Comic Store In Your Future: I'm In A Free Comic Book Daze
· BCPosted in: Comics, Titan, Vault | Tagged: CGD, comic store in your future, Comics Giveaway Day, fcbd, free comic book day
Comic Store In Your Future: I'm In A Free Comic Book Daze
Comic Store In Your Future: I'm In A Free Comic Book Daze with card packs, strange customers, and fallen signs.
Published Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:02:10 -0500
by Rod Lamberti
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Article Summary
- Free Comic Book Day at Rodman Comics brought surprise game giveaways, raffle plans, and confusion over what fit the event.
- Dungeon Crawler Carl emerged as the top comic pick, while variant rumors and resale prices added unexpected buzz.
- Two Sonic titles, two Stitch books, and Penguin’s Comic Giveaway Day left many comic customers unsure what was what.
- A bizarre attempt to sell back free comics and a toppled sidekick sign capped off a hectic but mostly successful comic day.
2026 Free Comic Book Day took place at the beginning of last month. I hope everyone who picked up the offerings found them enjoyable, and the comic stores that hosted the event had a productive day. How did it go for Rodman Comics? And for the new owners of Free Comic Book Day?
We received a box of a wide range of items from Universal on the second Monday before Free Comic Book Day, to use for giveaways. We were surprised; I thought it was a Magic: The Gathering order before opening it. Maybe I forgot I ordered it. Been working a lot. There was no invoice; just a letter saying this was for Free Comic Book Day. This box had various card games, superhero card packs, Magic: The Gathering Spider-Man decks, and even Pokémon posters.
When we opened it, and I read the letter in the box saying the items were for Free Comic Book Day, I thought the Pokémon posters meant Pokémon packs would be included. I was thinking, oh my, that will make it a very busy day. But it was not to be, just posters to promote something that we were not even going to get. With Pokémon cards being so crazily shorted to stores, I just skip ordering them these days. They were easier to get during lockdown, oddly enough, but not now.
So I decided we would raffle them off. Everyone would enter a raffle on Free Comic Book Day, then come back next Saturday and see what they had won and could trade among themselves. I added a few comic items to make the raffle even cooler. I did not think it would work as well if I'd tried to give these items away, along with all the free comics. And trying to explain what these were to each person would take too much time during the day. Was it a good plan? As Black Adam says, a bad plan is better than no plan at all. Oddly enough, the feedback from people who had been to other stores before coming to ours said they had no idea about the Free Comic Book Day games. Now, these I thought for a second were more Magic: The Gathering packs. I thought that was Jace from Magic: The Gathering.
Most people had no idea what Critical Role is. There were Disney Rise of the Floodborn Starter Decks and a box of the Battledome trading card game also in the box. This was a surprise; the bad news was that we were not expecting these and, truthfully, were not sure what to do with them. I could have ordered the box and forgotten about it. We could have given one out to each person as they walked through the door. Doing that meant we would be hoping people were actually interested in the non-comic items they were getting. Hopefully, next year, if they do this part again, we get a better heads-up, and this gets promoted more, so the average person coming in knows these games are part of Free Comic Book Day.
What was the most popular comic for us on Free Comic Book Day? Dungeon Crawler Carl. This surprised me, and I did get tripped up with people asking us if we had the Jeff the Land Shark or the Absolute Batman homage variants. Some thought they were randomly mixed in with shipments. I had no idea. At the end of the day, I went online and saw there were variants: some said they were preselling, while others said they had them in hand. I did not find anything with Jeff the Land Shark. Also, I learned the regular issues are going for a pretty penny; I had some copies left, so I have been putting them online to sell. On the Monday after, I read Rich Johnston's article about it.
What confused people the most on Free Comic Book Day? That there were two Sonic titles and two Stitch titles available. Most had no idea about Penguin Random House's Comic Giveaway Day. They knew there should be Marvel comics for free, though they assumed they were a part of Free Comic Book Day. On our website, I explained it, on our Facebook page, I posted Free Comic Book Day titles one day and the Comic Giveaway Day titles another day. After so many years of Free Comic Book Day, people just assumed there was still just Free Comic Book Day, everything.
I hope that the new owners of Free Comic Book Day, and if Penguin does Comics Giveaway Day next year, they both actually try to experiment. Time to make the day better. Any comic store can have a day when they give away comics. One year, we gave away backstock with limited Free Comic Book Day offerings. It was a hit; people were happy to get something other than the Free Comic Book Day titles that other local stores were giving out. We may do it next year. If Free Comic Book Day were to simply stop, would it be like when Magic Appreciation Day, Wizards of the Coast's version of Free Comic Book Day, though the Magic packs were indeed free to stores, ended? The players acted like it never existed; they easily forgot about it. Make Free Comic Book Day something more than what it currently is.
How was the day for us? Mostly well. Our March sales day easily beat FCBD sales-wise, like it does every year. We are so good that we don't need to give out freebies. I did have one person ask us what Free Comic Book Day titles we had that the nearest store to us did not have. I was puzzled; did the person think I stopped in the other store before coming in? My answer was that we are not a part of the other store, and we all get our Free Comic Book Day comics from the same supplier.
In the morning, I felt like a rancher getting the cattle through. By 6 pm, a friend stopped in and asked how the day was going. I joked pretty well, actually, though I most likely just jinxed it. Roughly twenty minutes later, a person I had never seen before came in. I assume he was here for the free comics, so I went over to give him some, and he asked if I would like to buy his comics. I thought, no, not really, today is a little busy. Before I say anything, he showed me what he had to sell. I was puzzled that the top comic is that day's Free Comic Book Day Conan. He shows me the rest, they are today's Free Comic Book Day offerings, which he must have picked up at another store. I am wondering whether this is a joke… the people in the store are also puzzled. He asks again if I would like to buy them. I am like a deer in the headlights, thinking "what the?"
I just spit out why I would buy comics that I am giving away today. He doesn't give me an answer; instead, he asks if I know any other comic stores. I figured he got them from the nearest store, so I said the store's name, thinking he would say that was where he got them from. Instead, he says he has never heard of them. He then asks for directions to get there. I am totally lost trying to figure out if this is for real. I give him directions to the other store, and he leaves. After he leaves, I watch him go the wrong way, then someone says he turned around and was going the right way. Then I am thinking, oh, it wasn't a joke, that other store is going to love it if he says Rodman Comics sent him to sell these comics they are giving away. Whoops.
I stayed late after we were closed. It was a good thing I came back on Sunday to get some things done. I found our sidekick cut out, facedown outside. I walked right past it that night on my way to my car and totally forgot about it. I am guessing I was more tired than I thought. I am lucky the extension cord was still there.
Did find out after typing this all up that Universal Games sent the box for Free Comic Book Day. I just completed an email from them asking how the items went. Funny, I have sent multiple emails to them about ordering products, but haven't received a response. For me, ordering card games is even more of a challenge than it was during COVID. How will next year's Free Comic Book Day be? Will it finally try anything new? Will Comics Giveaway Day still be a thing? What crazy things will happen?
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