Each year on the first Saturday in May, Free Comic Book Day is a chance for comic book lovers, young and old, expert and amateur, to unite in solidarity to celebrate! Coming together in comic book stores worldwide, they gather to engage in conversation with other fans, meet local experts, and to receive free comic books!
This international event takes place on every continent! In fact, every Comic book store in the world can participate in the event if they chose, their only limits may be to some titles due to licensing. Starting in 2002, Free Comic Book Day has been running for nearly a decade. Why are they just giving away free comics you ask? Well, the event has two main purposes: to expose new people to the world of comics and for Comic Book companies to give their audience a taste of what they are all about. Marvel, DC, Bongo, Image, and Oni Press are among the many companies participating in this year’s event. Each company will produce a special Free Comic Book Day edition of one of their most popular or newest comics and make them widely available to comic book stores all over.
Around here, Free Comic Book Day has brought much attention to The Lair over on Broadway. Teaming up with the organizers of ATLANTI-CON, the newest genre convention to hit Atlantic Canada, Sean Ezekiel and his team have brought in seven different titles such as The Avengers, Star Wars, Yo Gabba Gabba, Mega Man, Transformers, The New 52 and Witchblade.
It is a common misconception that comic books are just about super heroes, however, this is not so! The Lair will be offering a variety of free comics this Saturday; ranging from superhero stories, to children’s stories, horror, sci-fi and fantasy. Comic books are becoming more popular than ever before and this day is a great way to expose new people to this Sub-culture. Jeff Keeping, one of the Co-Executive Directors of ATLANTI-CON had this to say about comics:
“With the various comic book titles out there now (and not all of them are superhero stories) comics have never been more popular and we are using this as a means to reach out to fans. For me personally comics are one of the best forms of entertainment. I have been reading and collecting comics for about 30 years starting with Casper and Richie Rich as a young child. I actually still have my very first "serious" comic book that started me on the collecting path, "West Coast Avengers Vol. 2 #30 (1988)" from Marvel Comics.” - (Jeff Keeping)
Jeff and his partner in crime, Matt Connolly, the other Co-Executive Director of ATLANTI-CON, along with a few other volunteers will be on scene at The Lair from 11am until 2pm to meet with fans and chat about their rapidly approaching convention. They will also be selling tickets to the convention. I’ve outlined their prices below. I don’t want to give any surprises away, but word on the street is that a certain Dark Lord of the Sith will also be making an appearance.
Come on out this Saturday, May 5th, and drop by The Lair! Bring your friends, your children and anyone you might think who would enjoy reading a good comic. Chat with the guys from ATLANTI-CON, Pick up a Free Comic and have a great Saturday afternoon.
Pre-sale tickets for ATLANTI-CON
Day passes selling for $10.00
Weekend passes for $15.00.
Families (of 4) also have the option of day and weekend passes at $40.00 for a family day pass and $60.00 for a family weekend pass. Additional family members can be added for $5.00 per person extra.
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