04-05-23 | Saturday the 6th of May is Free Comic Book Day in North America! The perfect opportunity to celebrate the incredible and important work your local comic book store does to support fandom and artists alike. For over two decades Free Comic Book Day has been the perfect platform for newcomers to discover comics and for retailers to attract new customers. Let’s look at some of the titles available next Saturday.
Marvel Comics offers Amazing Spider-Man / Venom, in which the black suited alien symbiotes come under fire, Avengers / X-Men, which teases a new development in the age of mutants, and Marvel Voices, which will spotlight the diversity of creators and characters. Meanwhile, DC Comics weighs in with Clark & Lex, a Young Adult take on Superman’s youth, and a Dawn of DC tie-in.
There’s also an impressive line-up of gateway comics, which will appeal to younger readers or older buyers tired of superheroes. Children’s bestsellers Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man and John Patrick Green’s Investigators are both on offer, as is The Last Comics on Earth. If it’s graphic novels you want, Jeff Pedro Martin’s Mexikid or Lemire’s Fishflies might hit the spot.
Free Comic Book Day is the perfect opportunity to sample many established brands such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Power Rangers, Street Righter, 2000AD, the Witcher and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There is something here for everyone! More importantly, it’s a chance to support comic retailers. As innovative as the digital market is, publishers and artists still primary rely on physical comic book stores to sell their art. Supporting your supplier this Saturday will enable talent to thrive.
A selection of European retailers will also carry these free titles. And if not, why not pop round anyway to buy a book or have a chat about your favourite artists? Digital is great, but physical is better. That’s why we say: long live the comic book store, long live Free Comic Book Day!
