Dave's Fanboy Sermon

If you haven't heard the news yet, the comic industry is planning a Free Comic Day on May 4th, 2002. On that day (the day after the release of the Spider-Man movie, not coincidentally) potential customers will be able to go into a comic shop and receive a free comic book (hence the inovative name "Free Comic Day"). The idea was suggested by Joe Field, a California retailer who had success with his own give away comic a couple of years ago. His suggestion started the ball rolling and Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image ran with it.

The premise is simple. If you give comics away to customers, many of them might enjoy them enough to begin reading comics on a regular basis. Too many people these days have never read a comic book. Sometimes all it takes is an introduction to the pleasures of reading in general and comics in particular to make a lifelong fan. I have always been a proponent of getting comics in the hands as many people as possible. I give comics instead of candy at my door every Halloween. I've donated comics to schools and charities (usually with less than stellar results, but that is a topic for another time). Could there possibly be anything wrong with hosting a free comic day? Well, since you asked my opinion, the answer is no ... and yes.

The first problem with hosting a free comic day is getting these comics in the hands of people who aren't already reading comics. It will do no good whatsoever to give large quantities of comics away to the fans who are already coming into comic shops. Directing civilians to comic shops may be a daunting task. A lot of people have such a strongly ingrained preconception of comic books and comic shops that they simply won't go anywhere near one, even after seeing a movie about superheroes. The comic industry is going to launch an advertising campaign, but how large or effective is anyone's guess at this point. It still can largely fall to the comic shops themselves to promote "free comic day". Which brings up the question of how do you promote comics to people who don't read comics? As someone who has tried virtually every form of advertising around, I can tell you that few of them work with any success. The main reason for this is that most people don't read. No matter how cool the X-Men movie might have been, most people watched it and then moved on to the next thing. Very few came out of the movie saying "That movie was good. I think I'll start reading comics now." So you can pummel the airwaves with radio and TV ads but they will most likely not move anyone who hasn't discovered the pleasures of reading to leave their TV set or computer and make the pilgrimage to their local comic shop.

So it's a difficult task to get potential readers into comic shops. So what? It's still worth a try and the comics are free, right? Well... not exactly. The four companies mentioned above will be offering the comics to shops at "low cost". At this point, we don't know what the low cost will be, but it most likely will cover the printing cost of the books, the shipping will undoubtedly be the responsibility of the retailer. This is where it gets a little tricky. Comic retailers like myself will be asked to order these books several months in advance (typical for comic orders). With no real knowledge of how successful the promotion will be, it is difficult, if not impossible, to predict just how many new customers will be directed into shops to receive these "free" books. Let's say that I order 1000 copies of these books. If only a couple of hundred people show up, I will have lots of extra copies of comics that I certainly don't need. Even at "low cost", that is still money lost. On the other hand, if I order very conservatively and underestimate the demand, I will be faced with turning potential new customers away. That is something that is completely counter productive to the whole idea of "free comic day" .

A second potential problem in this promotion could be the selection of books that are going to be used. DC is offering a JLA comic, Marvel a Spider-Man (a particularly good choice as the movie opens the day before), Dark Horse offers a Star Wars book and Image will provide a Tomb Raider comic. Now I don't think that any of those are bad choices. Tomb Raider and Star Wars are properties that might appeal civilians who are familiar with them from outside the comic world. Spider-Man is a no brainer and the JLA provides a good cross section of DC's marque heroes. However, suppose someone comes in who is willing to see comics as something other than spandex clad heroes, busty women and space battles. It would be nice to have a book on hand that represented the variety that the comic world has to offer. Something like Strangers In Paradise or Love And Rockets. Or Thieves And Kings or even Lone Wolf And Cub (a smaller version than the current 300 page books, of course). Any of these books could be part of "free comic day" of course, if those publishers wanted to donate them completely free of charge. So the irony here is that the companies who will be "sponsoring" free comic day are actually selling their books to shops (although at a reduced cost) and the publishers that are willing to actually offer comics completely free of charge are not considered sponsors and only participate in "free comic day" as an uninvited afterthought.

Do the shops have a responsibility to bear some of the cost of this promotion? Absolutely. We all benefit by increasing the audience of comic books and we should all share in the cost of increasing that potential market. Unfortunately the logistical handling of "free comic day" reinforces the market position of the current leaders while the alternative publishers and the retail locations are asked to provide the funding. Certainly those four publishers will presumably be paying for the advertising campaign that will bring all of these people into our shops. Without any real knowledge of how far reaching this advertising will be, most shops would be well advised to advertise on their own. Past experience tells me not to expect too much from the coordinated efforts of the big publishers.

Is there a way that we can make "Free Comic Day" work? Perhaps. I find myself afraid that most of these books will go to customers that are already coming into my store. IF, however, those customers were to take those books and put them in the hands of people who had never visited a comic store, even on "Free Comic Day", than I would consider it a success. All of the promotion and advertising in the world cannot match the impact of one fan sharing his love of a hobby with someone who has never been exposed to it. That is the best promotion that comics can ever have. (see "What Have You Done For Comics Lately") So why even bother with the national "Free Comic Day"? Well, the intentions are good and it is still the best promotion that has been attempted thus far. So in the end I will order as many copies of these books as I think that I can afford. If "Free Comic Day" doesn't turn out to be the blockbuster promotion that we all would like for it to be... well, then there's always Halloween.

Illustration by Gerald Kelley