Begun back in 2002 by Diamond Distributing (the major distribution venue of comics in the U.S.) Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) was designed to celebrate this uniquely American form of entertainment, over the years the event has spread out from the U.S. going worldwide. Here in Stamford, This Saturday May 3rd Free Comic Book Day will once again be celebrated by Salerno Salerno, owner of A Timeless Journey (2 Eighth Street, Stamford). As in years past Salerno is fully prepared for a terrific celebration. “I’ve always felt that the real beauty of Free Comic Book Day is that it allows readers to sample comicbooks that they might not have previously had the opportunity to pick up before.” Needless to say, Salerno still enjoys making a big deal of the event.
While not ALL comics in Salerno’s shop are free, this year, there are over 60 comics from essentially all the major comicbook companies as well as many of the mid-sized and Indie publishers that are available. This makes this year the biggest celebrations yet. The comics that are issued on Free Comic Book Day are specially prepared for the event. Traditionally they are either special comics promoting what fans can expect to see what an individual publisher will be offering over the coming year, or reprints of previously-issued comics that proved to be very popular. Other publishers issue comics that contain special stand-alone stories promoting a specific event. While not all stores carry all of the free comics, Salerno has indicated that he will be carrying quite a few.
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 A Timeless Journey has stockpiled, Salerno’s store is full of comics and comic-related merchandise, including trading and gaming cards, and so much more!
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While most people today are probably more familiar with the comicbook superheroes that have been populating our movies and videogames for the past decade or so, comicbooks themselves date back to the early days of the 20th Century and came about as an outgrowth of syndicated newspaper funnies. Today, they still are published by numerous publishers and showcase a wide variety of diverse storylines capturing the imagination of readers the world over. Comics have survived the rise of radio, the ubiquity of TV, the spread of color and sound movies, the dominance of videogames, and the immediacy of the Internet., and according to one writer actually form the nucleus of the Pop Culture engine. To learn more about comics and Free Comic Book Day come on out to A Timeless Journey, 2 Eighth Street and talk to Paul Salerno on Saturday May 4th.
For more information about Free Comic Book Day head out to A Timeless Journey located at 2 Eighth Street, or call 203.353.1720. Store hours for A Timeless Journey are Monday–Saturday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Wednesday (New Comic Book Day) 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., and Sunday: 12 p.m. – 4 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.
