“Valerie, get her signed-up for the email list NOW!” – the owner/cashier as I was checking out, in regards to me being the only female participating in FCBD upon my own free will and not for my son/father/boyfriend/husband.
The first Saturday in May has been a scared day for as long as I can remember – it’s Free Comic Book Day! Long story short: Free Comic Book Day is an annual event at local comic bookstores across North America where a select number of comic books are free. The event is supported by Diamond Comic Distributors, and it’s a great way to sample new titles.
This year was a little different for me. Usually I go to my regular shop, Ray & Judy’s Book Stop, in Rockaway, N.J. but when I went there, they weren’t participating! After a quick Google search, I found that Funny Books in Lake Hiawatha was – and they delivered. Of the eight that I had initially scoped out, Funny Books had four. Not bad. I’ll live without them. And in the spirit of supporting local comic shops, I picked up the latest (and controversial) issue of Saga and the first issue of Great Pacific, which is new-to-me. Overall:
Purchased:
Saga #12 – Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples (Image)
Great Pacific #1 – Joe Harris (Image)
Picked-up: (We were limited to seven)
Superman: Last Son of Krypton (DC: Special Edition for FCBD)
Infinity – Jonathan Hickman and Jim Cheung (Marvel)
Kaboom! Summer Blast! (Boom Entertainment)
The Walking Dead – Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn (Image: Special Edition)
Mouse Guard/Rust flip book – David Peterson, Royden Lepp, and various (Archaia Entertainment LLC)
World of Archie Digest (Archie Comic Publications)
I debated for awhile to just buy the whole first volume of Saga, but opted out when I saw that the volume bound didn’t include the letters-to-the-writer section. They’re the best part!
Have you ever celebrated Free Comic Book Day?
Cassidy B. Charles 