Acclaimed comic book artists to headline Free Comic Book Day at Gwinnett County comic book stores.

Laura Martin, one of the illustrators on Marvel Comic’s new Star Wars comic book series, will headline Free Comic Book Day festivities at Galactic Quest Comics’ Downtown Lawrenceville location on May 2.

Martin is the recipient of several comic book industry awards including the Eisner Award, the industry’s equivalent to the Oscars. She has worked on some of the most recognizable titles in the genre including Marvel’s Thor and Astonishing X-Men and DC Comics’ JLA.

She will join fellow Georgia artist Tracy Yardley, the illustrator of Archie Comics’ Sonic the Hedgehog series, in signing comic books and sketching new artwork in front of an audience.

Started in 2001, Free Comic Book Day is a worldwide industry event held on the first Saturday of May to promote the art form to new and established readers. Each year, publishers provide comic books produced specifically for the event to independent retailers, who in turn give them away for free to customers.

It has become a highly anticipated event with many comic shops offering sales on their inventory, artist meet-and-greets, costume contests and snacks.

Kyle Puttkammer, the owner of Galactic Quest and creator of two comic book series, will also have one of his titles, Hero Cats of Stellar City, featured as a Free Comic Book Day giveaway this year. Ryan Sellers, the artist behind Hero Cats, will headline at Galactic Quest’s Buford location, where the store will celebrate the milestones.

Published by Action Labs Comic, the series is about a tactical team of “ordinary” cats coping with the problems caused by super-powered heroes. The title has sold over 100,000 copies and will be one of two titles comprising Action Labs’ sole double-title release this year, according to Puttkammer.

“Hero Cats is a certifiable national hit. It’s exciting to be part of that.”