Free Comic Book Day 2016 marked the 15th anniversary of the comic-sharing celebration in comic book stores nationwide on Saturday, May 7.
Held on the first Saturday in May every year, primarily in the U.S. and Canada, this collaborative effort between stores, publishers and Diamond Comic Distributors aims to share the medium of comic books with everyone, and offers a chance for new publishers to get their work seen. This year’s collection of free comic books ranged from “Bob’s Burgers” comic book adaptations, to old favorites like “Love and Rockets” and the “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic series, to fresh new titles like “Worlds of Aspen 2016.”
The aim of Free Comic Book Day, or FCBD, according to the organization, is to bring new comic book readers into the medium by providing easily accessible comics for everyone.
“They are fun to read, featuring a wide range of diverse story lines that capture the imagination of the readers,” Blue Comic posts on freecomicbookday.com. “That’s worth celebrating in our book – we’re proud to be a part of this wonderful medium.”
I stopped by my local comic book store, Jupiter Comics of Collierville, Tennessee, to take part in the event. For such a small store, Jupiter Comics was filled to the brim with cosplayers outside the door and comic book fans young and old. The best sight was a small girl dressed up as Wonder Woman, holding a new Wonder Woman figure her mother was buying for her (since, in celebration of FCBD, everything in this store was 20 percent off.) You gotta get them started young!
I missed out on getting one of the Bob’s Burgers comics, but was able to pick up a special FCBD edition of Love and Rockets, an adorable comic called “Hilda” by Luke Pearson, worth picking up for the art style alone (think “Harvey Beaks” meets “Steven Universe” with a color palette so nice it just has to be seen) and a comic called “Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises,” which I had to pick up solely because a photo of Bruce Lee is front and center on the cover. You just can’t pass up awesome. This also gave me a chance to buy four issues of the “Invader Zim” comic book series, based on the 90s TV show of the same name, since everything in the store was dirt cheap.
Diamond Comics encourages anyone who got their hands on some amazing art today to use the hastag #FCBD2016 in order to spread the word.