Of course, nothing is preventing an independent shop from having their own free comic day in the sense that Reed described. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea; put it out in local media, you'll get your regulars in plus a handful of first-timers, they'll get a free book but a good chunk of them will probably pay for additional books or merchandise, and you might get return customers out of it.

This is of course very different from the idea behind the official free comic book day, where it is the big bad publishers footing the bill rather than the little guy.

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I'm thinking of going tomorrow. Never been, so I'm not sure yet. I know which comics are free, but I'm not sure of how you get them. Do you go up to the counter and ask for them, or do they have stacks of them laid out for everyone or what? Also, I heard there were other promotional items that were free. Any idea what those items are?

Don't know about other promotional items, but for the comics it differs from shop to shop. Most keep them behind the counter so they can try to suggest things to buy, but I know of a couple that have them out.

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That's what I figured. I'm going to call tomorrow to ask what their policy is regarding how many comics they allow each customer to have. Most don't allow everyone to have all 40+ comics.

I had heard there were a few free promotional items including a HeroClix figure, though I'm not sure.

http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/981

Didn't do the research, but still I maintain I would rather have one 'real' title than a bunch of fluff.

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This was the world that I had created. I know what I have to do to fix it...to make things right. There's no problem that can't be solved.

A couple of titles are full on issues, but these are secondary publishers for the most part.

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So the stuff from Marvel/DC this year was trash. It is pretty much advertisements for movies or events upcoming, and nothing worth really reading. The two best books I picked up was a short story from Atomic Robo that was pretty good, and Adventure Time that was pretty funny.

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^This. The point of free comic book day is to bring in new readers by eliminating the cost barrier for a single day. By putting out bullshit like the first section of Spider-Man Season 1(which I picked up, and hated) they are cheating themselves out of money in the long run, and many potential fans out of a lifelong passion.

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Well, there is the business aspect to consider. They get those "free" comics for a much smaller amount then they pay for name brand. Most comic shops don't run the margins to hand out a mass of books for free that they are spending the normal amount on.

Especially since, free comic book day draws in existing readers and not new readers. So they will basically be giving comics to people that already buy comics from them.

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I actually got three parents from my office to go in this past year with their kids. One was a lapsed reader himself, one reads comics with her kids from the library, and the last and her kids were total noobies. I'm pretty sure they all spent extra money.

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Issues to read till I get to Marvel Premiere #15 = 1,297