Reminder: this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. This isn't a scam free-gift-with-a-timeshare-speech thing, this is a genuine day where you get actual free comics for totally no money.
Now, this isn't grab any book you want day. That's shoplifting. No, what happens here is a ton of comics publishers provide special edition books, usually all tagged FREE. Although some publishers do provide free stacks of unwanted older books they overprinted, which is always funny and sad at the same time.
The general idea is one free book per customer, no purchase necessary. Last year, my shop (Comic Store West! Woot!) did a cool thing: they allowed you to grab as many different free books as you wanted, with the caveat of a minimal donation to a local library for every book beyond the first. Something like 25 cents. That's great for folks like me who can't pick just one book.
There's definitely a bunch I want out of this year's batch. Gemstone is reprinting Carl Barks' first Uncle Scrooge adventure story, which is awesome. Wizard is a magazine-like book covering the top graphic novels OF ALL TIME. Archie is resurrecting a classic character that hasn't seen ink in quite a while, Katy Keene. Bongo is doing a Simpsons book, Dark Horse has a Revenge of the Sith book. And there's always a selection of anthology titles from the small press, which is where all the really good and fresh stuff is hiding. DC and Marvel, despite being the twin 600 pound gorillas in the room, always kinda cheap out on FCBD... instead of offering something special or new, they just reprint one of their latest All Ages books featuring their most marketable characters with a media tie-in: DC is doing the new WB Batman cartoon book and Marvel has a Spider-Man/Fantastic Four rerun.
So find your nearest comics retailer and get down there this Saturday. The free books don't last long.
