Free Comic Book Day is here! Share your experience

[nutflush76]

My guy had a limit of one book, 2 if you bought something, and 3 if you wore a costume. I didn't go in a costume, but I did buy something. I got a TWD and Oni's The Strangers. My son got a TMNT, My daughter got the one with the horse on the cover, and the Valiant book "slipped" into my bag

I'll probably get some more on Wednesday, because he had a bunch left over last year and with those kind of limits on the books he probably will again.

I kinda like this setup because it limits what the "freeloaders" get and rewards loyal customers who actually come back.

Oh, I didn't see the Valiant masters book at my store either.

[slym2none]

TWD book seems to be one to get - some are already selling (with "rare" in the description - ) for $10 or so.





-slym

[caniac]

TWD book seems to be one to get - some are already selling (with "rare" in the description - ) for $10 or so.





-slym

Mouse Guard has been selling around $7.00 or so...

[slym2none]

I said this elsewhere on the web - it is sad that people take FCBD comics and rape a profit out of them.





-slym

[hawkeyeps]

Man, No Valiant Masters for me.. I checked Midtown and its 40 bucks to ship a Free Comic to Canada! Score!

If anyone can help me out with that one, plus no ValiantFans Variant for me since Nonplayer didn't drop them off at my LCS, which is cool.

Your book is on the way from Miami I'm tracking it, they are coming to me then I am sending to Nonplayer and I'm sure he'll get it to you as soon as he can. International shipping is a *SQUEE*.

As for my FCBD experience I was up to my neck in work just like last year so I couldn't make it to a shop until 5:30 and it was scorched earth by then. Luckily my LCS has them set aside for me.

One cool thing was I visited the shop I bought my 5 bundles from and when I was there on Wednesday he had like 20 of them, today one bundle on the shelf. I asked him about the FCBDS and was SOL but I asked how it was and mentioned how the bundles are almost gone. He said he knew, he's been pushing them. He ordered as many as he did because I told him to or so he said. Many of these were sucked up today which was good to see and cheers to Kelly from Redd Skull Comics for backing Valiant.

[Burrito Boy]

I didn't make it to Free Comic Book Day. And on top of that, thelocal Goodwill had already sold the Edgar Rice Burroughs book I had my eye on. But I got a free McWrap at McDonalds by using a coupon. So I got something free after all. Oh, and I got an empanada at the local Mexican market. So it turned out to be a pretty good day.

[jmatt]

My store had a 2 Free Comic limit and an additional book for every $10 ya spent. They also had Rags Morales signing books! I didn't have any more books for him to sign since he signed 38 of 'em for me last year at the Allentown Comic Convention but it was nice to see him again.

The store had plenty of the Valiant FCBD books and the Valiant Masters FCBD book, as well as many of the $1 Debut 5-packs. I took a bunch of the 5-packs and slipped them in on the FCBD tables hoping to generate interest. But then I saw people scooping them up thinking it was free so I returned them to their place on the regular issue shelf. I took half the stack and turned it around so people could see the X-O image on the back, it's got more eye appeal than the front.

[bygranddesign]

My LCS, Superhero Beach @ Jacksonville Beach, allowed you 3 FCBD comics - so I got Valiant 2013, Valiant Masters and got TWD. They were also offering $1 back issues so I picked up some Harbinger and Bloodshot issues that I was missing. Also got the one dollar debut - bundle pack!

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Went to two spots today. First was Golden Apple in Hollywood. Met Christos Gage, who signed his FCBD book, "Absolution". I said, "so, you'll be writing Bloodshot for Valiant, right?". And he goes, "uhhh, I can't talk about that..... did you hear that online?" I said yes, to which he replied, "well, yes I am, but it's not JUST Bloodshot." So I say "Bloodshot and The HARD Core?" and he said yes. I know that's old news, but wanted to share that exchange.
Also, got a sketch of Maggie Simpson from Bongo artist Scott Shaw. Then you can go into the store and get 3 FCBD comics. Got my Valiant, TWD, and TMNT. Also, they had a free Marvel Infinity Comic for free on the other side of the store.

Then I went to Collector's Paradise in Pasadena. I'm sure everyone on the board knows Ed. I got to say hi to him briefly, and was #9 for a sketch from Whilce Portacio! He only did 10 sketches, and I got a sweet Beast from him! $10 donation to charity, well worth it! Long line for sketches from him and the others.
There were both Valiant FCBD books, you could take 6 of whatever you wanted, and other artists sketching as well.

On a side note, Geoff Johns was signing at Golden Apple, but the line was already HUGE, and I was with my 3 year old, and not waiting on any more lines with her.

