We want you to get free comics tomorrow

While every yuppie, hipster and dude with six-pack abs is in Boracay this weekend, the geeks (by far our favorite demographic) will be celebrating this year’s Free Comic Book Day. If you’re still confused by those four words, don’t worry. The idea is simple: you just walk into a comic book store and you get a free comic book. No questions asked. Best idea ever, right? The comic book industry has been doing this every year as a way for local comic book shops to increase customer loyalty as well as invite potential new readers. It’s the one day (other than the latest superhero movie) wherein geeks get to go cuckoo for comics and it’s been getting bigger and better every year.

Locally, two comic book stores are pulling out all the stops and partnering with the country’s biggest book chains. This year the beloved Comic Odyssey will be upgrading their event by partnering up with Fully Booked and will hold their Free Comic Book Day at the High Street branch of Fully Booked. Doors open at 10 a.m. so best to set your Bat-alarm clocks early. On the northern side of things, Castle Geek and Neutral Grounds are tying up with National Book Store to celebrate Free Comic Book Day with a whole lot more than just free comics. Their big bash will be at the Quezon Avenue branch. Both events also promise a huge sale on all their comics from back issues, hardcover collections, and trade paperbacks. It’s the comic equivalent of those Zara end-of-season sales.Not to be missed in this year’s Free Comic Book Day are comic books that serve as a set up to what’s in store for the comic industry. First is Marvel’s Infinity written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Jim Cheung which kicks off a major storyline involving Thanos (the big bad villain in the next Avengers movie). Not to be outdone, DC Comics will be giving out Superman: Last Son of Krypton for people like us who can’t wait for the Man of Steel movie (Don’t screw this up, Zack Snyder!). Written by Geoff Johns and director Richard Donner and illustrated by Adam Kubert. And if you want something other than the normal superhero comics, Dark Horse’s highly anticipated The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys written by My Chemical Romance front man Gerard Way and illustrated by one of our favorite artists, Becky Cloonan. Image Comics will also be giving away free The Walking Dead comics so fans of the TV shows can check out where it all started.

So in case you’re wondering, yes, it is kind of like the recent Vinyl Day event only way more affordable (because it’s free) and with fewer hipsters wearing short-shorts. For more information check out the websites of both Comic Odyssey and Castle Geek at www.comic-odyssey.com and www.facebook.com/CastleGeek respectively.