[Quirky Quokka]

Apparently it's National Comic Book Day in the US on 25 September. Well, it's already the 25th in Australia, so happy National Comic Book Day! What do they do to celebrate the day in the US? Is anyone going to any events?

https://nationaltoday.com/national-comic-book-day/

[Robb_K]

I thought National Comic Book Day in USA was in May, when participating comic book shops give away special free giveaway comic books from all the major currently operating US comic book publishers.  I've never attended, because I've never been in USA in May except theses last couple years, because of The pandemic.  In The Netherlands, in early September, we usually have "Stripdagen", which is a comic book convention held at a major comic book shop or public assembly hall or building (rotating to different parts of the country in different years), where all of the major Dutch, and many of the other European countries' major publishers have representative stalls (desked kiosks), where they show new series, or have artists drawing autographed drawings, and comic book sellers sell current books, and collectors' books and artwork.  I guess that is similar to US ComicCons.  And there are other comic book conventions during Spring and Summer. 

Maybe some American here, can explain to us the difference between the May and September US National "Comic Book Day", and tell us what these celebrations entail.

[Drahken]

The may event you're thinking of is "FREE comic book day". Comic publishers create special FCBD issues to be given out for free at comic stores. These issues are always either standalone tales, not directly tied to any ongoing storylines or events, or sometimes sample platters designed to give a taste of some of the publisher's current titles. Exact details of the giveaway vary from store to store, but is generally along the lines of "one FCBD comic with each purchase". It's essentially a marketing ploy intended to get people to go to their local comic shops instead of ordering from the web or getting digital downloads, etc.

"NATIONAL comic book day" on the other hand is more of a holiday in concept, intended to honor the inustry & important people in it, etc.

[Quirky Quokka]

The may event you're thinking of is "FREE comic book day". Comic publishers create special FCBD issues to be given out for free at comic stores. These issues are always either standalone tales, not directly tied to any ongoing storylines or events, or sometimes sample platters designed to give a taste of some of the publisher's current titles. Exact details of the giveaway vary from store to store, but is generally along the lines of "one FCBD comic with each purchase". It's essentially a marketing ploy intended to get people to go to their local comic shops instead of ordering from the web or getting digital downloads, etc.

"NATIONAL comic book day" on the other hand is more of a holiday in concept, intended to honor the industry & important people in it, etc.

Thanks for explaining that. I live in Australia and our local comic book store had one of those free comic books days earlier in the year, so I guess that must have been May. I picked up a few and they were mainly samples of upcoming titles. The ones I saw weren't complete stories, so a bit disappointing. Though I guess they're interesting marketing tools. We also have ComicCons in Australia, but mainly in the big cities.

[Robb_K]

The may event you're thinking of is "FREE comic book day". Comic publishers create special FCBD issues to be given out for free at comic stores. These issues are always either standalone tales, not directly tied to any ongoing storylines or events, or sometimes sample platters designed to give a taste of some of the publisher's current titles. Exact details of the giveaway vary from store to store, but is generally along the lines of "one FCBD comic with each purchase". It's essentially a marketing ploy intended to get people to go to their local comic shops instead of ordering from the web or getting digital downloads, etc.

"NATIONAL comic book day" on the other hand is more of a holiday in concept, intended to honor the inustry & important people in it, etc.

Do the publishers in that industry give their workers the day off to go to comic book celebration events on that day, and draw autographed drawings and meet with colleagues and fans?  Do they have related one-day Comic Cons for it?

[SuperScrounge]

Never heard of it before and when I followed QQ's link I got a pop-up asking if I wanted to create a National Holiday, so I'd guess the "holiday" is as legitimate as any holiday you wanted to type into their service.

[paw broon]

Over here I've never heard of National comic book day. A couple of shopkeepers I know aren't fans of FCBD, preferring to organise small events at their shops with a guest or two and lots of offers.  They don't have to shell out for what in many cases is promo material.  Only their opinions, I couldn't possibly comment.
I attended the Acme con at the SECC, Glasgow yesterday.  A good day out.  I'd arranged to meet some friends.
There were some comic dealers present amongst the gift stalls; fudge sellers, Japanese tableware tables, a wrestling ring, lots of Star Wars stuff rolling about the con floor and all sorts of other nonsense.  Artists and writers were there as well, but I didn't know any of them.
There was an indie comic presence and some of the work and books on display were good quality.  Time Bomb were there - publishers of the excellent Flintlock anthology book; the Dick Turpin special and the Clockwork Cavalier special.  I had a chat with Time Bomb's Steve Tanner who's a good bloke and we should be supporting his product.
One of the dealers from down south had a nice selection of Dell titles, mostly westerns and a lot of tasty collectibles on the wall, just a tad too rarefied for my purse.
I met lots of folk I hadn't seen for a couple of years, renewed acquaintance with some dealers from the past, bought comics, had a good lunch with my pals, was asked my opinion on a couple of things and left to get the train home with a smile on my face.

[Drahken]

To be honest, this thread was the first time I'd heard of "national" comics day, the info I have about it is just from a quick google search before I posted. We have a lot of "holidays" here which are just days which some group started labelling as a holiday, but which have no real legitimacy (may the 4th/ star wars day being the most famous example), so I strongly suspect that national comics day is one of those.

[Quirky Quokka]

Thanks Super Scrounge and Drahken - I should have investigated it more before I put it up. I just saw it on a friend's Twitter feed, and the link I put up did say a bit about it. I knew it wasn't a public holiday, but I thought it may have been a designated day. Oh well. Any excuse to celebrate comics    Regarding May 4th, Star Wars Day, my local library had a Star Wars Day a few years ago, but I can't remember if it was on May 4th. A good excuse for a fun day though.

[Quirky Quokka]

Over here I've never heard of National comic book day. A couple of shopkeepers I know aren't fans of FCBD, preferring to organise small events at their shops with a guest or two and lots of offers.  They don't have to shell out for what in many cases is promo material.  Only their opinions, I couldn't possibly comment.
I attended the Acme con at the SECC, Glasgow yesterday.  A good day out.  I'd arranged to meet some friends.

Sounds like you had a fun day.  I'm hoping to get to a comic book event in November that's about a two-hour drive from me.

The first I knew about the free comic book day was when I walked into my local comic book store and saw a whole stand of free comics. They had them there for a few weeks, so I don't think they drew in the crowds. Also a bit disappointing that they were mainly incomplete stories used as marketing, but it was still good to see what was coming out.