Today is Free Comic Book Day, and for Brent Bankston, he remembers getting his first comic book at the age of 8 or 9…
“Went in there and we cobbled together our, I think it was like nine dollars in coins, in quarters and nickles and dimes and whatever we had, and we paid Mr. Bethke, nine dollars for Amazing Spiderman #9.”
Bankston tells me that Mr. Bethke owned the antique store several places down from his father’s tire and muffler shop.
Free Comic Book Day started back in 2002 in California, with the hopes of getting comic books in the hands of new readers. And it caught on, with more and more publishers and artists joining in. This year, they will have 77 titles to choose from, 20 of those are left over from last year. Due to concerns about COVID, Free Comic Book Day was pushed back to August.
Bankston believes that this year, Free Comic Book Day should feel more like it did before the pandemic.
“So, normally it was ten or fifteen or twenty, this year it’s twenty-five. And if you come dressed, you get an additional five, so you get thirty free comic books.
Some of the titles available this year are from series like, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Stranger Things.
Along with the free comic books, people can enjoy bounce houses, live music, and demonstrations from local artists.
Free Comic Book Day begins today at 10am at Bankston’s Comics and Collectables on Valley Mills near Speight.