Free Comic Book Day generates $1.5m

Free Comic Book Day founder Joe Field has revealed that this year's event generated $1.5 million (£1.07m) for the industry in publicity.

Posting on his blog, the organiser confirmed that the annual promotion drew between 300,000 and 500,000 to participating stores.

"Free Comic Book Day may have been my idea ten years ago, but seeing the remarkable things this event has done for the entire comics world is really encouraging," he wrote.

"Many of my comics retailer colleagues in the US, Canada and 40 other countries bring energy, creativity and enthusiasm to FCBD, making it a very special community event that is now the world's largest annual comics' event. All of this shows just how current the comics' medium is - and how vital comic book speciality stores are to our local communities."

Free Comic Book Day takes place on the first Saturday in May each year. Participating retailers offer selected books free of charge, several of which were produced exclusively for the event. This year's offerings included titles from Marvel, DC, Archie, IDW, BOOM! Studios and Dark Horse Comics.

This year marked the tenth anniversary of the event.

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