Free Comic Book Day Breaks Attendance Records In 2014

This year’s Free Comic Book Day celebration brought a record-breaking number of people into comic shops nationwide. Held on May 3, the 13-annual Free Comic Book Day events saw retailers give away a record-breaking 4.7 million comic books from over 2,100 different locations. Over 1 million comic book fans are estimated to have visited a local comic book store to participate in the festivities and gather up to 60 free comics offered by 40 different publishers.Free Comic Book Day 2014 is estimated to have generated a 45% increase in publicity over 2013, with an estimated $3.2 million in free publicity created via articles across the internet and in local and national television and radio coverage. Part of the publicity was due to a retailer who forced three thieves who attempted to steal a prop from his store to dress up as the Flintstones and promote Free Comic Book Day for him. FBCD was covered on over 1,000 broadcast programs and 4,000 online news outlets.”Free Comic Book Day was a tremendous success this year,” said Jason Blanchard, spokesperson for Free Comic Book Day. “A large percent of participants celebrated FCBD for the first time and loved it! The fans were pleased with the variety of comics available and commented on the fact there were numerous kids comics, making FCBD an even bigger family-orientated event. The best part about all the articles, links, and mentions about Free Comic Book Day was how many people it drove to our web site. In total the comic shop locator had over 490,000 visitors. That’s almost half a million people that now know where their local comic shop is! Our hope is that the FCBD fans will continue to return to their comic shop to get more of what the comic industry has to offer.”Much of the event’s success is attributed to the creative and unique approaches taken by individual retailers in celebrating the event.”Our 2014 FCBD was our best yet for both Third Eye Comics stores. Our flagship store in Annapolis, MD saw a 15% increase over last year’s attendance numbers, as well as a 20% increase in our sales numbers from last year,” said Owner of Third Eye Comics, Steve Anderson.  “A rough estimate on attendees came in at around 7,000 for our Annapolis location.”Free Comic Book Day is both a celebration of the medium and the industry and an entry point for new and returning readers. The celebration takes place on the first Saturday of every May. Free Comic Book Day 2015 will be held on May 2, 2015.