Saturday marked the 16th annual “Free Comic Book Day” where the popularity of comic books, their influence on pop culture and their significance in the American consciousness was celebrated with specialty stores from Ukiah to Fort Bragg once again participating in the event giving out action figures, pins, and of course comic books, to the delight of customers and collectors.
Free Comic Book Day was first observed in 2002, born out of a desire by retailers to take advantage of the rising popularity of comic book themed movie projects and in an attempt to stimulate sales of the printed comics. Specialty stores experienced a slump in the mid 90s as a result of an overstock in comics dealer inventories and aggressive distribution and private speculators flooding the market.
Northern California retailer Joe Fields was the first to suggest in a trade magazine column that creators should try to capitalize on the public’s appetite for films based on popular comic book characters. Thus, according to Comic Buyer’s Magazine, the first FCBD was organized at the same time the first “Spider-Man” movie starring Tobey Maguire was released in the U.S. 16 years ago.
Ever since then on FCBD, traditionally celebrated the first Saturday in May, retail shops give away comics to tie in with the newest blockbuster films and to promote literacy. This year was no different with Marvel Studio’s latest release “Infinity War” making $1 billion in a record 11 days according to CNN media.
The success of the film proves that comic book heroes and genre films and comics are as popular as they have ever been, prompting the “Overstreet Guide to Collecting” a trade publication focused on pricing comic books, movie posters and tabletop games in a special publication commemorating the day to state “If you have any question about how awesome comic books are, think about where Hollywood would be without us. From the super-heroics of Avengers and Wonder Woman, to the crime story of ‘Road to Perdition’ and the slice-of-life tale of ‘Ghost World’ we have the stories!”
Ukiah’s Sword and Board shop participated in the event for the eighth year, while Blaqk Door in Fort Bragg joined in the celebration of comics for a fourth consecutive year. The Willits and Ukiah branches of the Mendocino County Library also joined in the giveaways, as did the Laytonville branch and the Friends of the Long Valley Public Library which encouraged kids to wear a superhero costume and sold bags of comics for $5. The Willits branch helped kids make a superhero cape in the afternoon hours.
“I always make sure to stop by and check out what books they have to offer each year,” said Ukiah resident Jeremy Silver as he stood inside Sword and Board surveying the tables where a myriad of colorful books rested. Customers were invited to pick up a copy of more than 50 titles to choose from this year.
“It’s fun and I like the way Marvel and other companies have been able to succeed in putting our fan favorites like Iron Man and the Hulk on the big screen,” he said, sporting a T-shirt emblazoned with his favorite Marvel heroes. “Those movies are always a ton of fun for me so I like to read about the comics that inspired them and what better day than today, it’s all free.”
Among the most interesting offers this year by independent publishers and studios is a revival edition of Terry Moore’s “Strangers in Paradise XXV.” This black and white offering from Abstract Studio repackaged for FCBD has been described as a slice of life romance and drama with overtones of a crime thriller by fans and critics. The 28 page long FCBD edition features story and art by Moore and a cover with colors by Steve Hamaker in addition to gorgeous character sketches as an added bonus.
This year’s lot of books also included offerings from Archie Comics in the form of a tie-in to the CW television series “Riverdale,” Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007, Star Wars, Spider-Man, as well as comics by lesser known publishers like New York-based Papercutz and Canada’s Chapterhouse Publishing.
