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Free Comic Book Day 2004

July 2, 2004 | News

There is little better than getting something for nothing. Walk into your local comic book shop tomorrow and you can do just that. Free Comic Book Day 2004 is taking place all day exclusively at comic shops around the world. In Toronto, the city’s largest such store is taking this great promotion and making it even better. “I like to do a little extra and make a real event out of Free Comic Book Day,” says Justin Van Leeuwen, manager of Silver Snail on Queen St. W. “Every comic store can get free comics, but we want to make it special to our customers and to the public to bring them into the store.” To that end, Silver Snail, which is celebrating its 28th anniversary this year, will have J. Torres, the writer of DC Comics’ Free Comic Book Day release, Teen Titans Go!, in store to meet that fans and autograph copies of the book. The idea of giving away comics to anyone who wants one is terrific, Van Leeuwen says. “Free Comic Book Day is important because it allows us to appeal to the general public, people who don’t necessarily read comic books,” he says. “It also helps promote not only literacy, but comic book literacy. A lot of people still view it as a very childish medium without any real content of quality.” Up to 30 different free comics will be available tomorrow from various publishers, featuring such familiar characters as Archie, Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man and Spawn. But not all these books will be aimed at children. “While none of these comics are necessarily adult-oriented, they definitely have serious topics that will probably appeal to a larger audience than just five- to 10-year-olds,” Van Leeuwen says. The most important thing about Free Comic Book Day is to show people who aren’t yet fans of graphic storytelling (or who were but have forgotten) how great these titles can be. “If you can give people something (for free) they’re likely to read and appreciate it,” Van Leeuwen says. For more information on Free Comic Book Day, check out: www.freecomicbookday.com and www.silversnail.com. The following is a list of guests who will be appearing at Silver Snail for the third-ever Free Comic Book Day tomorrow (signings begin at noon): J. Torres, Teen Titans Go! Chip Zdarsky, Prison Funnies Kagan McLeod, Infinite Kung Fu Cameron Stewart, Seaguy Ramon Perez and Atilla Adorjany, UDON Entertainment