FCBD

Here's what you'll be getting gratis next May 5th -- you'll note it's a mostly family friendly line-up of tested characters -- and Marvel is, not surprisingly, sending out am Avengers book and DC is sticking with The New 52.

Free Comic Book Day founder Joe Field looks back on this year's event (no permalinks) with some numbers:

So, this tenth Free Comic Book Day, I looked back at the first FCBD and consider it was a seminal day in the history of comics. I consider it a pivotal day, as three different aspects of comics converged into a synchronicity which continues to affect and drive the comics industry. Those three aspects: mass-market retailing among specialty comics shops, graphic novels, and comics movies. As with most historical events, there are multiple events which foreshadowed and pioneered the moments and movements which coalesced the weekend of May 3, 2002.

By all accounts, it was one of the biggest Free Comic Book Days yet, with most stores reporting "sell-outs" early on and crowds and -- importantly -- SALES that rivaled their biggest days ever. It was also a media event as over 200 news stories show.

Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 7th, 2011! And there are very likely some comics-related festivities happening in your area, or at the very least some free comic books. There are way too many happenings to cover here. Diamond has a master list of events, including interviews by Darwyn Cooke and Humberto Ramos and the FCBD site has a monster list of signings organized alphabetically by state!

Comic book fans, have you always wanted to represent our clan in the best possible light? Well here is your chance. A Major National Morning News Show is looking for comic book fans to...