Free Comic Book Day 2023 roundup and notes
Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles and Lois Lane among the day's hits
Another Free Comic Book Day is in the books, and for us at Speeding Bullet at least, it was another successful outing. From the reports and photos I’ve seen locally in Oklahoma and around the world, it appears most people had a good turnout with a lot of interest from comic fans.
We haven’t gotten back up to our pre-Covid numbers on the day, but in some ways, I think that helps us in our ability to serve the customers we have – at a certain point it gets difficult to just manage the various lines.
Speeding Bullet Comics had a good crowd in to see Justin Nimmo, the Silver Ranger from “Power Rangers in Space.” He was great with fans, some of whom came from quite a distance to see the actor. He has a great rapport with those who come to visit him, and fun stories to tell, so if you have the chance to see him at an appearance, I recommend it.
Diamond Comic Distributors is currently surveying its retail customers about the day, so we will likely see more reports in the near future. But overall, a very good day of sales and traffic for us, with lots of comics going into the hands of kids, which we see as a key component of why we participate in the day at Speeding Bullet. More reading material in the home that is attractive to kids tends to lead to better educational outcomes, and we want to be part of that solution.
Our most popular of the new titles was the FCBD Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles edition, followed by Spider-Man/Venom and Spidey & Friends. Perhaps obviously given the focus of our guest, the “Power Rangers” comic “Ranger Academy” got a lot of attention.
Among some of the more targeted titles, I heard some excitement for “Fright Night” and the return of “Conan the Barbarian” in comic books. I also heard some chatter about the “Star Trek” comic and people excited about the current “Star Trek” comics storyline.
Our top book from DC looked to be “Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story FCBD Special Edition.” This excerpt from the YA graphic novel “Girl Taking Over” is by author Sarah Kuhn and artist Arielle Jovellanos. I’m excited to see Lois getting some attention – it is, after all, her 85th anniversary year too, Superman – and I hope the FCBD comic and the YA novel develop new fans for the plucky reporter.
The full graphic novel is available now. Here’s the description from DC:
Ambitious small-town girl Lois Lane tackles a summer in the big city with gusto, but a cavalcade of setbacks—including an annoying frenemy roommate, a beyond tedious internship at a suddenly corporatized website, and a boss who demotes her to coffee-fetching minion—threatens to derail her extremely detailed life plan. And, you know, her entire future.
When Lois uncovers a potentially explosive scandal, she must team up with the last person she’d expect to publish her own website for young women. And as Lois discovers who she really is and what she actually wants, she becomes embroiled in her own scandal that could destroy everything she's worked so hard to create.
Did you have a favorite Free Comic Book Day comic or an exciting FCBD experience? I’d love to hear about it – feel free to comment below!
Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman, Oklahoma.
I liked the Conan comic. Looking forward to the new series in July.