Free Comic Book Day
A while ago I was asked to take part in a new campaign by Murdoch where I basically had to come up with a vow that I would spend the rest of my natural born life trying to fulfill. To some people this might seem a bit rash but to me it seems sensible. After all I am the sort of person who will vow to spend the rest of my life trying to destroy a restaurant that hasn’t given me great service. Perhaps I need help. But more on that later, for now I want to talk about the vow I made which was, “I vow to discover new ways to encourage literacy”
Literacy is a subject very important to me because I believe it forms the building blocks for any kind of learning and creativity. I learnt to read when I was very young and it opened up a whole new world to me, the first time I read The Hobbit I was utterly spellbound by the magic and possibilities it offered. Whenever we would go on long camping trips my parents would round my sister and I up and take us to the second hand bookstore where we would buy armfuls of what would essentially be our only entertainment, apart from the abundant vervet monkeys that would steal everything else. When you are stuck in a hot car for up to ten hours a day you genuinely start to appreciate the value of a good book.
When I went to school I made a rather startling discovery, my love of books and fantastic stories didn’t immediately make me the coolest kid in class. In fact, it had the opposite effect and for years I struggled with peer pressure that was telling me that reading wasn’t “cool” and that I would only be popular if I didn’t spend all day shut in the library reading. Despite all the pressure I have developed a real love for reading and so I am especially pleased when I see initiatives like Free Comic Book Day.
On FCBD, which is the first Saturday in May, you can walk into any participating comic book store and be guaranteed to walk out with at least one free comic that you don’t even have to steal. It’s a great way to connect with your local comic community, get some free comics and generally have a great day. It’s also a great time to get into comics because so many of the free comics are aimed at introducing people to the world of comic books and graphic novels. Importantly there are also usually a selection available for kids and can make all the difference in instilling them with a love of reading.
So this Saturday, the 7th of May, I will be down at Quality Comics picking up free comic books, taking photos of the exciting costumes and just genuinely enjoying life. If you have ever been curious about comics then Saturday is a really great day to see some of them at their finest for free.
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