robin2099

Went to about three stores but got everything I wanted at the first one. It's always fun to see all the people show up to the stores even though I wonder how many just go to get free stuff and leave.

Trevor

I feel guilty just taking the free stuff so I always buy something, usually bags or a box.

Why So Blu?

I'll repost your post: Snob much?

What was the purpose of your post to begin with? Clarify it then.

jjcool

This was the first time that I went out for Free Comic Book Day. The LCS I went to had a limit for two free books per person, plus one for posting their hashtag on social media, and two more if you were in costume. You could also get an extra book if you were a pull customer of theirs. I got the three books that I was after. Saw a few people in costume. Lots of families with small kids. In general it was nice to see lots of people in the store, which is something that I rarely see. It also seemed like very few people were getting just the free stuff, as the line to pay was actually quite long. I never like leaving there without getting something, so I checked the used trade section and found a copy of the first volume of Gotham Central. I figure I've seen many people mention it, I should check it out, and for $8 what do I have to lose. I was going to check out another store, but ran out of time.

matrixrok9

We setup a booth at Comic Bug in Culver City Teen Center. It was organized like a free comic con, even Stan Lee showed up at there shop.

Yes, the Stan Lee. They raffled off tickets and picked 100 winners to get his autograph.

Shannon Lee and Bernard Chang were there signing Bruce Lee Comics. I bought 2, 1 for me and 1 for a friend.

Pretty fun event. We gave out 250 free prints and it was gone by 2pm.

Trevor

That's pretty sweet. So, are you an artist?

Why So Blu?

Ended up snagging the civil war and captain america title from my library. Looks like they had extras that I missed on Saturday.

mrhan

Do most libraries do this? Or is it just the one near you?

Trevor

I checked three on Saturday. One I happened to drive by and had none; one I called and said Ken per customer so I didn't bother; one is next to a comic shop and had about 20 of the more kid-friendly ones no limit.

davidh777

Yeah, I wouldn't even read Barbie comics.

Why So Blu?

They should. I'd assume the larger libraries/systems would as opposed to small town ones. Our library had the comics by levels. Children, teens/young adult, and adult, etc.

Trevor

Don't! one per customer

Trevor

Freaking autocorrect. I meant "Doh!"

I think I'll quit internetting for the day.

mrhan

I did a search after asking you and it seems they do at several libraries up here in the Bay Area. Gonna try to hit 'em up next year.

story

Always trust your initial instincts.

VHS?

A lot of shops and library may still have the comics. I know a shop down the way still has several that they just leave up with a sign saying FREE.

davidh777

It was a weird FCBD for me. I usually hit two shops, but my plans changed and I had only a small window to hit my regular shop. Usually they restrict quantities, but there was no sign and no one saying anything, so I just grabbed what I wanted:

Suicide Squad
Captain America
Civil War
Serenity
Avatar Destroyer of Darkness
Captain America anniversary magazine

The annoying thing is that this shop usually has sales on everything, but there was nothing posted and no one saying anything. I finally noticed they had a stack of pieces of paper that listed some info about FCBD, but it was on the counter behind a line of customers. So I just got annoyed and decided not to get anything. I did go through a box of 50% off TPBs, and there was some stuff I was interested in, but nothing I NEEDED, and honestly I still run across books I bought on sale and never read, so I passed. The fact that I was on a time crunch made the decision easier.

I skipped the kids' stuff. I would've gotten Archie if I didn't already have the TPB. There was some guy sitting at a desk in the kids' room looking lonely who I later learned was "Indie writer Mike Greb selling and signing copies of his new book After the Gold Rush."

So all in all, it was a lackluster day, but I did get some interesting freebies. Also, the store had Wonder Woman and Rey cosplayers in front, and one mom asked if her daughter could get her picture taken with them, so that was pretty cute.

I'm sure they still have them, but my shops have never displayed them other than on FCBD so I assumed there were rules against it. One of my shops puts out issues from previous years, though the problem there is I never remember if I already have them.

Why So Blu?

I forgot about that Suicide Squad one.

matrixrok9

I have a clothing line I run with my bro. We do all the designs. We usually get a booth at Cons. This one was really fun as it was laid back and everyone was excited.

mrhan

A friend at work gave these to my today. Only one I really wanted.

Trevor

So on Free Comic Book Day I was able to snag 49 of the 50 books. Subsequent trips to local stores yielded no luck on finding the elusive Assassin's Creed book.

Yesterday, we took a trip an hour or so north to visit some family. I google-mapped comic stores in the area, as I'm wont to do, and found one a mile from the restaurant. Stopped by afterwards and found they still had a FCBD table with about 20 different titles. The very last book in the line? Assassin's Creed.

Trevor

Weird bump, but I didn't feel like making a new thread. Today is Dark Horse's 30th anniversary. I don't see any freebies digitally, but apparently most shops have something.

I could never give up my lifelong obsession with DC, but if I could only read books from one other company, Dark Horse would be an easy first choice.

Red Hood

As a retailer, let me tell you that Dark Horse dropped the ball on this. The sampler they sent sucks. They didn't do anything special for retailers to promote or any deals through Diamond so we could stock up on their inventory. Basically, it shows how much Dark Horse is struggling this days. They have gone in a downward spiral since they lost the Star Wars license a year and half ago. Almost nothing of what they have done since then has stuck with the readers and their current product is mostly mediocre.

They really need to grab a license to something big like Game of Thrones or Harry Potter to re-establish themselves. It seems that they keep losing their money makers like Hellboy, Goon and Mind MGMT and haven't been able to replace them at all. From what I've heard, they have become like Vertigo, somewhere that most writers and artist won't work because of their outrageous fees and one sided contracts. People are taking their ideas and books to Image, IDW, Boom and Dynamite or prefer to self publish instead of taking their stuff to Dark Horse. It's their 30th Anniversary but if they want to survive, they seriously need to re-structure the company.

Josh-da-man

No Harry Potter comics. From what I understand, J.K. Rowling won't let anyone do Harry Potter comics; and even if she did they would come out from DC because of the Warners connection.

Dynamite adapted the Game of Thrones novel, so they probably have that license.

Dark Horse still, as far as I know, has the Hellbly comics unless something has happened that I don't know about.

They still have the Buffy license, but after the early "Season 8" comics sold like gangbusters interest has cooled off and they're only selling about ten percent of what the earliest issues did.

majorjoe23

Dark Horse has Hellboy, but Mignola is ending it soon. But I don't know if spinoff books will continue.