Free Comic Book Day sees top creators like Gail Simone at local stores.
130+ comic shops globally offer more than just free comics on May 4th.
Exclusive sales, signings, and workshops feature heavily in celebrations.
Major artists and prizes draw fans for comic's biggest annual event.
This Saturday, the 4th of May, is Free Comic Book Day. And while thousands of comic book stores, bookstores, libraries and more will be giving away free comic books, here are a hundred and thirty-five stores doing a little bit more as well. Including personal appearances including the likes of Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Scott Snyder, Gail Simone, Kieron Gillen, Tony Harris, G Willow Wilson, Kieron Gillen, Dan Watters, Al Milgrom, Babd Tarr, Tini Howard, David Mack, Pornsack Picketshote, Melissa Flores, Terry Moore, Adam Hughes, Mark Bagley, Georges Jeanty, and Joe Pruett and many more across the world. Catch up with all of Bleeding Cool's FCBD coverage with this handy tag. If you'd like to add your store to a future article, contact me at richjohnston@bleedingcool.com.
England
Mega City Comics, 18 Inverness Street, Camden
So many great bargains to be had (£50 OFF some of the biggest ticket items!)
Gosh Comics, Bewrick Street, Soho, London. Local artists Yetunde Ekuntuyi and Clio Isadora decorating the store windows. Kids workshop give chance for children aged 6-12 to sit down and draw with invited comics artists, including Bog Eyed Books with Tor Freeman, Gary Northfield and Woodrow Phoenix, Flying Eye Presents a special workshop and activity table with artist Adam Allsuch Boardman, and Monster Fun crew, from Rebellion with Claude T.C., Ned Hartley and Ramzee.
1 pm creator of Hilda, Luke Pearson launching a Gosh Exclusive collection of his short comics and an exclusive signed print.
2 pm Guardian / Observer Cartoonists, Chris Riddell and Tom Gauld
3 pm Kieron Gillen, Ben Wheatley, Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard
Dead Universe Comics, 24 Great Western Street, Aylesbury. In both the store and the Friars Square mall area, 3 for 2 on graphic novels, all merchandise, and board games, and 25% off all back issues. In Friars Square mall, raffle and tombola
Forbidden Planet London Megastorefrom 10amto 4pm with a Watership Down: The Graphic Novel Signing Event with Juliet Johnson & Ros Mahony – the daughters of Richard Adams, and artist Joe Sutphin from 2-3pm.
Monster Comic Books,2155 E. University Dr. #109, Tempe,
Fill up a short box of $1.00 books for $50!
15 for $10 on $1.00 books
15 for $20 on $2.00 books
50% of select Graphic Novels
616 Collectibles back issues will be $2.00 a book!
Surprise Comics, 14763 W Cactus Rd, Surprise. Each attendee will get up to 10 free comics. There will be sales throughout the store. Guest artist Scott Serkland will be signing and sketching. We will have hourly giveaways, and the return of the Surprise Box!
Collectors Choice & Justice Comics, 7702 S Heather Dr, Tempe. Special guest, actress Michonne Bourriague of Aurra Sing in The Phantom Menace
BUY 1, GET 1 FREE on ALL Limited & Exclusive Variant Covers. (5+ short boxes worth to choose from plus our variant wall) $1 books: 2 for $1, $2 books: 10 for $15 20% OFF (green dot) recent back issues: 40% OFF, 20% OFF Justice Comics Back Issues Wall, all sets and trades, Slabs (up to $300, 10% OFF $300+) Spend $10 or more on any of the sales above and receive a FCBD Enamel Pin free
Arkansas
Conway Comics, 195 Farris Rd in Conway, 10am-4pm. In addition to tons of free comics, all of the other comics in the store will be just $1.00 each. Trades and HCs will also be 50% off!
B & B Collections1301 Stone St, Jonesboro, All Things Nerdy Expo with Claire Blackwelder, known for her role in Power Rangers Dino Charge. Local businesses will be participating in a bingo game, with prizes donated by them. There will also be vendors selling their products, food and much more.
