Free Comic Book Day is Returning to Norwalk Conn

On Saturday May 3rd Heroes Comics & Cards, 197 Westport Ave., will be participating in the 12th annual celebration of Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) —an industry-wide event that began in 2002 in order to help celebrate and promote that uniquely American form of entertainment called comicbooks. Here in Norwalk, Free Comic Book Day will be once more be celebrated in earnest at Heroes Comics & Cards and hosted by owner/operator, Dave Kruseski, who is looking forward to participate in the event this year. “My regular customers look forward to this event,” Dave told us, “it is really a big deal event for them as it allows them to sample comics from other companies that they may not usually purchase.”

Free Comic Book Day is always celebrated the first Saturday in May, and, as usual, there is a big-event comicbook movie slated to debut on this weekend. This year, it is Marvel Studios, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the big blockbuster to which everyone is waiting to see (Comicbook fans have already been treated to Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier which brilliantly tied into the company’s weekly TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) As usual, most of the major comicbook companies as well as numerous mid-sized and independent publishers have also chosen to roll out what they each feel are their best efforts in order to attract the attention of the comicbook reading audience. Publishers use this event as a way to celebrate comicbooks as a uniquely American art form. Each of the participating publishers have prepared special comics that are to be given away free to patrons of participating stores (like Heroes).

This year, there are nearly 50 comicbook publishers (including Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, IDW, Archie, and others) giving away nearly 60 comics — the most ever produced in a single year for the event. While not all of the comics are necessarily “kid friendly” most of them are suitable for general consumption. This is because the participating publishers want to reach the widest audience possible with their products. FCBD is considered by all who participate in it a way for comicbook companies to make their comics available to potential new readers who might not have tried reading their comics, or might not even be aware that these titles exist. It was initially conceived as a way to help promote the industry and to help increase readership. To be sure, each comic shop is allowed to set their own policy as to how many free comics each customer can receive Kruseski assures us that while supplies last, every patron to his shop will receive at least one free comic.

This year, the comic book companies that are providing comicbooks include: Archie, Dark Horse (Star Wars), Marvel (with a pair of Guardians of the Galaxy tie-ins), Perfect Square (Hello Kitty), Walt Disney (Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck), DC (The New 52), Valiant, Red Giant, Archaia (Mouse Guard) Papercutz (Smurfs), New England Comics (The Tick), FUBAR, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and many, many more. Needless to say, in addition to all of the free comics that Heroes Comics & Cards has stockpiled, Kruseski’s store is full of comics and comic-related merchandise, including trading and gaming cards, and so much more!

For more information about Free Comic Book Day contact Heroes Cards & Comics at 203.750.0505, located at 197 Westport Ave. Store hours are Mon, Wed-Fri 11 a.m. — 7 p.m. and Sat 11 a.m. — 6 p.m. Free Comic Book Day begins at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday May 3rd and continues all day until closing at 6:00 p.m.