Free Comic Book Day 2011

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Wed May 11, 2011 2:30 pm

Danscomics wrote:
Trev wrote:I got the 200AD sampler, which I'm reading now and loving it. I have no idea why there would be a FCBD version of 2000AD and after the judge dredd story it says 2000AD every Wed.

Does anybody know if they are actually going to start selling 2000AD new issues here in the states? I've only ever seen back issues and trades . . .
I don't know much about 2000AD. I can tell you that every month there is a 2000AD pack solicited in Previews that contains multiple issues. The one in May's issue is marked as July 2011 and contains issues 1741-1744. It has an on sale date of 9/14.

I'm afraid that is all I know because that is all Diamond tells me. I have never actually ordered one to see what it was.

wow. I have *never* seen any shop sell this. in fact, I can't remember us ever discussing it on the previews call either. it's like this has been a big blind spot for me.

I've seen trades, but never singles. And I think the trades are usually broken by storyline rather than anthology, aren't they?

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Wed May 11, 2011 2:37 pm

Trev wrote:
Danscomics wrote:
Trev wrote:I got the 200AD sampler, which I'm reading now and loving it. I have no idea why there would be a FCBD version of 2000AD and after the judge dredd story it says 2000AD every Wed.

Does anybody know if they are actually going to start selling 2000AD new issues here in the states? I've only ever seen back issues and trades . . .
I don't know much about 2000AD. I can tell you that every month there is a 2000AD pack solicited in Previews that contains multiple issues. The one in May's issue is marked as July 2011 and contains issues 1741-1744. It has an on sale date of 9/14.

I'm afraid that is all I know because that is all Diamond tells me. I have never actually ordered one to see what it was.
wow. I have *never* seen any shop sell this. in fact, I can't remember us ever discussing it on the previews call either. it's like this has been a big blind spot for me.

I've seen trades, but never singles. And I think the trades are usually broken by storyline rather than anthology, aren't they?

I list them every month on my site for preorders, never had any interest though. I guess just further proof that my site is a little overlooked corner of cyberspace (which I have actually known for a while).

If anyone is interested in the Ones I mentioned they are on their site and I would be happy to try and get a hold of the earlier ones if there is interest.

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Wed May 11, 2011 3:41 pm

Danscomics wrote:
Trev wrote:
Danscomics wrote: I don't know much about 2000AD. I can tell you that every month there is a 2000AD pack solicited in Previews that contains multiple issues. The one in May's issue is marked as July 2011 and contains issues 1741-1744. It has an on sale date of 9/14.

I'm afraid that is all I know because that is all Diamond tells me. I have never actually ordered one to see what it was.
wow. I have *never* seen any shop sell this. in fact, I can't remember us ever discussing it on the previews call either. it's like this has been a big blind spot for me.

I've seen trades, but never singles. And I think the trades are usually broken by storyline rather than anthology, aren't they?
I list them every month on my site for preorders, never had any interest though. I guess just further proof that my site is a little overlooked corner of cyberspace (which I have actually known for a while).

If anyone is interested in the Ones I mentioned they are on their site and I would be happy to try and get a hold of the earlier ones if there is interest.

yeah, that must be what a lot of shops do. Fill them out of Previews by order but never stock them. I called my LCS and had them start ordering for me.

and there you go. FCBD works.

abysslord · Post by **abysslord** » Wed May 11, 2011 9:25 pm

Danscomics wrote:
BobBretall wrote:
Danscomics wrote: However, the ad for Idolized has me intrigued (I hadn't seen it before). I think I might give it a shot when it comes out.
That's something where I'd have liked to have seen a few story pages, or even a couple of paragraphs of text describing what the premise is.
Very true, that would have been nice. I may very well change my mind about it once the solicits come out, it's not on my "must get" list just from the ad, just on my "this is worth keeping an eye on" list.

I definitely think they under utilized their FCBD book, but I expected that from past experience with their FCBD books.

I just read it and wow, you guys were right. What a terrible free comic to get people interested in Aspen.

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Thu May 12, 2011 7:18 am

Trev wrote: yeah, that must be what a lot of shops do. Fill them out of Previews by order but never stock them. I called my LCS and had them start ordering for me.

and there you go. FCBD works.

