Free Comic Book Day is May 2nd

How many annual events are based around just giving people free stuff? Not gift giving like Christmas or birthdays, but each and every person who shows up gets something SUBSTANTIAL for free? The first Saturday of May each year is Free Comic Book Day, anyone who walks into comic book shop gets to leave with at least one free comic. Many stores will hand out more then one per customer as well as have special sales on the day as well. The point of the annual event is to promote comics in general as well as generate business for both the shops as well as the publishers.

Free Comic Book Day started in 2002 when the largest comic distributor, Diamond, teamed up with it's biggest publishers and many of it's smaller ones, to give away comics that were specially created for the cause. For the first few years the event was set based on when major super hero movies were to be released. But conflict between Marvel, DC, and the other publishers on who's movie would get the big rub from the event made it obvious a set date was necessary. Eventually they settled on the first Saturday of May. This has resulted in a comic book movie usually being released at the same time, last year it was Iron Man and this year it's Wolverine.

The comic books that are given away are usually brand new books made specifically for the event. Most of them are not available in any other way, and become collector items. But financial gain is not the point of the event, in fact everyone involved is spending money to give the customer the best experience possible. The writers and artists are all paid, as well as publishing costs, and the comic shop owners have to pay anywhere from 12-30 cents per issue. The whole day is a huge promotional event.

The comics given out are various and cater to all audiences. This year is no exception. For kids there is Disney/Pixar's Cars from Boom Studios, presenting a brand new story starring the cast, as well as the critically acclaimed and beyond adorable Owly from Top Shelf, featuring a wonderful cartoon owl. For the super hero fans there is a brand new prelude to Blackest Night, the huge summer event that will be taking over Green Lantern and the DC Universe, while Marvel let's their normal Avengers creative team give a brand new and exclusive story of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. For the non super hero fans, which really is most of the selections, there's a Love and Rockets book from Fantagraphics Books, Oni Comics' new sci-fi tale, Resurrection, and much much more.

Free Comic Book Day is perfect for everyone, from long time fans, to those who have never picked up a single issue. There is bound to be something for everything. There's honestly no reason for everyone to not at least keep an open mind and try it out, it is free after all.