Glad to hear so many tales of FCBD, and share my own!

[daydreamscomics]

Our FCBD was INSANE.

From the moment the door was unlocked at 10am until about 5pm, there were consistently 15-25 customers in the shop at pretty much all times. Had a limit of 5 books per person.

We literally ran out of every FCBD comic except for about 5 different titles around 3pm. This was after going through my back room and putting out everything I could find from last year, any Marvel freebies I had sitting around, literally anything I could find...

By the end of the day at 7pm, I had LITERALLY FOUR comics left. Four. And I ordered every title available, in quantities of 10 - 100. We basically gave out 1,400 comics today, and it wasn't close to being enough!

Completely blew away my expectations. It just gets better every year. Our total sales number from today KILLED last year, and last year WE HAD THE BEST SALES DAY IN THE HISTORY OF THE STORE (I'm talking 27 years of history here).

We also ran a fund raiser for the Iowa City Animal Center, and raised over $550 in one day! SO STOKED!!!

We had Jason Aaron & Phil Hester as guests, along with one of my customers, Eric Gapstur, who now inks most of Phil's stuff.

What a day. So ready for bed!

[Baramos]

Does anyone know where to get a digital copy of the Valiant FCBD 2013? It doesn't seem to be on Comixology even though there were about a dozen other publishers FCBDs on there.

I assume they will do a digital version because the 2012 one was digitized on Comixology. Maybe it will just take a few days.

[drmirage]

I missed FCBD today due to STAR WARS DAY.

"May the Fourth Be With You!" Lol.

I did have my LCS save the Valiant FCBD books and I ended up with a few Star Wars UCS B-Wings

[caniac]

I missed FCBD today due to STAR WARS DAY.

"May the Fourth Be With You!" Lol.

I did have my LCS save the Valiant FCBD books and I ended up with a few Star Wars UCS B-Wings

[AnthonyF]

I was at Big Bang comics outside Pittsburgh PA, they had Pat Oliffe (Spider-girl, Untold tales of Spider-man) stop in and do sketches.

The store managed to give away most of the FCBD comics they had. They encouraged us to take as many as we wanted, especially the kids. And there were kids there! Plus I was glad they had both Valiant comics in stock, and I loved the EW promo ad (a la Eternal Warrior 4)!

[BugsySig]

I missed FCBD today due to STAR WARS DAY.

"May the Fourth Be With You!" Lol.

I did have my LCS save the Valiant FCBD books and I ended up with a few Star Wars UCS B-Wings

Last year I think they released it the following Wednesday.

[kevinbastos]

I was in Pittsburgh Comics - my LCS - and picked up a bunch of free stuff. Had a line - FORTY MINUTES OF WAITING to check out. Wore my Shadowman shirt. Complimented a guy in front of me who had a stack of them Still selling all back issue Valiant books $1 each.

His special was all of his overstock for $1 each. There was tons. Maddie picked up a few of the covers, too.

Plus - started the day in the Pittsburgh Strip District to pick up coffee, fresh mozzarella, imported chorizo, basil, A Ronaldo outfit for my eight year old. Then FCBD. Ate a hot dog at Pittsburgh Comics. Then off to Soccer pictures, then soccer game. Television busted when I got home (still under warranty - YEAH! Month to fit it - ARE YOU *SQUEE* KIDDING ME?) Then laundry, cinco de Mayo Margarita (Yes, Quataro - I know...)

SOUND SLEEPING.

[chriskay99]

Went to my LCS here in Simi Valley where you could pick up any 6 free comics each hour. Got to the shop just before 11 (they opened at 10) and they had everything still there in stock. The free comics were off to one side of the shop and were pretty swarmed. They were having a fundraiser for the troops with bunch of food trucks in the mall outside so I think it was a pretty high traffic day at the mall between FCBD and the food trucks. Went back during the second hour to get some more books. They were having a 20% off everything sale in the store and there seemed to be a very steady line for the cash register so I hope it did well for them.

[IanAlexavier]

Went to my local shop and they had NO FCBD books left


So I picked up some Dollar Debut books

Some libraries had the FCBD books around here.. I think I will check with them tomorrow to see what was left over if any.

[Dr. Solar]

I was with Aloe Vera, I brought her to her first Free Comic Book Day.

We went to the Isotope, and I thought they opened at 10, but instead they opened at 11, so we walked over to Brian Hibb's shop, Comix Experience. He does a 3-comic limit except for kids (which I don't understand, since I imagine that the majority of his customers are adults). I bought a book or two from him as well. His shop was pretty empty.