Glad to hear it. I love to hear people going to their LCS and giving them business, even if it does keep them from buying from me.

IanG · Post by **IanG** » Mon May 16, 2011 12:05 pm

I'm working my way through all the free comic book day offereings. I went back to my LCS the Wednesday after FCBD and they had a lot of freebies left and you could take as many as you wanted.

FCBD is mostly stuff for kids this year which is a good idea, new blood is needed. My quick thoughts are below. What did you all think of your FCBD comics?

Gold Comic Books

Ape Entertainment: KIZOIC PRESENTS: KUNG FU PANDA/RICHIE RICH FLIP BOOK
Archaia Entertainment: DARK CRYSTAL/MOUSE GUARD FLIP BOOK
Archie Comics: BETTY & VERONICA
BOOM! Studios: DARKWING DUCK/RESCUE RANGERS FLIP BOOK
Dark Horse Comics: AVATAR: LAST AIRBENDER/STAR WARS: CLONE WARS FLIP BOOK
DC Comics: A SPECIAL TOP-SECRET PROJECT!
IDW Publishing: LOCKE & KEY
Image Comics: ROBERT KIRKMAN KID-FRIENDLY TITLE
Marvel Comics: SPIDER-MAN
Papercutz: GERONIMO STILTON & THE SMURFS FLIP BOOK

Silver Comic Books

Archie Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog
Aspen: WORLDS OF ASPEN 2011
Bluewater: THE MISADVENTURES OF ADAM WEST
Bongo Comics: BONGO COMICS FREE-FOR-ALL! 2011
Boom! Studios: ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST
Dark Horse Comics: BALTIMORE/CRIMINAL MACABRE FLIP-BOOK
DC Comics: YOUNG JUSTICE/BATMAN: THE BRAVE & THE BOLD SUPER SAMPLER
Drawn + Quarterly: JOHN STANLEY'S SUMMER FUN
Fantagraphics: Walt DISNEY'S MICKEY MOUSE
Gemstone Publishing: OVERSTREET GUIDE TO COLLECTING COMICS 2011
History Graphics Press: CIVIL WAR ADVENTURE
Image Comics: ARTIFACTS #½
Liquid Comics: THE SILVER SCORPION
Marvel Comics: THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE MIGHTY AVENGERS
New England Comics: THE TICK FCBD
Oni Press: SPONTANEOUS #1
Oni Press: RATED FREE FOR EVERYONE
Radical Publishing: JAKE THE DREAMING
Rebellion/2000 AD: 2000 AD
Red 5 Comics: ATOMIC ROBO AND FRIENDS 2011
Th3rd World Studios: THE INTREPID ESCAPEGOAT/STUFF OF LEGEND PREVIEW
Top Shelf: TOP SHELF KIDS' CLUB
12-Gauge Comics: I.C.E.
Viper Comics: INSPECTOR GADGET
Wizards of the Coast: MAGIC: THE GATHERING COMIC BOOK
Yen Press/Hachette: JAMES PATTERSON'S WITCH & WIZARD
Zenescope: DISCOVERY CHANNEL'S TOP 10 DEADLIEST SHARKS/ANIMAL PLANET'S PREHISTORIC PREDATORS

ADDITIONAL ITEMS

Wizkids: DC Heroclix: GREEN LANTERN FIGURE

Gold Comic Books

Ape Entertainment: KIZOIC PRESENTS: KUNG FU PANDA/RICHIE RICH FLIP BOOK I like the idea of a flipbook on FCBD. Richie Rich story was a little better I thought. It had more going on and I liked the art a little more.
Archaia Entertainment: DARK CRYSTAL/MOUSE GUARD FLIP BOOK
Archie Comics: BETTY & VERONICA I felt like I got a lot of comic book for something free. Dan Parent is the perfect artist for this book.
BOOM! Studios: DARKWING DUCK/RESCUE RANGERS FLIP BOOK
Dark Horse Comics: AVATAR: LAST AIRBENDER/STAR WARS: CLONE WARS FLIP BOOK
DC Comics: A SPECIAL TOP-SECRET PROJECT! A reprint, but one I haven't read before.
IDW Publishing: LOCKE & KEY A reprint IDW, C'Mon, that's the best you can do. I love this comic book anyways.
Image Comics: ROBERT KIRKMAN KID-FRIENDLY TITLE
Marvel Comics: SPIDER-MAN
Papercutz: GERONIMO STILTON & THE SMURFS FLIP BOOK There's a lot of content in this one. My 4-year old daughter love this one.

