Palatine Shop Gears Up For Free Comic Book Day

For a toy store, it’s Christmas. For an Irish pub, it’s St. Patrick’s Day. And for , it’s the first Saturday in May: Free Comic Book Day.

Beyond Tomorrow owner David Pregozen says Free Comic Book Day has become his store’s busiest day of the year. “It seems to get bigger every year,” he says. “Last year I saw more people that I’d never seen before.”

Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 7, the day after the superhero movie “Thor” hits theaters. Beyond Tomorrow Comics, located at 327 N. Northwest Highway in the Fleetwood Center, will be open from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Now in its tenth year, Free Comic Book Day is just what it sounds like, a day when comic book shops in the United States and Canada give away comics specially printed for the occasion. All branches of the comics industry – retailers, publishers and distributors – unite for the annual event, which is designed to increase foot traffic into comic shops.

On that score, the promotional day has succeeded, Pregozen says. “You don’t retain everybody who comes in, but the point is to get them to come in in the first place.”

Many of those customers do return, though, and Pregozen has noticed patterns.

“Some of it is people who get back into it [comics],” he says. “Some of it’s very specific. They liked one of the free comic books and come back for more of it.”

Most comic publishers supply one book for Free Comic Book Day. The biggest publishers, Marvel and DC, create two, which usually cross-promote superhero movies or TV shows. This year, one of Marvel’s free comics features a team-up with Thor and Captain America, both starring in movies this summer. One of the free DC comics stars Green Lantern, who also has an upcoming movie, in a preview of DC’s summer event, “Flashpoint.”

“There’s been a little bit more of that in recent years,” Pregozen says, “and by the way, I think that’s a good idea. If you’re doing a big summer event, it seems to me you should use Free Comic Book Day to kick it off.”

Other free comics will feature Spider-Man, Archie, Mickey Mouse, “Star Wars,” “Kung Fu Panda” and “The Simpsons.” Pregozen recommends one from the publisher Image featuring a new character, Super Dinosaur.

In all, 37 free comics will be available at Beyond Tomorrow Comics, and Pregozen will allow customers to take up to five. He also will allow customers to take one or two free comics from the store’s dollar bin. Customers also will receive a free Green Lantern HeroClix game piece.

To participate in Free Comic Book Day, Pregozen and other comic shop owners must buy the comics they will distribute. “They’re not free [to us],” Pregozen says, “but we are getting them at very reduced rates, so we feel comfortable ordering them and giving them away.”

Beyond Tomorrow Comics opened in Palatine in 1989 in the old Rand-Dundee Center, now the site of the Home Depot.

Pregozen moved his store to the Fleetwood Center about 14 years ago. Besides comics, Pregozen also sells graphic novel collections, superhero action figures and “Doctor Who” and “Star Trek” merchandise. In conjunction with Free Comic Book Day, Pregozen is having a two-day sale this weekend. Everything in the store except new comic books will be on sale for 30 percent to 40 percent off.

Beyond Tomorrow is the only comic book shop in Palatine and one of the few left in the area (Schaumburg has two, and Mount Prospect has one).

Pregozen has survived several shakeouts in the comic retail industry, including the fallout of the “Death of Superman” saga. When that 1992 issue became the highest selling comic in history, many newcomers began to see comic books as investments and started to buy multiple issues for their collector’s value. When the craze ended several years later, hundreds of comic book shops went out of business.

“My main customer base has always been readers, not collectors,” Pregozen says. “I’ve always first and foremost had a strong base of readers.”

Pregozen hopes more new readers will come into Beyond Tomorrow this Saturday. If this year’s event is anything like past Free Comic Book Days, business will be steady all day. “Most people come early, though,” he says. “They’re afraid you might run out.”

For more information about Free Comic Book Day, call Beyond Tomorrow Comics at 847-705-6633 or visit the store’s Facebook page.