King Kong Comics and Games, 6700 Amador Plaza Rd, Dublin. Grand Reopening for Free Comic Book Day. With creators Josh Morello, Nathan Price, Omar Morales, Shannon Brown, Rachel Ertassi, EJ West, Joe Coniglio, Enderslime, Sebastian H., Mini, Steven Yu, Phillip Ginn, Inkedsherbert, Jess Thomas, Jessica Jane Robinson, Dave Law, Mike Beavers, G House Studio.
4 Color Fantasies, 8045 Archibald Ave #120, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701
Signing from Mason Mendoza & Christopher Reda.
Third Eye Comics 20% off everything in-store. The first sixteen get a free Third Eye Shirt & Third Eye tote bag with one of the 16 bags at each location featuring a randomly inserted $50 Third Eye Gift Card!
Third Eye Annapolis, 209 Chinquapin Round Rd, Suite 200, Annapolis. Massive sidewalk sale events featuring $1 comics, 50% off graphic novels, and so much more!!!
Third Eye Lexington Park, 45315 Alton Ln, Lexington Park, massive sidewalk sale events featuring $1 comics, 50% off graphic novels, and so much more!!!
Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff, Oak Grove Plaza, Concord CA, the last FCBD at the location where the international event was founded. With guest artist/animator Bobby Rubio signing.
Comics & Collectibles, 1904 Fruitridge Rd, Sacramento. Signings by Landry Q. Walker, Brandon McKinney, Robert Love, Kyrun Silva, Ron Lim, Chris Wisnia, Megan Risk, and Michael Calero, plus an appearance by Star Wars cosplay fave @eldercosplay916, 75% off back-issue comics, 50¢ comics at the sidewalk sale, 25% off current, Silver, kids' comics, board games, Star Wars figures, toys, collectibles, including vintage!
TC's Rockets, 5151 Waring Rd, San Diego, all backstock comics regularly priced $5 or less will be just $1!
The Comic Bug, 1807 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Manhattan Beach, with guests Don Ho, Sable Nance, Christie Shinn, David Moreno,
The Comic Bug, 10814 Jefferson Blvd, Suite L Culver City, with guests Don Ho, Christie Shinn, David Moreno, David Pepose, Pornsak Picketshote, Norm Rapmund, Melissa Flores, David Mack.
Pulp Fiction Culver City with Nicolas Doan signing "there will be some other creators there as well and they always do a food drive on FCBD to support those in need."
Golden Apple Comics, 7018 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles.
Upcoming Steelbook releases of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Moon Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor, sees Disney giving away branded posters for each series, while Pink's Hot Dogs give away themed hot dogs including Obi-Wan Kenobi's The ReuBEN Kenobi Dog, Moon Knight's Khonshu's Fist, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier's All American and Andor's The Rebel Dog. Golden Apple Comics' Free Treasure Hunt includes a stop at Pink's Hot Dogs for the 2024 Free Comic Book Day issue of Marvel's Star Wars #1. Live podcast theater, creator signings, exclusive poster giveaways, live DJ Set and a treasure map, Cyclops is Waiting For Me and others GeekCasts. Signings for Magma Comix from 3-5pm. Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Darick Robertson.
Knowhere Games & Comics 125 Vallecitos de Oro ste J, San Marcos, including Creators Assemble, David Avallone and a raffle.
Florida
Emerald City Comics,4902 113th Ave N, Clearwater
SAVE 25% on ALL BOOKS & GRAPHIC NOVELS, ALL DAY LONG! All Guests can enter our FREE, ALL-DAY RAFFLE for a chance to win* one of FIVE COMPLETE SETS OF EC's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2024 COMICS!
Meetfrom 3pm to 5pm. Agents of SLABS will be here to accept CGC autograph and grading submissions. MOONIE BOBA TRUCK will be here with great boba drinks!
