Free Comic Book Day: 5 Books You Need to Pick Up Saturday (VIDEO)

FRANKFORT, IL―When Free Comic Book Day debuted in 2002, Tobey Maguire was appearing as Spider-Man for the first time on the big screen, and the comic book retail event, which had shops giving away specially printed issues at no charge, was a way to capitalize on the growing popularity of comic book-based superhero movies.

For many fans, that first Free Comic Book Day was a fun and novel way to celebrate comics and introduce newcomers to the medium.

Flash forward to Free Comic Book Day 2016, which is Saturday, May 7.

Captain America: Civil War introduces the world to Tom Holland, the third actor now to portray Spidey, and superhero movies aren't just popular, they're the dominant genre at the box office. Free Comic Book Day has grown into an appointment event, and comic shops aren't the only ones participating. Retailers and public libraries are getting in on some of the sweet, geek subculture action.

RELATED: Check Out the Complete List of Books Available on Free Comic Book Day

In fact, FCBD is another example of why calling geek fandom a subculture is wrong. Face it, Tiger, geeks have hit the jackpot: Their culture's mainstream.

That's why Patch has put together a quick guide that lets you get the most out of the day by finding out which free comics you should definitely pick up Saturday, as well as a rundown of what your local comic book store is doing for Free Comic Book Day.

Frankfort's Amazing Fantasy

The comic book shop, 20505 S. La Grange Road, in the Vineyards Plaza, will be hosting a FCBD event from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 7. Activities include:

• Free comics while supplies last (limit 10 per customer, no duplicates). Go to the official Free Comic Book Day website for a complete list of the free comics available this year.
• Sidewalk sale with clearance items and thousands of comics priced at a quarter. Other merchandise also will be discounted.
• Cosplayers dressed as Deadpool and Batwoman will be on hand for pictures from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and facepainting will be done during that time, too. Anyone dressed as his or her favorite superhero also will receive an extra store discount.
• Local artist Rich Kunz will create quick sketches for customers for free from 2 to 4 p.m.
• A how-to seminar on drawing comics with Ka-Pow the Comic Art Academy will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• A coloring contest will be held all day.
• A board game demonstration will begin at noon and run the rest of the day.

Go to Amazing Fantasy's website or call 815-469-5092 for more information.

5 Free Comics You Can't Miss on Free Comic Book Day

Avengers: Civil War II (Marvel Comics): This isn't a sequel to Marvel's latest Captain America movie installment, which opens Friday, May 6. This issue actually kicks off the sequel to Marvel's wildly popular 2006-'07 comic book miniseries. That publishing event originally pitted Cap against Iron Man over the idea of superheroes registering with the government. Writer Brian Michael Bendis, along with illustrator Jim Cheung, promises Civil War II isn't about revisiting well-trodden battlefields. The new miniseries is about expanding on the idea of how superheroes settle their philosophical differences surrounding how they do their jobs.

DC Super Hero Girls (DC Comics): One of the major changes in the comic book industry since 2002 is how publishers have been slowly (emphasis on "slowly") attempting to expand past their traditionally male-dominated audiences. For DC Comics, that's meant taking iconic characters like Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Batgirl, and creating titles aimed at underserved readers, such as young girls.

Love and Rockets Sampler: (Fantagraphics) Here's one for the aging Gen-Xers who still find enjoyment in the pages of comics. Started in 1982 by brothers Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez (and occasionally including work from a third brother, Mario), the series is still being published today as annually released 100-plus-page graphic novels. And it's still one of the finest crafted comics you'll have the pleasure of finding in shops today. For the lapsed Love and Rockets reader, this sampler lets you check in on Jaime's "Locas" stories about the lives of soulmates―of the platonic and occasionally romantic variety―Maggie and Hopey, as well as Gilbert's sprawling, surreal saga about the ficitional South American village of Palomar; its most famous resident, Luba; her family; and their strange and sexy legacy.

March Trilogy Sampler (Top Shelf): Comic books don't simply deal with fictional stories. They can be excellent for journalism (check out the works of Joe Sacco) or even chronicling historic events. That's the case with the recent March graphic novel trilogy, written by U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia) and Andrew Aydin, and illustrated by Nate Powell. The trilogy (so far, only two of the three books has been published) looks at the Civil Rights Movement through Lewis' experiences as a teen in rural Alabama. The first two books have been critically acclaimed, and some college history professors already have incorporated March into their courses.

One Punch Man (Viz Media): Manga, or Japanese comics, isn't as popular as it was in the '00s, when bricks-and-mortar bookstores stocked shelf after shelf with the digest-size volumes of Death Note, Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist. But there are still a few titles garnering attention. One Punch Man, which started as a webcomic in 2009 written by One and illustrated by Yusuke Murata, is an action comedy revolving around Saitama, a superhero so strong that he bests his enemies with―c'mon, you know where this going. That's right, he knocks them out with one punch, a blessing that turns into a curse because Saitama's now wracked with boredom.