Travis McClain

When I went in 2009 they were unlimited. This year, there was a limit of five free comics per customer but that's because they're rationing the freebies to last through the week. To accompany drawing out the distribution of freebies, they're running a 20% off sale on all comics throughout the week. (For anyone in the Louisville area, I'm talking about The Great Escape on Bardstown Road.)

starman9000

Yeah, I'll probably swing by. We have two stores, one is usually unlimited, so I'm sure it got sucked dry by 11 by people who don't even want the stuff.

The other limits it, but I think they must hold for people, because they are usually out of stuff fast too.

davidh777

I thought stores could only distribute these on FCBD itself? I don't know the official rules but I don't think I've seen my LCS offer the issues offered on other days, though I'm pretty sure some of the ones yesterday were left over from last year.

Travis McClain

I dunno. They've got an official-looking FCBD banner outside announcing that their promotion is running all week. Maybe the industry realizes that local shops may not get the boost they need on just one day. Maybe it was an allowance for a shop in a city dominated by the Kentucky Derby on FCBD. Maybe this shop just went rogue. I have no idea!

starman9000

I got lucky, mine still had everything I wanted, and big piles of all of them actually.

Travis McClain

Since the idea has been raised about people just showing up for the freebies, show of hands: who actually bought anything? Any unexpected finds? For that matter, did anyone see any actual children in their comic shop?

starman9000

I didn't buy today, but did look around. I'll be back on Thursday for my pickup. The worker said there were kids in yesterday though, so that's good. I'll probably bring my daughter next year, but not my son. The store is just too small for me to have a 3 and 4 year old to keep an eye on.

Patman

I took photos for my LCS on FCBD, and, yes, there were lots of kids that showed up with their parents to the event (plus having 10 cent comics helped bringing people to the store, as well as the free comic titles):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patcave...7626673620828/

I also checked out another store that allows for 1 of each free comic, so I picked up one of each free comic title (about 20 titles), and also bought 1 comic at cover price just so I wouldn't feel too terrible about doing so.

Trevor

I think I've been working the first Saturday in May for at least the last 5 years, but finally had this one off and decided to venture into a comic store for the first time in quite awhile.

I wandered into Beyond Comics in Frederick MD and picked up a couple freebies (limit of 3). Was wandering the mass of people looking at what new titles look like now, and walked by an artist table. No one else was near, and I felt like I had to say something, even though I'm pretty much "out" of comics. I said hi, and that I'm sorry that I couldn't say much more as I was out of comics for most of the last 10 years and wouldn't know who he was.

As I finished that sentence my eyes glanced to the name placard on the table and saw that it was Mark Wheatley. I think I literally gasped and said, "Holy Crap, I do know you!" I think I recovered from my embarrassing opening to properly thank him for the work of his I've loved over the years. Bought a hardcover Fables book with a sketch by him, and he added another little sketch inside for me as well.

His often collaborator, Marc Hempel, was also there, most famous for his run on Sandman I imagine. These two were huge back in the early mid eighties as independent companies emerged, and I've always loved their stuff.

I think I stammered through conversations with both that weren't too horrible for them, but I wish I could do them over again, properly prepared. I was absolutely shocked to be able to meet two artists that I actually knew and loved at such a small store (actually, quite nice for a current comic shop I guess) in a not huge town.

starman9000

That's awesome Trevor! I haven't read those yet, but they are next on my list.

PhantomStranger

FCBD is a weirdly executed event for the industry. As someone that rarely shops anymore at a comic book store, a lot of the free comics are pretty mediocre. This year's lot were particularly suspect, as even the covers were not that enticing. If some of those comics had been my first and only exposure as a kid, the industry likely would not have had me as a fan growing up.

It is also strange how shops approach the day. Some offer big discounts and have artists on site, while others barely do anything. Three of the four shops I attended had no actual sale on anything, except for the free comics.

Josh-da-man

That sucks.

Weren't quite a few of these original stories? Pretty sure the Elric one from BOOM! was, as was the "Locke and Key" book from IDW.

I'd be pretty pissed if I was a regular customer and reader of a title and couldn't get an original FCBD book from a title I followed because of a store policy.

Seems to sort of defeat the purpose of FCBD, where people are supposed to be able to sample upcoming titles.

Trevor

I think a lot of it stems from the fact that they aren't really free. The shops pay for each freebie, and I guess they think that the benefit of allowing each person to grab a dozen or two titles, costing them several dollars total, isn't worthwhile.

One store owner told me they pay about 40 cents per freebie. Not sure if that is true, but I remember hearing over the years that none of them are really free.

The Valeyard

My usual store had a limit of 2 comics per customer and yes, each store pays for the free comics. My local guy said "they" (don't know if he meant the companies or Diamond) steadily raise the prices each year.

I hit a bigger store in Pasadena and they had a limit of 10 comics per person. I ended up just picking a few titles and the kids running the store started recommending stuff and packed my bag with more comics. Not going to complain tho neither store had the Tick comic.

Both stores had more traffic than previous years. And there were noticeably more mothers and kids running around inquiring about comics. It brought a smile to my cynical fanboy face to see youngsters racing back and forth looking for other comics to buy ("Mom! They make Teen Titan comics!")

starman9000

Sadly, those same kids probably got crushed when their parents saw that they charge $4 for a comic now and told them to put it back on the shelf.

Travis McClain

The Great Escape in Louisville had Steven Bowman, creator of Astonishing Tales. I overheard parts of his conversations with a couple of guys who seemed as though their whole purpose for being in the store was to converse with him. Seemed like a nice enough guy, friendly and indulging their desire to speak with a pro, but I had never heard of him or his work. In fact, the only thing I cared about was that his table was put up in front of the 25¢ bins, which I had intended to raid.

