Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book Day
Genre	Promotion, cultural
Frequency	Annually, first Saturday of May
Location(s)	Over 2,000 comic book shops worldwide
Inaugurated	May 4, 2002
Founder	Joe Field
Most recent	May 4, 2024
Next event	May 3, 2025
Activity	Merchandise giveaways; Book signings; Cosplay contests; Art exhibitions;
Organized by	Diamond Comics Distributors
Website	www.freecomicbookday.com

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and has historically been cross-promoted with the release of a superhero film. Over two thousand participating stores give away millions of comic books annually. The event was proposed by Joe Field in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer magazine and Free Comic Book Day was launched in 2002, coordinated by the industry's single large distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors. FCBD has become an official Children's Book Week event and has inspired similar events for German- and Dutch-language comics industries. The twenty-second edition of FCBD was held on May 4, 2024.