Screen & Words

May 2nd is the Best Day of the Year . . . Free Comic Book Day! by Sayak S-G

Sayak with Free Comics
Sayak with Free Comics

Wondering what to do when May comes around? How about popping over to your local comic book shop for Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) on May 2nd? FCBD is full of fun! You get to choose 5 or more comic books–for FREE!

Comic books are made by DIFFERENT publishers. DC Comics publishes Superman and Batman, while Marvel publishes Spiderman, The Avengers and X-Men. Archie Comics publishes all the Archie books, and there are MANY more comic book publishers! For FCBD, all the different publishers create special comics that are given out for absolutely no charge. That’s right–FREE! All comic book shops run FCBD differently, but MOST shops will let you chose 5 books. Choose wisely because they have an ENORMOUS selection! While you’re there, you might also find a couple of other books that you would like to buy and take home with you.

I bet you’re thinking, “Oh! My! Gosh! That’s incredible.” But this day isn’t just about comic-book companies being generous. FCBD was made for a reason.

Back before 2002, the number of comic books sold was going DOWN! This happened because comic book publishers were lying to people and saying, “You have to buy the same book in all these different covers because they will be worth a lot of money someday!” It turned out that they weren’t worth money, so customers got very, very angry and stopped buying comic books!

FCBD-2015-Gold-Comics-Group In 2002, the comic book publishers had an idea. They thought, “If we stop lying to customers and create a day where people can get comics for free, it might bring back old readers and possibly attract new ones.” It seems to have worked because the number of comic book sales have been going UP ever since! Free Comic Book Day has been going on for more than 10 years now and is still very successful.

I bet you’re thinking, I know all the background information about FCBD. I know about all the different publishers , but if I go this year, what will I get for free? These are some books you might choose to walk home with: SpongeBob: Freestyle Funnies – If you loved The SpongeBob Movie, then this is the book for you, and here’s a nice little bonus…. it’s FREE! Teen Titans Go! and Scooby Doo Team UpYour 2 favourite TV shows combined into one fun-filled adventure. How amazing is that? And believe it or not, it’s also FREE! With Avengers: Age of Ultron coming out on May 1st, FCBD obviously has an Avengers comic, and you better believe . . . it’s FREE! Ever heard of Doctor Who? -Well . . . there’s a comic filled with 3 stories, and it features 3 doctors. I know . . . PURE COMIC MADNESS! Guess what . . it’s also FREE! I know. With all this selection, it’s so hard to choose just a few!

My family and I always look forward to going up to  Cyber City Comics and picking out each of our 5 books every year. Free Comic Book Day is a great way to explore new books, learn how to read, encourage your children to read more, and do it all for…FREE! I have been going to  FCBD for 8 or 9 years now (or since I was 2 or 3). So mark your calendars for Free Comic Book Day on May 2nd! You do NOT want to miss the fun!

News You Can Use

What: Free Comic Book Day

Who: All ages

When: May 2nd , 2015

Where: Your nearest Comic book shop. Not sure where your nearest shop is? Go to www.freecomicbookday.com , and click Store Locater!

© 2015 Sayak Sneddon-Ghosal, Sesaya

About The Author

Sayak

Sayak is a critic, contributor and coordinator of social media at SesayArts. Naturally arts-inclined, he took music classes at Sesaya and was a drama major in an arts high school. Currently, he is an undergraduate student at Wilfred Laurier University.