LYNNWOOD—Celebrate this year’s annual Free Comic Book Day at Subspace Comics on May 3rd in Lynnwood, located in the H Mart at 3333 184th Street Southwest, for all-day sales, the chance to meet industry leaders, and of course…free comic books.
Subspace Comics has been serving comic book readers of Lynnwood since May 2000, which also means this year’s Free Comic Book Day falls on the store’s 25th anniversasry.
To commemorate the ocaisson, Subspace Comics will be holding an all-day sale which includes 25% off back issues (older comics), trade paperbacks (hardcovers, graphic novels, and manga), toys and statues.
In addition, the comic bookstore will be hosting two-to-three guests who work in the comic book industry – either writers, artists, or others – for a chance to meet, ask questions about breaking into the industry, or autograph works. This year’s lineup hasn’t been solidified yet, but Subspace hopes to make a formal announcement soon.
Subspace Comics traditionally opens daily at noon, but for Free Comic Book Day, on May 3, it will be opening its doors an hour early at 11 a.m.
According to Owner/Founder Brian Meredith the store usually sees a hundreds of people show up for the ocaisson so guests will be allowed in the store in small groups at a time for fire safety, to avoid overcrowding, and make it easier for patrons to shop.
The store sets up a special display for the free comics where each guest can grab up to five different books from various selections. The store distributes free comics, from this limited selection, all day until close (6 p.m. on Saturdays) until supplies last. As such, Meredith suggests getting to the store early to guarantee guests get the free comics they’re after.
Meredith founded Subspace Comics 25 years ago with the help of several partners including Mukilteo-based Jim Demonakos. Though the comic book store’s original location was in Lynnwood it has since grown to over four locations throughout the area.
Demonakos and Meredith were also the founders of the original Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC) back in 2003, which is now operated by ReedPop and is one of the nation’s largest comic book conventions.
In 2013 Subspace’s partnerships disollved (for personal reasons) which resulted in the other three Subspace locations, as well as ECCC, being sold off or closed.
However, Meredith and his wife Amy (a.k.a. Dizzy) kept the Lynnwood flagship store, rebranding it as “Subspace Comics.”
“Now, we are just a typical Mom and Pop store that specializes in comics (old and new), books, toys, games, and other Pop Culture items,” Meredith told the Lynnwood Times.
About Free Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book Day is an annnual promotional event led by the North American Comic Book industry to bolster visitations to local comic book stores.
The event was first proposed by Joe Field, a California-based Comics retailers, in an issue of Comics and Games Retailer, and was backed by Diamond Comics Distributors the following year.
Field was inspired by both Baskin Robins “Free Scoop Day” as well as the positive reactions to movies based on comic books that were releasing around that time such as Spider-Man, Blade, and X-Men. Comic book readership had been still recovering from the 1990’s crash which almost killed the industry so Field’s proposal was a means of trying to save it.
The event has steadily grown since with over 2,000 comic book stores participating across the nation distributing more than two million comic books each year for absolutely no cost.
Free Comic Book Day’s success has even led to cross promotion with the release of new super hero movies, including the incredibly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series. Just some films that have released on, or around, Free Comic Book Day include 2008’s Ironman featuring Robert Downey Jr., X-Men Origins featuring High Jackman, and the Avengers which features an ensemble cast of A-listers.
Every comic bookstore celebrates the occasion differently, from cosplay, to merchandise giveaways, to hosting industry leaders, and more.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