Famous Faces & Funnies. 3020 West New Haven Avenue, West Melbourne
Spend $5 each Saturday in May and on the last Saturday you'll be able to redeem it for a Marvel or Image graphic novel. Each artist will draw one FREE quick sketch per person, as time allows and our good friend Karl Moline will be visiting us on May 4th.
Yancy Street Comics, 5645 Main St, New Port Richey. Local businesses in the downtown New Port Richey area will be graciously donating gift certificates/gift cards to us for Free Comic Book Day and we will be randomly putting them into FCBD bags. Signings by Scott Reed, Sergio Cariello, Scott Spillman.
Georgia
Neighborhood Comics, 1205 Bull St. Savannah, with guests Rico Renzi, Tony Harris, Josh Hood, Shadia Amin, Edwin Galmon. Release of Neighborhood Comics Artists in Residence Vol 1, with Victor Alpi, Michael Lee Harris, Kendrick Mast, John Golden, Jamie Jones, Meredith Laxton, Jay Peteranetz, Kevin Betou.
Battlegrounds Games and Comics, 2708 Airport Road Dalton.
Large event this year, featuring artists Terry Moore, Adam Hughes, Joseph Michael Linsner with his wife Kristina, Jason Flowers, Grego Watson, Jyn Leonard, Bryan Silverbax & newcomer Adam Sanford. Lots of give-aways, the usual fare – free signings, a charity raffle for the American Cancer Foundation with signed statues and comics/art as prizes.
Dr. No's Comics & Games Superstore, 3372 Canton Road Suite 104, Marietta will host Mark Bagley, Georges Jeanty, and Joe Pruett. Selected (red-tag) graphic novels will be $3 TP, $6 HC regardless of cover price.
Cuts And Comics702 US-29, Newnan, is having Star Wars Day on May 4th giving away Star Wars swag bags to our customers…that include Star Wars comics
Galactic Quest, 125 N Clayton Street, Lawrenceville "10,000 people in attendance last year at Galactic Quest in GA. Help us break the record again in 2024! Galactic Quest in City of Lawrenceville won three major awards last year. This year is going to be even bigger"
Suzi Blake says "We'll be raffling prizes and hosting a children's superhero drawing competition. I'm also an active comic artist for Rick & Morty and Jacksepticeye, so I'll be there helping run the art competition and doodling on people's comics if they like!"
Aw Yeah Comics , 7925 Lincoln Avenue, Stokie. Guests: Art Baltazar, Kyle Faehnrich, Maria Wolf, Dave Landsberger, Greg Petre, Marc Koprinarov, get a free banana with the purchase of any Maria Wolf DC Comics APR-ril variant cover! 20% off sale, 25% off for subscribers.
Kansas
Elite Comics, 11842 Quivira Rd, Overland Park. Meet Kerry Callen of MAD Magazine signing his Free Comic Book Day book.
Kentucky
Comic Book World, 7130 Turfway Rd, Florence guests: Mark Kidwell from The '68 and The Gorgon. TC Anthony, author of The Batman Killer. Buy a copy of his first book and get a promo chapter for the second book in the series. Sword-swallowing and fire-eating skills.