I can appreciate what you're saying about underwhelming titles, but I can't wrap my head around rejecting comic books altogether on their basis. The majority of us became fans without free comics (unless they were gifts from someone). I remember simply being curious one day, staring at a spindle of comics at a gas station or pharmacy and discovering there were comic books based on G.I. Joe and Transformers, and pleading with my mom to buy me one of each. That was that for me.

Which brings me to another point: How aware are non-readers of FCBD in the first place, except through word of mouth from friends, family or co-workers/classmates? The reason I ask is that I can only even think of two classmates I had from Kindergarten through graduating high school who would have even known about FCBD (had there been one). My mom wouldn't have had a clue about it to even take me to one.

Not really "strange." Many comic shops don't have artists or writers living in the area to bring in, or can't afford them if they do. As for sales, you've got to remember that the whole point of FCBD is that the freebies are the lure.

The only real place for a lot of stores right now to run discounts is on back issues. It does seem to me that a shop should at least designate a selection of back issues to be on sale. Maybe pull some dust collectors that connect with the freebies. "Oh, I see you picked up the free Green Lantern. Did you see the box of GL comics on sale today?"

There's always two philosophies to economic down times: cut prices, and raise them. I personally favor cutting whenever possible, and back issues are already owned by the shop so those seem like a sensible place to cut prices to me, but then I've never owned a comic book shop. (My family did own a consignment shop for 20 years and I helped run it for the last seven, and we periodically had comics there.)

Speaking of the free Green Lantern issue, I liked the Hal Jordan origin story. Nothing new to me, of course, but I thought it was one of the better re-tellings I've seen. The "Flashpoint" teaser was kind of interesting, but then I saw the massive checklist and decided I'll pass outright. Those kinds of 20+ issue epics are what chased me out of comics in the mid-90s.

I also read the free Tick issue and adored it. The majority of it are character profiles, which were comprehensive (especially the one of The Tick himself). I loved the animated series, wasn't big on the live action series originally but liked it when I streamed it last year from Netflix. The funny thing is, I only recently bought my first ever Tick comics when I found an assortment at Half Price Books on a night I had just traded in some DVDs and had some credit to spend. I still haven't read them because there are lots of gaps in each series I'll want to complete first, so this was actually the first Tick comic I've ever read.

stingermck

We could get 4 issues each at one of my LCS, and also some posters and the GL Hero Clix. Lots of kids at my store, and they had people dressed up as Batman, Spider-Man, Storm Trooper, etc which was a hit with the kids. They also did free face painting. Sales were 50% off recent singles, 30% off Silver Age, and 10% off toys. The store has a $1/3/5 toy box and lots of kids were buying out of it. I saw several parents buying comics for themselves after seeing the free ones. Overall a good event.

Trevor

Haven't read any of the free books yet, but did take advantage of the sales to pick up a few back issues and a couple of complete series bundles. One I'm hopeful about is a Vertigo Un-Men series, as I was a huge Swamp Thing fan from his 1970s origins through the Alan Moore and Rick Veitch years.

musick

delete

davidh777

I took my kid and she picked out a couple freebies (and I used her allocation to get a couple more, heh) and some TPBs at 35% off (everything in the store was discounted). I also bought some TPBs and 100-page Super Spectaculars, around $85 total. So I wasn't a complete loss for them, though I'm sure they didn't make much margin.

There were a number of other kids there too.

There's another LCS within easy driving distance of me and they don't really do an event. They put out the free stuff and that's about it. I often drop by there too to get the ones I didn't get at my usual store but didn't really have the time or motivation Saturday, especially since I didn't figure I'd be picking up anything else there. Drive 10 minutes each way for 2 or 3 freebies? I didn't need the Floyd Gottfredson freebie that badly--I'll save the gas and pick up the actual book instead.

Groucho

I took my kids, and they had fun. But we didn't buy anything -- it was too crowded to browse. But I told them we'd come back another day and let them shop around.

Trevor

Man how I loved those things back in their day. New stories, first exposures to classic Golden Age stuff, humor pages and text pieces; couldn't get enough of them. If I truly am "back into comics", and get myself organized, I'm going to try to collect every DC 100-page Super Spectacular.

davidh777

I loved them too! The ones I got are new "DC Presents" Supers--a couple Batman things, some Gene Colan thing--that use the same branding but appear to be new self-contained stories for a price tag of $7.99. I admit I'm a pretty big sucker for these under-$10 books they've been putting out. Some of them follow the classic format of a new story plus some older material. One I picked up recently was all THUNDER Agents reprints. And they're cheaper than TPBs with material that might never appear in that format. (I know that TPB discounting probably brings them pretty close, but I also feel like these support my LCS without having to store and deal with floppies.)

Since everything was on sale, I probably should have checked out some "classic" Super Spectaculars as well, but there was a huge line right in front of the back issues I would have wanted (like Legion of Super Heroes) so I probably wouldn't have spent too much time digging anyway.

Thanks for the story on meeting those authors!

fujishig

Since you're in my general area, which LCS's do you recommend/did you go to?

The Valeyard

My usual haunt is DJ's Universal Comics in Studio City. I've been going to Cat's place for 20 years now. He's a great guy and the store is so much better now that he's moved to an upstairs location. Biggest plus - 30% off of new comics.

When I can't find something specific at Cat's (like an Indie title), I hit The Comics Factory in Pasadena. It has a great section of smaller independent titles and hardcover/paperbacks. The staff is really friendly and happy to find a title for you if they don't have it in stock.

There are plenty of others but these are the two I stick to on a weekly basis.