Free comic book day set for Saturday
The line of comic book enthusiasts, their friends, and curious newcomers is stretching down the block. Hundreds of people, if not more, are waiting for the door to open. This is the day they’ve been waiting for, and anticipation is building rapidly.
Is it the release of a new comic book-based movie? Or is it the line for a large assortment of free comic books?
While theaters make ready to release “Captain America: Civil War” this weekend, comic book retailers the world over prepare for another major industry event: Free Comic Book Day.
Free Comic Book Day was first proposed in 2001 by retailer Joe Field in an attempt to bring new readers into the comic book industry. The first actual event was held on May 4, 2002, in an effort to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the 2002 “Spider-Man” feature film. As the name implies, each year comic book companies produce an assortment of special issues of select titles, issues that will be given away free to people who come to patronize participating retailers. The number of comics available, the number a person is allowed to take for free, and any additional incentives above and beyond this all vary by individual retailer.
And by all accounts, Free Comic Book Day has been a spectacular success.
According to Terry Stanley, owner and operator of comic book shop Book Stan’, his store sees approximately 200 people on an average Free Comic Book Day. Of these, he notes, at least half are usually first-time customers. Last year in particular the line to enter Book Stan’ stretched several storefronts as people waited to enter. Free Comic Book Day is actually “the best day of the year” for some comic shops, especially since comic companies often use it to release issue #0 for those new comic titles that are set to debut the upcoming Wednesday.
“Just imagine!” comic book legend Stan Lee explains in a promotional video for Free Comic Book Day. “Action! Thrills! Fantasy! All yours free on the first Saturday in May!”
Even LeVar Burton, host of famed children’s educational show “Reading Rainbow,” supports Free Comic Book Day, noting that his “love of the written word originated with comic books.” As an “Army brat” growing up in Germany, he explains, comic books were a “treasure” that he and others read before trading around as a means of remaining connected to American popular culture. “What better way to get your kids excited about reading,” he asks, “than with a comic book?”.
What: Free Comic Book Day
When: May 6nd, 2017
Where:
BOOK STAN III
204 D Ft Hood Street
Killeen, TX, 76541
(254) 628-1515
AMERICA’S HEROES COMICS
104 W Rancier Ave
Killeen, TX, 76541
(254) 501-8556
Official Website: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/