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Free Comic Book Day Generates Record Attendance
Estimated 1.2 Million Comic Fans Flocked To Local Comic Shops...
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The first Saturday in May 2013 was a busy day for participating comic shops all over the world, as retailers gave away a record-breaking 4.6 million comics in almost 2,000 different locations during Free Comic Book Day. An estimated 1.2 million comic fans flocked to their local comic shops to take in the festivities. Customers lined up in front of their favorite stores the day before to make sure they were one of the first to get the 52 free comics offered by 40 publishers this year.
Not only did Free Comic Book Day break attendance records in 2013, but it also generated more publicity than ever before. An estimated $2.2 million dollars in free publicity was created. Superstar artist and Co-Publisher of DC Comics Jim Lee was a special guest on FOX News’ Saturday morning show Fox & Friends, where he talked about the origins and reasons behind Free Comic Book Day. Ultimately, the event was covered by over 240 TV news programs, over 460 news outlets, and over 740 online sources (including Figures.com).
Free Comic Book Day also spread virally throughout social media. This year over 63,000 tweets made reference to the event, and, on May 4th, the hashtags #FCBD and #FreeComicBookDay took the #1 & #2 spots trending nationally from 9:00 AM till 4:00 PM on Twitter. Free Comic Book Day’s Facebook page doubled in fans, now reaching 66,000 people from North America, United Kingdom, Australia and beyond.
One more record was shattered this year: freecomicbookday.com had over 620,000 unique visitors visit in the months of April and May. Almost all of the first time visitors took advantage of the Comic Shop Locator that is designed to show potential customers where the local comic shops are in their area.
“Free Comic Book Day was a monster success this year,” said Jason Blanchard, spokesperson for Free Comic Book Day. “People all over the world couldn’t wait to visit their local comic shop and see what all the excitement was about. One retailer in Baltimore, MD, Collectors Corner had over 5,500 people visit his store (see attached photos). The line started the day before and by 5:00 AM on Saturday it was 3 blocks long. The best part about all the articles, links, and mentions about Free Comic Book Day was how many people it drove to our web site. We helped almost 620,000 people find the local comic shops in their neighborhoods and hopefully they’ll continue to return for more of what the comic industry has to offer.”
Free Comic Book Day is more than an event; it’s the collaboration of an entire industry putting its best foot forward to welcome new and returning readers to the world of comic books. The industry will use this year’s success as a springboard for what’s to come in 2014 – May 3, 2014 to be exact.
Source: Edited Diamond PR
All Photos by Pete Redel Photography