Cards Comics and Collectibles, 51 Main St, Reisterstown, 10am – 7pm, creators Tom Raney, Matt Slay, Steve Conley 50% Off: Paperbacks, Hardcovers, Manga & Artist Editions & Modern Back Issue Bins
Massachusetts
That's Entertainment,244 Park Ave (Rte 9), Worcester "Get up to 5 Free Comic Books just for walking in! Wear your full Star Wars or comic book related costume and get $5 in store credit!! Then enter our costume contest for a chance to win more prizes!! We will also have 8 Comic book artists/creators offering to draw free sketches! Mike Lilly and Bob Almond will be teaming up! Ask to have a sketch from Mike Lilly inked by Bob Almond"
The One Stop Shop Solomon Pond, 601 Donald Lunch Blvd, Marlborough, location from 10am to 4pm, appearance by Keith Gleason & Amy Kukta
The One Stop Shop Woodruff Plaza, 1175 Main St, Clinton. 11am to 7pm , appearances by Ben Goldsmith & Ken Berube
New England Comics Malden, 95 Pleasant St, Malden. Tony McMillen debuting Attaboy graphic novel from Mad Cave Studios, Geoff Mosse, George O'Connor and Clay McCormack signing
Wild Time Comics, 701 Washington St, Attleboro, guest creators: Christopher Paniccia, Robert K. Bentley, Andrew LoVuolo, Ryan Santos, Michelle Correia, Jim Savard. Spin the Wheel of WOW for a Super Discount Sale Coupon of up to 70% off your purchases inside the store. Comics, Goodies, Gift Bags, Door Prizes. and Treats.
Michigan
Secret Crisis Comics,1165 South Main Street, Chelsea. Come meet the Amazon Princess, get a selfie, check out the amazing sales, buy some Girl Scout cookies, and pick up a few awesome free comic books.
Minnesota
Source Comics & Games, 2057 Snelling Ave N, Roseville, 10% discount store-wide that stacks with Adventure Club Card for 20% savings. Lots of local artists and creators will be on hand in-store.
Mitch Byrd, Steven Butler, Lily Butler, Derec Donovan, Brian LeBlanc, Roland Paris, Geoffrey Gwin, Bryan King, Andy Childress, Saga, Rachel Wallace, John Dell.
Missouri
Fantasy Shop – South County, 10560 Baptist Church Rd, St. Louis. Local comic creator Josh Sellers will be in store signing copies of his new graphic novel. Necromancy Coffee will be set up with coffee!
4352 Telegraph Rd, St. Louis. With guests Brian Atkins, Joe Wills, JD Boren sketching.
New Hampshire
Double Midnight Comics, 252 Willow Street, Manchester, 10am-5pm. Free Comic Con, movie cars, a video game truck, food trucks, lightsaber training, a scavenger hunt taking place in The Factory's event hall from 10 to 4. An array of artists, vendors, programming, more FREE Comics and more. For Star Wars Day the FREE Comic Con will feature Droid Racing, a Blaster Shooting Gallery and more.
New Jersey
Main Street Comics & Toys, 74 N Main St. Milltown, 25% off back issues, $1 comics for 50c, BOGOF on TPBs
Zapp! Comics 700 Tennent Rd, Manalapan. Signing from Dave Ryan and Brian Quinn.
Level Up Entertainment. 4403 Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing. Guests: Dexter Weeks, Chris Graves, Mark A Robinson, Sean Ahrendt, Mark and Chase Poulton, Super Thrash Bros.
East Side Mags, 491 Bloomfield Ave, Suite 102, Montclair, 20% OFF EVERYTHING in the store, food vendors, Paul Belliveau (10am-2pm) and Ava Schrager (3pm-7pm). ALL BIN BACK ISSUES at 50% OFF
Fat Moose Comics– New Jersey's oldest brick & mortar comic shop (est. 4/1/1982) will be participating in the FCBD glory/madness/reasontodrink.
Earth World Comics, 537 Central Ave, Albany. Alex Segura signing Dick Tracy from Mad Cave Studios. Free Comic Book Day Fest, with vendors lining the alley with locally created art, pop figures and this year, biggest raffle. for @northernriversfostercare
Pop Market Events, 236 Scottwood Ave, Elmira Heights
Celebrate Star Wars weekend by picking up complimentary comics from Heroes Comic Shop!
Join one of the many tournaments hosted by The Game Shoppe!
Meet the many comic creators attending Pop Market!
4th World Comics, Smithtown, 10am-9pm. Scott Snyder from 10am-12pm, Greg Pak from 10am-12pm, Joshua Hixson 12pm-2pm. 3 free comics per person. 20% off everything.
