Saturday was the annual FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. Started in 2002, it is a day where folks can step back in time and revisit the superheros that accompanied many of us through our childhood.
Truth is, they have changed a lot over the years. The awesome butt-kicking is still their, but many of your favorite authors now write comics and the level of sophistication of some would surprise many.
Free Comic Day is a magical one in the Crimespree world and some of our crew have decided to give you a peek into how they spent the day.
In St. Paul Minnesota:
Hey, all! Kate and I celebrated Free Comic Book Day here in Minnesota in shifts. While I was slaving away at work this morning, Red went early to our regular shop, the Source Comics and Games. Like a fly on the wall, she hung back, enjoying the free soda and snacks as well as the many cosplayers who came by the store.
And to get her stack of free books!
As soon as work was done, I went to the Source as well. By this time, it was wall-to-wall people! Local artist Christopher Jones (“Batman Strikes!”, “Young Justice”) was there doing commissions, as were more awesome cosplayers! After making sure I had my New 52 comic by DC, as well as the hardcover ARCHAIA sampler, I said “Thank you, Source” and ran home as quickly as I could.
We had plans to finish off FCBD the only possible way, with an afternoon showing of The Avengers!
Dan Malmon
Meanwhile in Milwaukee Wisconsin:
Ruth and I have been hitting Free Comic Book Day for a number of years now and we have a pattern we follow. We open the day at Collector’s Edge (South) as that is our “local”. I’m in there once a week and so it’s a nice start to the day. The parking lot was full and the place was packed, but we were early so we had the whole selection to choose from.


Wearing comic book shirts got us extra comics, so we actually got almost the whole selection by the end of the day. At this first stop owner Steve was like a well rehearsed orchestra conductor helping people find which comics to try while his staff was helping people find books to buy. There were loads of kids which always makes us happy to see. Ruth got a photo of a boy who picked up the Archaia book and he couldn’t wait to get home and read it. Some kids didn’t wait, the couch and chairs were filled with youngsters reading. Ruth also met a 5th grade teacher and they got to talking about books for him to introduce to his class.
Our second and third stops, Collector’s Edge West and Lost World of Wonders were much the same, loads of fans and a lot of kids with their  parents. From what I picked up in conversations a lot of people hit more than one store.
The main goal of the day is to get new readers in general for

comics, and each company is hoping to pick up new readers with what they are offering. It’s also a good chance to show some love for the stores and we did just that, buying books and comics at each stop. Ruth got some cool toys as well. I loaded up on some trade collections I’ve been wanting and also picked up some comics I’ve net read in a while.
Of the free books my hands down favorite is the hardcover Archaia put out. A beautiful book with great stories in it. Another favorite was the Serenity comics from Dark Horse. The DC and Marvel books are always fun and I really liked the Peanuts book and Barnaby from FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS was terrific.

We ended our journey with chili dogs at Martino’s Italian beef stand, a tradition we love. And of course the whole thing started out Friday night with a viewing of The Avengers (more on that soon).
If you’ve never been to FCBD you need to go next year!
 
Thanks to all the publishers for making these books and thanks to all the retailers for buying them to give out. You are all awesome.
Jon