Here’s an example of one of the comics I recieved for free (I’ll take whatever is offered!)
If this is new to you, Free Comic Book Day is a national event that happens every year on the first Saturday of May and tomorrow, May 5th, is Free Comic Book Day for 2012. Basically, every major comic book company in the country prints off special issues that are sent to comic book stores to be given away for free. Here is the big catch: everything is on a first come first serve basis.
The first time I ever took advantage of Free Comic Book Day was two years ago, and I didn’t know what to expect. My expectations though were very high. I went in the afternoon to my favorite comic book store and was sorely let down. All of the exciting comics were already out of stock, and all I could find were a handful of Archie spin-offs that I took just so I wouldn’t leave empty handed.
Last year, I went at about 2pm and had better luck. I was able to find some cool lesser known free comics like Mouse Guard and Baltimore, but just about everything published by Marvel and DC was out.
Tomorrow, I am going to try my best to go right at 11 am, which is when most comic book stores in my area open. I’d recommend you look up when your stores are opening and go ASAP. The other thing is, take a moment and scope out where all the comic shops are nearest you, that way if your first choice runs dry, you can hit up some other places. For help, check out the Comic Shop Locator site.
Good luck tomorrow. Even if you’re not a huge fan of comics, you should take advantage of Free Comic Book Day.
Yeah, I slept in (was up late the night before watching The Avengers!) so I missed out on that sweet Archaia book. Otherwise, I didn’t find the selection all that great this year…