Free Comic Book Day 2021 at CNJComics!
With three weeks out it’s time for some opening details on this years Free Comic Book Day 2021!
In case you’re out of the loop, FCBD has been moved nationally to Saturday, August 14th this year!
Free Comic Book Day will be from 10am to 7pm on the 14th. We will not have a night event this year to make the new challenges of the day easier for us to handle with a full nights rest. We equate having big events like this again to getting back into the saddle after a motorcycle accident. You know you can ride the motorcycle, you just need to take it easy for awhile until you get your bearings. That being said, we feel we have an amazing event to present to you this year.
First up, the big news is that we will be having Chris Claremont out for an autograph session!
Chris will be in the foyer next to the shop for the length of the event, signing autographs and meeting everyone! We have had this in the works for years and we’re glad it’s finally reached fruition! Chris will be autographing one item for free in the spirit of the day, then he will be charging $10 each after that. (which is incredibly reasonable.) We highly suggest watching “Chris Claremont’s X-Men” on Amazon Prime for a great retrospective of his work. One that note, I will be conducting an interview with Chris that we will (attempt to) air on Facebook Live Friday the 13th at 6pm. We will post the video to the page after it’s over if you can’t watch it live. I’ve done a lot of research and I’m excited to go back and forth with one of my heroes!
This year’s theme is of course “Chris Claremont” and this years lithograph is an homage to Uncanny X-Men #101 with some hints of Cleveland thrown in.
These prints are 11 x 17 on cardstock paper and are designed by Jameson Campbell. We’ve been making one a year since 2012 and buying one for $5 is an incredible way to show your support of our efforts! (If you know where you’d like to hang one to promote the event just let us know and we’ll give you one for free!)
This years art show will again be put together by Sean and Kristen Burns from the former Breakneck Gallery, and it will also have a Claremont theme. We WILL have an artists alley this year as well, and details on that will be forthcoming! (We’ve got a few other surprises to announce leading up to the event as well!)
Local art conclave the Rust Belt Monsters will be creating a new twelve foot mural live outside the shop!
This is always a highlight of the event for me and this year’s mural will be based on the art from Avengers Annual #10, the first comic I ever bought in a comic book shop and written by Claremont. I consider it to be a perfect comic book.
FREE COMIC BOOKS
The Free Comics! We are in no short supply of comics this year with over 25,000 brand new comics to give away! We are allowing everyone to pick out 12 books this year, a slight bump from years past. For a full look at available books check here: www.freecomicbookday.com/catalog
We organize the comics into three color coded categories:
Green for all ages
Yellow for teen
Red for adults.
The books are surrounded in colored coded electrical tape and grouped together. Parents! We’ve done our part so please do yours! Keep an eye on your kiddo as they pick out their books to make sure they’re appropriate for their age level. I also recommend checking the books out together online before hand so you have an idea of what you’re looking for.
For the first time ever we have to state that those twelve books have to be twelve different books. The above “Enter the House of Slaughter” is a fantastic Teen book that is apparently going for $10 online already (?). No, you may not take twelve copies of that one book. The good news is we have 600 copies to give away, so everyone should have a shot at getting one!
The first 600 people will also receive a FREE bonus book to celebrate Claremont’s appearance, Wolverine 3D, a reprint of an epic battle between Wolverine and Sabretooth from Wolverine #10. (regularly a $7.99 book!) And yes, it’s in 3D with glasses!
We also really want people to get the full Claremont experience so we have another bonus comic to give away, a reprint of Uncanny X-Men #96, a Claremont and Cockrum classic an also the first appearance of Moira MacTaggert.
You will be allowed to pick that book or a reprint of X-Men #244, first appearance of Jubiliee and a ladies night issue!
Between both books we have enough to cover about 1,000 people.
MORE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY STUFF
(Again, I’m working on a few surprises so stay tuned for more announcements)
If we’ve said it once over the years, we’ve said it a thousand times. “Come early for the best selection.”
Let’s see, other stuff. We know waiting in line sucks so we’re looking to make it more bearable. Starting around 9:30 and running till noon, members of the local cosplay groups the Heroes Alliance, the Rebel Legion, the 501st, the Mandalorian Mercs and Galaxy United will be walking the lines for you to take pictures with!
Should you dress up as well? Heck yeah you should. It seems like everyone sports some kind of flair for FCBD!
We have also been working diligently to get some photo op areas together for the event. Thanks to Jeff Ritchie @fredpaints23 for helping us put these together.
Please tag all your photos with #cnjcomics on social media so we can check them out!
We always say the best part of free comic book day is not the free comics, it’s the chance to share your hobby proudly with others and meet some like minded individuals in your community. We just set the stage, YOU provide the AWESOME.
Free Comic Book Day has always been this incredible day I get to share with my family, and I’ve very happy to say that we’re back!
Please stay tuned as we have a lot more information to come!
As always check www.cnjcomics.com to stay current!
