Free Comic Book Day is a day when comic shops across America (and the world) give away special edition comics from a variety of publishers. It falls on the first Saturday of May, and serves as both a promotional opportunity for retailers, and a holiday celebrating the medium of comics. Over the eleven years that the event has been held, it’s been wildly successful as a way for stores and companies to thank loyal customers and draw in new readers.
This year’s FCBD offerings comprise an insane variety of comics, geared toward a vast range of ages and audiences. So, as with any large assortment of things, note everything will work for everyone. Some of them simply weren’t my cup of tea, some I didn’t even bother with, some I found unsatisfying – but there’s some that I really liked. And those are the ones I’m going to talk about.
The most striking offering this year comes from Archaia Entertainment. It’s a 6″x9″ hardcover featuring six different stories; each representing a different family-friendly Archaia publication, each all-new and exclusive to this volume. A short Mouse Guard tale comes first, and it’s followed by samplings of Cursed Pirate Girl, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, Rust, Return Of The Dapper Men, and Cow Boy. It’s a lovely and lavish offering, and it showcases the amazing diversity (and universal excellence) of Archaia’s roster of titles.
DC Comics offered a couple different samplers this year. The primary one was for their main “New 52” line of superhero comics, but the one I was interested in grabbing was the all-ages flipbook with an advance look at Art Baltazar and Franco’s new Superman Family Adventures series. And having now read it a couple times, I can say: It’s pretty awesome. Though I’m still upset over the end of their Tiny Titans series, I’m looking forward to having a new Baltazar/Franco comic to absorb every month, and it looks like SFA will have the same mix of superheroing shenanigans and lighthearted humor that made their previous work so great for young and old alike. Aw yeah!
Indie publisher Liquid Comics also offered two separate titles for this year’s event: a sampler for their Graphic Elvis hardcover (which I’ll talk about in an upcoming pop music comics article), and a sneak preview of their forthcoming Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens graphic novel by Grant Morrison and Barry Sonnenfeld. The DvsA issue consists of an eight-page opening scene, some short text pieces, and an extensive sketchbook of concept artwork. It’s more a tantalizing taste than an actual helping of comic, but the art is lovely, the story set-up is intriguing, and it has me eagerly anticipating the full-scale release… Which is, I suppose, the point.
Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly are a pair of publishers that specialize in finely-curated blends of vital new work and essential archival volumes, and this year, they both presented giveaways showcasing reprints from their respective catalogs. D&Q’s pamphlet is a full-color book featuring Tove Jansson’s marvelous Moomin cartoons, while Fantagraphics’ book is a b&w sampler of Crockett Johnson’s classic Barnaby and Mr. O’Malley newspaper strip. They’re both wonderful introductions to great comics, and I was really happy to see them as flagship FCBD titles, showcasing the promise and potential of graphic storytelling to new readers.
Oni Press provided two free offerings, for two distinct audiences: a Yo Gabba Gabba comic for young readers (a madcap joyride of colorful insanity) and the first issue of their new ongoing series Bad Medicine (a spooky and intriguing tale of paranormal investigators).
As for other wondrous and brain-bending books being handed out that I read and enjoyed… BOOM! Studios’ Adventure Time/Peanuts flip book is another great all-ages title, the Image 20 sampler is full of tantalizing glimpses of upcoming Image titles, Red 5’s Atomic Robo sampler is exactly the sort of off-the-wall adventure I’ve grown to expect from that brilliant series, and Disney’s Donald Duck Family Comics is a nice little sampler of Carl Barks’ inspired storytelling.
I picked up these issues at the same place I spend most of my comic budget: Forbidden Planet, located on the corner of Broadway and 13th Street in lower Manhattan. It’s a great store, with a staff that’s well-informed, helpful, outgoing, and opinionated (but never conceited). They carry a variety of single issues, graphic novels, art books, toys, games, and other forms of cultural escapism. And they participate in FCBD in a big way, carrying not just the offerings from Marvel and DC, but also the samplers showcasing new and notable titles from smaller publishers. I figured it was the perfect place to go and pick up some free comics on a rainy spring afternoon. (And apparently, there were lots of people who thought the same thing.)
The lines were long, with people lining up long before the start of the business day. And the customers just kept coming. They had run through the giveaways by three pm, and the aisles were still packed with customers shopping, browsing, and conversing… Which, to me, is a sign of how well Free Comic Book Day works. It brings people in the door, they stick around to discover more amazing things, and walk home with full of the excitement and joy that comic books are made to evoke.
1 comment for “Impressions of Free Comic Book Day 2012”