items to go along with it (those key chains from the recent
Avengers movie toy line launch would be awesome). If you’d like to see the
lineup of books available this year, check out the FCBD website. Note
that not all of the books show up at all the stores. It depends on what the
stores order and what they can afford (they still pay for these books, though
only about 20 cents each).
And hey, if you go, don’t forget to actually buy a book or two from the bins. There are usually sales on back
issues or trade paperbacks during FCBD. Consider giving back to the stores that
are supporting such an awesome hobby.
For more information about FCBD at Comic Odyssey, click HERE.
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