Free Comic Book Day - May 6, 2006

[GrnMarvl14]

Alright, it's about 4 months off, but I figured I'd get this thread started and start informing our American posters about this glorious day.

For anyone not aware of what the heck this is, it's an event that happens once a year. Many publishers send out free copies of their comics (usually labeled "Free Comic Book Day Edition") to comic stores, and (unless the owners are douches) are free to pick up with no other purchase necessary. The beauty is that it gives you a chance to pick up various titles without having to worry about having wasted your cash.

Comic News International has a preview for some (but not all) of the titles we can expect to see.

And, finally... click here for the official site for Free Comic Book Day, which will eventually update with ALL of the free titles, and all the information you could ever want on the event. It also has a search tool so that you can find the nearest participating comic book store. There's also a handy F.A.Q. Although, as a note, the comics you see on the top banner are from LAST year's Free Comic Book Day, although many comic book stores bring out the ones they didn't get rid of the previous year.

And if free comics aren't enough, MOST comic book stores feature massive sales (I managed to pick up 40 issues last year for $20, and filled in a HUGE gap in my collection) and some even have contests where you can win things and some places even have door prizes. Of course, this is all from local experience, and results may differ.

 

[Doctor Oak]

Is this only in America? 'Cause I know of one shop down-town that'd definitely do something like this if they were given the copies.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

I'm glad you brought this up, because apparently I was mistaken. Looks like this ISN'T American only (posted that originally so as not to get anyone's hopes up). Apparently ANY comic book store in the WORLD can participate (can...not WILL).

10. Is this just happening in the U.S.?

Any comic book store in the world can participate in Free Comic Book Day, although there may be some limitations on which titles are available in which countries due to licensing and other considerations. If you want your local store to get involved, let them know!

Participating Stores Outside the US and Canada. And there's a handy-dandy link for all those outside of the US and Canada.

Participating Stores WITHIN the US and Canada. Figured I'd post this one as well. Here's a link for all of my fellow US citizens and our neighbors to the north.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

The comics for this year's event have been revealed.

Book List. All of these will be available for comic book shops to order, and SHOULD be completely free to pick up. You'll notice some non-comic stuff at the bottom, so you can see that it's not JUST comics that are given away, although those 3 items ARE probably not as widely available.

But I canNOT recommend picking up the X-Men/Runaways thing enough. Runaways is...a truly great piece of work. A COMPLETELY different dynamic than most of Marvel's books. It's also the ONLY Marvel book to be seen on top ten BOOK lists for 2005. It's THAT highly received.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

This is about 2 months away now, so I decided to stick it at the top until the day is reached. Just to keep people aware of it.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

I'm posting here to bring this back to people's attention now that it's less than a month away. In a couple of weeks I'm going to make a new thread with a general and concise overview of the event with links to the comics available and comic store locators for the world (I THINK they include every country in the world...I know it's more than just North America and includes much of Europe). But I'm really trying to bring this to everyone's attention because that's what the day's all about. Getting as many people as possible addicted to comics.

 

[Geodude]

I'm excited. My local comic shop always participates, and often even has lots of the free comics left over. They had a big sale of older comics last year too, 50% off the cover price for a HUGE box of choices.