Royal Collectables, 96-01 Metropolitan Avenue, Forest Hills. Local vendors from NYC will be set up selling their home-made goods and crafts Jewelry, home goods, make-up, and more. Support local crafters and creators while supporting your local comic shop this FCBD
Forbidden Planet New York, with Anthony Del Col signing Kill Shakespeare
The Comic Book Depot, Inc. in Wantagh, NY will have John Broglia, Billy Tucci, Jeffrey Vaughn and Henry Martinez signing and sketching
New Dimension Comics, Pittsburgh Mills, with artist Dan Nokes, Anime Night (the band) will be performing a free acoustic concert at 4pm, and cosplayers from Cosplay for a Cause
New Dimension Comics, Waterfront, with writers Marvin Wynn, DP Brown, Aaron Dowen and cosplayers from Cosplay for a Cause
Bulletproof Comics Inc, 2178 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn. 10 free comics for all visitors, a massive in-store sale on new and back issues, and hosting Deniz Camp, writer of The Ultimates, artist Will Torres of The Boys, and artist AJ EarthTone Ampadu of Ninjak vs Roku. A CGC event.
Aw Yeah Comics, 313 Halstead Avenue, Harrison. Guests: Franco, Nikkol Jelenic, Jamar Nicolas, Sara Richard, Dan Parent, Chris Eliopoulos. Spend $30 or more and get 20% off your purchase. The first 10 people to spend $100 or more will receive a Gift Bag with a full FCBD set.
North Carolina
Ultimate Comics Cary, 1301 Buck Jones Rd, Raleigh
Gatchaman Signing Event Cullen Bunn, Steve Orlando and Tommy Lee Edwards launch Mad Cave Studios Gatchaman. With cosplayers, sales, an American Cancer Society Donation Drive, and more.
Ultimate Comics Durham, 3742 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham
Local artists and comic guests, photos with cosplayers
Ultimate Comics Fort Liberty, South Post Exhange, Canopy Lane, Fort Liberty
Local artists, photos with cosplayers
Ultimate Comics Raleigh, 6320 Capital Blvd #109, Raleigh
Local artists and comic guests and photos with cosplayers from The Variant!
Rebel Base Comics & Toys, 701 South Sharon Amity Suite C. Charlotte
Bringing out local artists and a bunch of stuff from the warehouse for a sidewalk sale.
Ohio
Packrat Comics3864 Lattimer Street, Hilliard. Purchases over $10 spent at Packrat Comics on May 4th, 2024, you'll earn a chance to win a lightsaber. Guests Dirk Manning, Matthew Spurlock, Natalie Haines, Tom Williams, Cutthroat Comics, Alex Clark, Crypt of Madness, Molly Durst, Bobby Hardy, Squared Circle Cosplay, Central Ohio Ghostbusters, FuzzyFrogFurSuits, Smash Buddies. Bounce House Inflatable, Free Comic Book Day Costume Contest at 1pm, Sensory Friendly 6-7pm, each person may select up to 3 free comics, purchase additional comics by donating non-perishable food items to food drive.
Plus over 60,000 comic books for just $1 or Fill-A-Long for $150, Fill-A-Short for $100.
TOYS $5! POPs $5! 30% Off Back Issues And GOODIE BAGS for everyone!
Oregon
Books With Pictures, 1401 SE Division St, Portland, In addition to the four free comics you can pick up just by stopping in the store on Saturday, you can get up to eight more free comics just by walking around the neighborhood and finding volunteers and completing the task they give you. Getting four or eight stamps for completed activities gets you a discount coupon to BwP for the whole month of May.
Excalibur Comics, 2444 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, signing for Battle Quest Comics
Cosmic Monkey Comics, 5335 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, signings with Justin Zimmerman for Steel Siege: Search and Rescue, John Burkett – Feral Star, Ben House & Barry Winfield – Kentucky Samurai. Aaron Humpries – Miranda: Fantasyland Tour Guide, Warren Montgomery – Will Lill Comics, Michael Leone – Oswald The Overman
Pennsylvania
Arkham Gift Shoppe, 4091 William Flynn Hwy, Pittsburgh,
20% OFF-All Graphic Novels!