Silver Comic Books

Archie Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog This was okay, good art, but I wasn't ever a big Sonic player so I don't much care for the character.
Aspen: WORLDS OF ASPEN 2011
Bluewater: THE MISADVENTURES OF ADAM WEST
Bongo Comics: BONGO COMICS FREE-FOR-ALL! 2011
Boom! Studios: ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST
Dark Horse Comics: BALTIMORE/CRIMINAL MACABRE FLIP-BOOK
DC Comics: YOUNG JUSTICE/BATMAN: THE BRAVE & THE BOLD SUPER SAMPLER I like how they worked the character profiles in to the story. Mike Norton art on Young Justice part, yeah!
Drawn + Quarterly: JOHN STANLEY'S SUMMER FUN
Fantagraphics: Walt DISNEY'S MICKEY MOUSE
Gemstone Publishing: OVERSTREET GUIDE TO COLLECTING COMICS 2011
History Graphics Press: CIVIL WAR ADVENTURE
Image Comics: ARTIFACTS #½
Liquid Comics: THE SILVER SCORPION
Marvel Comics: THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE MIGHTY AVENGERS This was ony of my favorite FCBD's. Good art, funny, and a lot of action. I want more like this.
New England Comics: THE TICK FCBD This was funny but not enough for me to pick up any more.
Oni Press: SPONTANEOUS #1
Oni Press: RATED FREE FOR EVERYONE
Radical Publishing: JAKE THE DREAMING
Rebellion/2000 AD: 2000 AD
Red 5 Comics: ATOMIC ROBO AND FRIENDS 2011
Th3rd World Studios: THE INTREPID ESCAPEGOAT/STUFF OF LEGEND PREVIEW
Top Shelf: TOP SHELF KIDS' CLUB I liked Okie Dokie Donuts, it gave me a chuckle. My kid likes this one although she didn't like that it isn't in color. But hey, it's free, we'll take black and white.
12-Gauge Comics: I.C.E.
Viper Comics: INSPECTOR GADGET
Wizards of the Coast: MAGIC: THE GATHERING COMIC BOOK
Yen Press/Hachette: JAMES PATTERSON'S WITCH & WIZARD
Zenescope: DISCOVERY CHANNEL'S TOP 10 DEADLIEST SHARKS/ANIMAL PLANET'S PREHISTORIC PREDATORS I read this one on Comixology last night for free. The story about the shark is my worst nightmare.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS

Wizkids: DC Heroclix: GREEN LANTERN FIGURE

Perseus · Post by **Perseus** » Mon May 16, 2011 1:36 pm

I read and liked the Baltimore story from Dark Horse. I didn't get Plague Ships when it came out, but now I really want that BPRD hardcover to get into this type of stuff. Also, I may get the Baltimore mini in trade.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon May 16, 2011 5:01 pm

IanG wrote: FCBD is mostly stuff for kids this year which is a good idea, new blood is needed. My quick thoughts are below. What did you all think of your FCBD comics?

How many comics will you now buy for yourself or for your daughter on an on-going basis because of the FCBD comics?

IanG · Post by **IanG** » Tue May 17, 2011 1:41 pm

BobBretall wrote:
IanG wrote: FCBD is mostly stuff for kids this year which is a good idea, new blood is needed. My quick thoughts are below. What did you all think of your FCBD comics?
How many comics will you now buy for yourself or for your daughter on an on-going basis because of the FCBD comics?

None right now, but I'm willing to check out a couple things further, like Elric and Spontaneous for myself. I'm just not sold enough to add to my pull-list. How about you Bob, how many more will you get because of FCBD?

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Tue May 17, 2011 4:12 pm

IanG wrote: None right now, but I'm willing to check out a couple things further, like Elric and Spontaneous for myself. I'm just not sold enough to add to my pull-list. How about you Bob, how many more will you get because of FCBD?

