During the weekend, even Ars takes an occasional break from reviewing just how mastered those iTunes songs are or worrying about a few malicious Android apps. Weekend Ar(t)s is a chance to share what we're watching/listening/reading or otherwise consuming this week.
Experts project The Avengers to dominate the weekend box office. Major magazines currently devote pages to Joss Whedon. So if there was ever a perfect year to embrace whatever inner geek resides within, this is it. And the day to do so is this Saturday, the first in May.
Since 2002, the first Saturday in May has marked the celebration of Free Comic Book Day. The name leaves little to the imagination. Comic book shops across the world offer up titles for no charge in the hopes of promoting comic culture to the masses (and gaining a few new readers of course). Major publishers such as DC, Marvel, or Image develop exclusive titles for the day, with shops even purchasing these exclusives themselves in order to participate. Comic retailers will dole out an estimated two million books this year alone.
(Not bad for a holiday started by one guy's column in a trade magazine, with only four shops participating in year one).
The concept of a niche industry-wide promotional day may feel flat now—from bookstores to coffee shops, everything has its own "day" nowadays—but Free Comic Book Day may be the modern original. It predates all the major industry days by five years: Record Store Day ('07), Small Business Saturday ('10), and even its comic compatriot Read Comics in Public Day ('10).
Frankly, comics may be the medium that needs this support the most. As of 2011, it was roughly a $650 million dollar market. For perspective, the Harry Potter series has sold 450 million copies. And the transition to digital may still be in its infancy, but it's already marred by a concern of impacting the print income.
But comics provide so much to popular culture. That's why celebs like Kevin Smith vouch for it, Hugh Jackman too. It's a development farm for endless amounts of film and television, while simultaneously remaining an endlessly flexible medium (somehow Maus and the sexed-up New 52 Batman fit within the same category?).
So find a local participating shop through the holiday's official website. You can even browse (not to mention preview) the exclusive titles so you can go in with a purpose. "Gold" books refer to titles that cost slightly more for the shops and are a little more rare, when compared with "Silver" titles of course.
This year's freebies run the gamut. There's a new New 52 book from DC. You can find things like Donald Duck for the kids, The Avengers for dedicated fans, or even oddities like My Favorite Martian for the pop culturally curious.
There's never been a wider range of comic-references splattered across media nor a brighter lens being focused on comics-related things. It's never too late to pick up your first or encourage a friend to do so. Indulge.
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