It’s that time of year again! Today marked the 23rd Free Comic Book Day, that annual celebration when comic shops nationwide offer no-strings-attached goodies as a form of community outreach in honor of that time-honored medium where words and pictures dance in unison on the printed page, whether in the form of super-heroes, monsters, cartoon all-stars, licensed merchandise, or entertaining ordinary folk. It’s one of the best holidays ever for hobbyists like me who’ve been comics readers since the days when drugstores sold them for thirty-five cents each and superhero movies were a rarity and an embarrassment to the genre.

Each year, America’s remaining comic book shops (and a handful in the UK that can afford the extra shipping charges) lure fans and curious onlookers inside their brick-and-mortar hideaways with a great big batch of free new comics from all the major publishers and a bevy of smaller competitors deserving shelf space and consideration. It’s nearly always the first Saturday of every May (except that one time during the pandemic) and often coincides with a major comic-book movie release. The Fall Guy doesn’t qualify as such, but then again, it does have action, and comics have more to offer than just superheroes, so let’s all pretend it counts unless it’s terrible.

Generally my tradition is to venture to one or more of the surprisingly numerous comic shops in or around Indianapolis (as of today I count at least a dozen), hang out in line with other fans, march inside when the employees have braced themselves for the onslaught ahead, grab some of the free offerings, and spend money on a few extra items as my way of thanking them for their service in the field of literacy. It’s worth remembering Free Comic Book Day is not free for shop owners. The publishers and distributor still charge money for all these comics, which shops then turn around and pass out to all comers for $0.00 apiece. Participation is not cheap. Whether they do it for love of comics, or because they don’t want to look like miserly super-villains, most comic shops join in the fun anyway. No one expects newcomers to the medium to be aware of that, to feel guilty, or to chip in like it’s a charity. For us longtime readers, it depends on our conscience and available resources.

My wife Anne opted out of tagging along this year because she was still exhausted after last weekend’s C2E2 adventure. Left to my own devices, I visited four stores in three hours, two of which were new to me. Not until I looked over my photos did I realize all four were in strip malls, which makes sense yet seems weird to me anyway.

Stop #1, 9:40 a.m.: Comic Carnival. Indy’s oldest funnybook provider dates back to the ’70s and was up to four locations up until 2011. Their erstwhile west-side shop was my weekly go-to throughout high school and college, and I’d occasionally skip classes during the latter to hit up their original digs in Broad Ripple. Their north-side stronghold is far from my house, but I like to drop by whenever I’m in the neighborhood. That’s not often, so this year I made them priority one, for old times’ sake.

Upon my arrival, only two fans were standing in line. So I ran over to the Walmart across the street, grabbed a couple of quick non-geek errand items, returned and became fifth in line. Then several waiting people emerged from their parked cars and joined us, once they realized FCBD was about to get real. They let us in a few minutes before 10 and limited us to six freebies apiece. I was fine with that, and bought a couple of potentially cool things, reading experience pending, including DC’s recent Zatanna by Paul Dini collection.

Stop #2, 10:20 a.m.: Atomic Planet Comics. Central Indiana’s latest comics-biz addition opened last November up in Fishers, one of our more affluent northeast suburbs. Their rather concentrated selection of new comics, CGC-graded back issues, and one bookshelf apiece for trades and gaming materials says to me “starter store”, but everyone’s gotta start somewhere. We were limited to five free comics apiece, but to their credit, they boast the largest selection of Atomic Robo stuff I’ve ever seen in the wild, including Tesladyne lanyards and stickers signed by the creators (whom I met at C2E2 a while back). Obviously I had to buy one of the Real Science Adventures hardcovers plus a few more comics.

Stop #3, 11:00 a.m.: Downtown Comics North. In years past we’ve often started and ended our FCBD observance here. Indy’s only remaining comic-shop chain has been around since the late ’80s and has three locations. Their Avon store (the town, not the makeup) is currently my home shop for my weekly fixes. The Castleton store always has the longest FCBD line before they open at 11, but they throw quite the party. This year’s shindig welcomed the Circle City Ghostbusters, a local cosplayer troupe who were hosting free games and accepting donations for the Dayspring Center. They entertained the crowd with trivia questions (I won a lollipop for naming the actor who was forced to announce with a straight face, “Somehow Palpatine returned”) but were not happy when very few people raised their hands to admit they’d seen Frozen Empire.

I said hi to a friend named Tony, who’d gotten a somewhat better place in line ahead of me. (I blame the stupid construction.) While waiting to enter, I had the pleasure of chatting with a couple from Evansville a little older than me. The husband was on a quest to acquire Amazing Spider-Man back issues and was hoping to check out other shops afterward. We discussed the pains of dealing with longboxes at our age and our mutual loss of interest in company-wide crossovers. I waited an hour for my turn to enter, whereupon we were asked to take “only as many comics as you’ll actually read,” which was reasonable and went well with the three trades I picked up.

Stop #4, 12:45 p.m.: Prideland Comics and Collectibles. Speedway hadn’t had a comic shop since 1987 (the husk of the short-lived Comics Unlimited is presently a used appliance outlet) until a few months ago when this east-side establishment jumped to the other side of Indy, not too far from our place. They’re challenging to locate because they don’t have any signage yet. I’ve driven by quite a few times with no idea what I was overlooking. Locals, as well as any Indy 500 fans who’ll be flooding into town throughout May, can find them behind the axe-throwing place that used to be the Blockbuster Video.

As new shops go, they have a sizable back-issue assortment, quite a few CGC-graded oldies on the wall, lots of toys, and a concentrated new-comics selection that’s a mix of the majors with some choice indies. (I award bonus points to any shop that carries Rare Flavours, as they do.) They also offer the courtesy of bagging all new issues, which isn’t common. I’m happy with my home shop, but their convenient location makes it a good bet we’ll meet again. I picked up an Incredible Hulk issue I’d missed, plus a Funko Pop just for kicks, since they were on my mind this week.

By this time I felt like I’d had a pretty full day. I returned home, found my lunch had gone cold, and soon learned of some major Star Wars news that may or may not be the subject of a pretty wild MCC entry in August. As for right now, I have a bunch of new comics to read and possibly review (another annual tradition of mine), and I’m told we have new Star Wars cartoons to check out on Disney+. Happy May the Fourth and Happy Free Comic Book Day! Holiday double jeopardy!