Probably Spontaneous, that moved from a maybe to a "must buy".

The other non-kid books were all stuff that I already get (like Atomic Robo, Elric, Locke & key, etc), or else stuff like the Misadventures of Adam West that did zero to sell me on getting the book.

I have no little kids any more, my youngest is approaching 17, so nothing for the kid books to "take hold" on.

That was why I was asking the question of you (and others) who both have kids & don't already buy every book under the sun. You are the target audience for FCBD.

Sounds like it was pretty much a failure for you (from a publisher/retailer POV) if it didn't come away having convinced you to buy a single additional comic.

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:03 pm

My daughters (10 and 8 ) loved FCBD. Between the two of them they got 10 books (max was 5 per person). However, they haven't gone through their stack and determine if they like something new:

Super Dinosaur - Which is already on my pull list.
Young Justice/Batman Brave and the Bold - They get both comics already
Geronimo Stilton/ Smurfs - They get both comics in trades
Archie - Funny they didn't read the FCBD issue, but after seeing this book, my daughter asked for an Archie trade, which she read the same day.
Richie Rich
Avatar
Inspector Gadget
Bongo Comics 2010 and 2011
Mouse Guard - Which I already pick up in trades.

Now, I don't think my daughters are the target audience for FCBD because they are already aware of most kid friendly comics because of me.

Danscomics · Post by **Danscomics** » Wed May 18, 2011 7:53 am

BobBretall wrote: That was why I was asking the question of you (and others) who both have kids & don't already buy every book under the sun. You are the target audience for FCBD.

Sounds like it was pretty much a failure for you (from a publisher/retailer POV) if it didn't come away having convinced you to buy a single additional comic.

After reading all of the comics that we were offering to kids at the library so that I could make recommendations, I was convinced to check out Super Dinosaur and Mouse Guard (and Dark Crystal and Sands of Time which were also in that book from Archaia). I'm not really the target demographic for those books, but they won me over just the same. I found the Mickey Mouse one interesting as well, but I'm not sure it's enough to get me to buy them.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Wed May 18, 2011 8:49 am

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/20 ... publicity/

Retailing | Free Comic Book Day founder Joe Field reports that this year’s event drew between 300,000 and 500,000 people to participating retailers, and generated an estimated $1.5 million in publicity for comics and comics stores. “Free Comic Book Day may have been my idea ten years ago, but seeing the remarkable things this event has done for the entire comics world is really encouraging,” he writes on his store’s blog. “Many of my comics retailer colleagues in the U.S., Canada and 40 other countries bring energy, creativity and enthusiasm to FCBD, making it a very special community event that is now the world’s largest annual comics’ event. All of this shows just how current the comics’ medium is — and how vital comic book specialty stores are to our local communities.”

Now it'd be nice to see it generate $1.5M in SALES

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Wed May 18, 2011 9:47 am

BobBretall wrote:http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/20 ... publicity/

Retailing | Free Comic Book Day founder Joe Field reports that this year’s event drew between 300,000 and 500,000 people to participating retailers, and generated an estimated $1.5 million in publicity for comics and comics stores. “Free Comic Book Day may have been my idea ten years ago, but seeing the remarkable things this event has done for the entire comics world is really encouraging,” he writes on his store’s blog. “Many of my comics retailer colleagues in the U.S., Canada and 40 other countries bring energy, creativity and enthusiasm to FCBD, making it a very special community event that is now the world’s largest annual comics’ event. All of this shows just how current the comics’ medium is — and how vital comic book specialty stores are to our local communities.”
Now it'd be nice to see it generate $1.5M in SALES

well, it got potentially $20/mo from me. So that's a good investment.

does the $1.5m include all the money shops spent on books and marketing or just what FCBD spent on co-marketing and campaigns?

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Wed May 18, 2011 10:42 am

Trev wrote: does the $1.5m include all the money shops spent on books and marketing or just what FCBD spent on co-marketing and campaigns?

The way I read the article, they are saying it generated $1.5M worth of free publicity (e.g. $1.5M was what they'd have had to pay for the publicity that came for free with media coverage of events).