Any comic fans disappointed by the cancellation of 2020's Free Comic Book Day now have cause for celebration. This year, it's instead going to be Free Comic Book Summer. With the organizers behind the annual single-day promotion looking to make up for lost time and get more fresh books into readers' hands, they'll now be spreading the event out over the course of an entire season.
Free Comic Book Day is traditionally held the first Saturday of May and the annual undertaking is exactly what its name describes. Once a year, people can visit their local comic shop and pick up special edition FCBD books free of charge, with the aim being for both publishers and retailers to develop a broader fanbase. But when concerns surrounding COVID-19 put plans for 2020's FCBD on an indefinite hiatus, the organizers had to come up with a workaround. Instead of drawing hordes of readers into stores all at once, the event will now take place over the course of several weeks - from July 15 through September 9.
Throughout the Summer, participating comic retailers will receive five to six FCBD titles every week to distribute as they deem appropriate to maintain social distancing and health code guidelines. According to the FCBD announcement, "retailers may release one free title a day, may make all of that week’s free titles available at once, or any other plan that works for them. Free Comic Book Summer is designed to be flexible and customizable so retailers and fans can get the most out the event."
"So many cool stories are available for this stretched-out Free Comic Book Day 2020. I'm confident long-time fans and newcomers alike are going to find a story that'll make them want to visit their local comic shop every week!" - FCBD founder Joe Field
The 45 different issues being offered come from publishers including Marvel, DC, Image, BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse, IDW, Dynamite Entertainment, and beyond. The offerings are wide ranging and curated to appeal to the entire spectrum of comic book readers. Fans of Batman, Spider-Man, The Power Rangers, The X-Men, Archie, Stranger Things, The Tick, Donald Duck and My Little Pony have plenty of free content to look forward to. And that's barely scratching the surface. Even the first issue of The Boys will also be made available for any fans of the Amazon show interested in looking into the source material before season two.
The global pandemic hit the comics industry particularly hard and Free Comic Book Day was hardly the only victim. San Diego Comic Con, arguably the industry's biggest yearly event, was cancelled (though a free online alternative is forthcoming). Marvel began furloughing employees in response to the crisis. And the entire industry basically came to a halt when Diamond Comics Distributors - the biggest distributor in the industry - announced it would temporarily be closing down distribution amid COVID fears.
A full list of all of Free Comic Book Summer's offerings, as well as their individual release dates, can be found at freecomicbookday.com. Due to the understandable lack of stringency in this year's release plans, fans might want to check in their local shops before heading out if there's anything they particularly want. And while this is hopefully a giant first step in a return to normalcy for the industry, it's going to take a lot of work to repair the damage this pandemic has done and comic shops are in need of support.