20% OFF-Back Issues ($100 or Less)!
20% OFF-Toys, Games, Puzzles & More!
$10 Funko Pops! 3 For $25!
50% OFF-All Dollar Comics!
75% OFF-All Comic Sets
South Carolina
Borderlands Comics and Games, 410 S Pleasantburg Dr, Greenville,
$1 books are BOGO, Back Issues (on the floor) 40% off, Comic Supplies 20% off, Kids Rack 20% off, New Comics 20% off, Games 15% off, Graphic Novels 20% off
Meet artists: Jason Crosby, Donovan Hall, Brandon Hendricks, Deborah Norton, Lisa Peterson, Todd Plumblee, Mitch Rogers, Noah Sult, Michael Watkins
Tennessee
The Golden Age, 1942316 Court St, Maryville, Gail Simone as special guest. 35% off the entire store pick a short box and fill it for 50 dollars, All Funko Pops 14.99 and under are $5 each. Door prizes and raffles.
Infinity Flux Comics3643 Hixson Pike , Chattanooga, Get DOUBLE the free comics from 9-11amm 14 free comics per person. Staff member Andy Duggan is the artist for one of the Free Comic Book Day books this year: Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures This issue includes the first appearances of characters from the Disney+ Show.
Zeus Toys And Comics, 1334 Inwood Road, Dallas, BOGOF on graphic novels, toys, statues, back issues
Virginia
Third Eye Comics, 20% off everything in-store. First 16 get free Third Eye Shirt & Third Eye tote bag with one of the 16 bags at each location featuring a randomly inserted $50 Third Eye Gift Card!
Big Lick Comics, 3424 B Orange Avenue, Roanoke, Massive Sales, Guest Creators Mary.Ashe & Jesse Cobb, Star Wars & Big Lick Comic Con giveaways every hour
Lucky's Comics, Vancouver, Stefan Tosheff signing Kill Shakespeare
Australia
Kaboom Comics in Toowoomba City , Queensland, has local artist Will McLaren in-store along with Cosplayers.
Kings Comics, 283 Clarence St, Sydney, New South Wales
Kids 10 and under will enjoy free goodie bags and balloons and don't forget about our annual KINGS COSPLAY COMPETITION hosted by our very own resident cosplayers JEM Cosplay and Banshee Cosplay. The winners will be featured both in store and on our socials and will be "crowned" KINGS of COSPLAY with a cool superhero trophy and $100 to spend! Don't forget it's also STAR WARS DAY – "may the fourth be with you", so we're expecting some fantastic Star Wars Cosplay too! Additionally we'll be hosting Sydney's Premier Caricature Artist STEVE PANOZZO who'll be busy sketching THE BEST caricatures you've ever seen! So you better be early to score yourself an incredible drawing as sketches are limited.
ANNND, don't forget our ANNUAL FCBD SALE!!! With 20% OFF STOREWIDE!!!
FCBD hours are from 10am-6pm. We'll have various comic artists, comic writers, animators, sketch card artists, and cosplayers celebrating FCBD with us this year.
* Comic book BACK ISSUES in our bins – only ₱100 each regardless of tagged price. Buy 5 back issues, get 1 FREE!
* Graphic novels/TPBs/HCs/Omnibus – 20% OFF
* Wall & showcase comics – 20% OFF
* CGC & slabbed comics – 10% OFF
* Complete Comic Book Sets – 50% OFF
* Toys/Statues/Action Figures – 20% OFF
This year, we've partnered up with KITS FOR BULILIT to host a reading program for younger kids through comics.
Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from The Union Club on Greek Street, shops at Gosh, Piranha and FP. Father of two daughters. Political cartoonist.
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