We got to the Isotope a little after 11, it was slammed! Packed with people. James Sime lets everyone take whatever they want, no limits, so I got everything that looked interesting to me. As I was picking up books, he let me know he had already stashed away the Valiant books in my pull box. James is the man, he takes care of folks well.

he also had a young kid (like 10 years old) set up in his shop selling the comic he makes, that is made on a copy machine. He was selling the book for $3, so of course I bought one and had him sign it.

I bought the Punk Rock Jesus trade and the third Buffy trade (Aloe's been reading them and likes them), and another book or tow. Aloe bought the first Saga trade. She got 15% off for it being her first Foursquare check in at Isotope, that was great. James had a long line of folks buying stuff at his store the entire time I was there.

Imagine that! Make your comic store awesome, and people will come and shop there a lot! I love the Isotope.

Then we went and watched Iron Man 3. It was great. The best Iron Man film of the three.

Then we went and had margaritas and tacos for a Cinco de Drinko party up at Cal.

It was a nice day.

[Chiclo]

She got 15% off for it being her first Foursquare check in at Isotope, that was great.

What is that? Is that a twitter thing?

[Dr. Solar]

She got 15% off for it being her first Foursquare check in at Isotope, that was great.

What is that? Is that a twitter thing?

No, it's a Foursquare thing

It's a location, check-in based social internet service.

I assume that doesn't mean a ton to you, so it's like twitter, except you say where you are, instead of what you are doing.

[jdmoonie77]

I went to my local LCS Laughing Ogre in Northern Virginia and when my man Steve handed me a ginormous stack it was filled with all my Shadowman#0 and HW#2 books including all variants, 2 sets of Dollar Debuts Bundle Packs, 1 set of 5 Dollar Debut separates, 3 Valiant FCBD, 3 Valiant Masters, X-O Vol. 2 trade, Shadowman Vol. 1 Trade and A Harbinger#1 Gold. I love those guys they are the best. Then I went to Third Eye Comics in Annapolis Md and got Joshua Dysart and Duane S. to sign my 2012 and 2013 FCBD issue (those two cats were the only sinatures I was missing for my 2012 FCBD book since everybody signed mine at Baltimore Con last year). I took a pic and posted on Valiant Twitter account. I called my LCS and they told me all the Bundle packs were gone,they ordered 10 packs and only had 6 issues left of each Dollar Debut book. They were left with 5 2013 Valiant FCBD and 2 Valiant Masters, They ordered 100 each of the FCBD books. I'd say it was a very sucessful day for Valiant around these parts!!!!

[pixierosa]

We don't have a comic shop here (I've moved to a new town recently) but we do have a Hastings store, which was participating in FCBD. We went in the morning, and the clerk mentioned that they had some people waiting for the shop to open. This is a small town, so hearing that is good. Hastings let you pick 10 free. They had the Valiant Masters and the Valiant FCBD offering. Unfortunately, the Dollar Debuts were by order only.

Like Dr. Solar, we also went to Iron Man 3.

We checked back in at Hastings later that evening, and they didn't have any FCBD offerings out anymore - they told us they were out.

It was a good day. If I had eaten ice cream for supper, it would have been perfect.

The next day we hit a comic expo (a conference room in a hotel with several traveling dealers set up in it) and found some good picks.

Incidentally, my kids got to attend FCBD in our old hometown, which has a LCS. There was a long line despite rain and cold, as well as Darth Vader and some of the 501st. They each got a prepackaged bundle of comics plus got to pick out an additional 4. My daughter was disappointed there wasn't any My Little Pony offerings but was happy about the Spongebob.

[grendeljd]

Lotsa great stories here -

I was extremely pressed for time Saturday, getting ready for my wife's first artshow/Con on Sunday and prepping for house guests arriving Saturday evening - but I did manage to get over to my LCS around 3pm. They had a good set-up going, tables full of the freebies and the store was packed all day long at that point. Everyone was allowed 4 comics, plus 2 extra if they brought a food donation [which I did] & an additional 4 free books if you had a library card too. Pretty fair. Most of the FCBD's were heavily picked over by the time I got there, but I still nabbed the two Valiants and I can barely remember what else; TWD, uh...

They also had Richard Comely [creator of Captain Canuck comics] & Michael Walsh [artist on image's recent series 'Comeback' - he is a local from Hamilton] signing for part of the day, though they were gone when I got there.

I also picked up my 10 ordered bundles of the $1 debuts - to be re-distributed out when I get my VF FCBD copies to include.

[MarkRoseHFX]

All of the shops around here slap a sticker or stamp on the FCBD issues so I didn't bother