his might sound too good to be true, but your eyes are not deceiving you, there is such a thing as free comic book day. It’s a national event that’s been going on for over a decade, and this year it’s the twenty-year celebration!
Free comic book day is a yearly event sponsored by freecomicbookday.com, they haven’t always been online to push the event but the organization itself has been pushing for more comics involvement in readers for twenty years.
Comics can be very intimidating to get into, and people aren’t going to want to spend money on something when they have no idea where to start in the first place. Luckily, the comics released on August 14th cover a wide variety of genres and publishers.
So you’ll have the opportunity to stick your nose in the comics world without spending the cash if you're a newbie, and well if you’re a comic veteran here’s more content for your collection. It’s a win-win either way!
This year’s postponement
Sadly, free comic day isn’t functioning at its normal time and capacity this year. Due to COVID-19 the usual time of the event, the first Saturday in May, has been postponed to Saturday, August 14th.
It might be more difficult this year to get the comics you’re looking for, and to stay safe at the same time. But with the date pushed back to later in the summer more people will be vaccinated and hopefully, more stores will be open.
Here’s how you can find comics at a store close to you.
How to find a participating store
You can’t walk into your local grocery or convenience store on free comic book day and ask for a free comic book. All the big chain stores and the smaller convenience stores will not be participating.
Free comic book day is a day almost as much for the independent comic stores as it is for getting free stuff. The spirit of the day is to get people more involved in their local stores and comic community, thus the promotion of free issues.
To find a comic book store near you that will be participating, because not every single store will be involved, check out the “comic book store locator” at freecomicbookday.com. Just put in your zip code and the site will find participating stores near you!
Stores outside of the US may be harder to find.
Suggested titles to pick up
While there are more than twenty titles available for your perusing and collecting pleasure on 2021’s free comic book day, ranging from more kid-centric titles to the blood and gore typical of more mature comic books, there’s a few you might want to see out first.
If you want to look at a full list of the free comics offered this year check out this link, but there are of course a few comics already that shine ahead of the others.
These suggested comics below poke at all your pop-culture favorites and are a must-have for this summer.
The Witcher
The hype for this one white-haired surly monster hunter just keeps growing! Geralt of Rivia created initially for a book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, has journeyed far and beyond his initial collection of short stories.
Most people knew Geralt, a mutated monster hunter for hire “a witcher” living in the magical world of “The Continent” from his trilogy of successful video games. Particularly The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt an open-world game considered to be one of the best video games of all time.
However, Geralt’s popularity boosted to untold levels in 2019 with the release of the Netflix series The Witcher starring Henry Cavill of Superman fame in the titular role. The series is one of Netflix’s most popular and joined by Geralt’s stellar ensemble cast including Yennefer of Vengerberg, Ciri, and of course Jaskier the bard.
Well toss a coin to your comic book shop this year, not your witcher, and while you’re waiting for the second season of the Netflix show to be released satisfy your need with this small story.
The title has yet to be released, but that’s not going to stop the hype for more adventures with Geralt and company. We’re waiting for the series, so we’ll definitely be waiting for the comic.
Blade Runner One-shot
One of the modern cornerstones of pop culture for science fiction, Blade Runner is here for you on free comic book day with more adventures in the world created by iconic director Ridley Scott.
For those unaware, the Blade Runner franchise started initially in 1982 with a movie of the same name adapted from Phillip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The movie follows a futuristic cop Rick Deckard who is charged with hunting down humanistic androids gone rogue.
The influence of Blade Runner on pop culture today can’t be over exaggerated, and the popularity of the movie has translated into a comic series and a movie sequel Blade Runner: 2049 starring Ryan Gosling.
This Blade Runner comic will combine the stories of two detectives like Rick Deckard introduced in previous Blade Runner comic runs into one.
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures
The Skywalker family has finally departed from our purview with the end of the release of The Rise of Skywalker late in 2019. And though we may have said goodbye to the iconic lightsaber swinging family that absolutely does not mean that we’re done with the Star Wars universe.
The comic’s content for Star Wars extends far and wide in terms of content and history. The comics have been going on since the eighties, and continue to be in popular demand today published under Marvel.
In this free comic book day exclusive you’ll be taken back to the days of the Old Republic back when the Jedi were operating in full force, and long before the days of Darth Vader and the Empire’s reign over the galaxy.
The lovable master Yoda will be leading a mission for the Republic with Jedi Master Torban Buck, nicknamed Buckets of Blood, and a group of padawans. Better yet this issue will serve as a prequel to the upcoming “High Republic” adventure series.
Star Wars lovers, this will be a comic you’ll want to check out.
Avatar The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra
It’s time to reenter the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender which has had a long and prolific history of success in the comics medium, specifically after the initial series ended its iconic run in 2008.
Luckily following the airbender’s departure from television avatar fans were given a new avatar with The Legend of Korra, and though the sequel series might not have the iconic reputation of the first Korra is an avatar you don’t want to mess with.
The Avatar comic series often takes readers to places and storylines in the universe that the shows don’t touch on. Like the heart-pounding story of Zuko’s mother, the crown fire princess Ursa detailed in The Promise comic, whose disappearance during the show was a large point of tension between our lovable firebender and Firelord Ozai.
While this comic for free comic book day written by Kiku Hughes, Sara Alfageeh, Sam Beck, and Savanna Ganucheau probably won’t span as long a period of a time as The Promise did, there is always fun to be had with the avatar gangs. Whether it’s Aang or Korra’s squad.
Lucky for you these are only just a few of the selections offered on free comic book day. There’s a whole swathe of options to choose from, there’s likely to be something there that catches your eye.
And remember to keep that comic shop in mind after you get your free comic books this August, they have a great deal of more content for you if you’re interested. And who knows you might even form some lasting connections with fellow comic book lovers there.
Do you have a favorite comic title that you’re excited about for this free comic book day? Make sure to leave a comment, like, and share!
