Diamond Comics Distributors today announced their plans for the 20-year anniversary of their Free Comic Book Day event. Taking place on August 14, Free Comic Book Day is one of the most successful comic book industry promotions in recent years. Each year — usually in May, but the pandemic has done a number on everyone’s schedules — comic book specialty retailers stage an event where each publisher provides them some extremely low-cost comics, which the retailers give to readers for free in the hopes of hooking new or casual readers into new series. This year’s 20th anniversary event will be bigger than usual, with additional plans including a social media campaign and sponsorship partnerships with Coca-Cola and PREVIEWSworld Pullbox.
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Earlier this month, in celebration of Free Comic Book Day’s 20th anniversary, FCBD launched the #FindYourStory social campaign. The campaign encourages readers to explore new worlds, revisit their favorites, and discover new destinations in the pages of a comic book. The cornerstone of the campaign is exclusively designed, art deco style, virtual posters that highlight locales featured in some of the FCBD titles available on August 14. Fans are encouraged to share their all-time favorite and newly discovered comic book destinations on social media and use the hashtag, #FindYourStory.
Pullbox and Coca-Cola have also joined Free Comic Book Day’s anniversary celebrations this year as sponsors. Coca-Cola will serve as the Presenting Sponsor and be featured on printed promotional materials and branded merchandise distributed to local comic shops in advance of the event. Pullbox, which launched earlier this month, is a new service that allows comic shop customers to easily manage their pre-orders and subscriptions online in partnership with their local comic book shop.
Last year’s Free Comic Book Day had to be modified to Free Comic Book Month, in order to accommodate social distancing guidelines and to give certain retailers who were closed at the start of the month to get their stores ready for the event.
Previously announced plans for the anniversary celebration include a specially designed anniversary logo and commemorative artwork from fan-favorite creator, Skottie Young. Young has created a one-of-a-kind design emphasizing the power of imagination and the endless possibilities of comic storytelling. The design will serve as the commemorative t-shirt and poster for Free Comic Book Day 2021, and will be available for purchase at participating local comics shops.
With fifty comic book titles that range from superheroes to movies and video games, to beloved franchises, and all-ages favorites, Free Comic Book Day 2021 takes place in comic shops on August 14.
