What 21* years of FCBD have taught me! A look behind the counter exposed
*2020** Free Comic Book Month failed miserably.
** 2020 failed miserably as well.
Choosing 3 FREE comics in much harder than you would think.
- The average time it takes is closer to 1 minute than it should be.
- 50% of people struggle to narrow down to 3.
- 30% of people struggle to get to 3.
- 20% don’t struggle, and want way more than 3.
- 90% of new faces only return next FCBD.
- If I don’t recognize you already, I won’t be seeing you until next year.
- That said, I appreciate everyone who comes.
- Hot FCBD titles rarely lead to better sales. DR WHO, Street Fighter, TMNT
- Year after year, titles like Dr. Who, Street Fighter, and TMNT are picked first.
- Year after year Dr. Who, Street Fighter, and TMNT sales are insanely small.
- All Ages are generally too all ages.
- Kids that want to read Spider-Man? Do not want to read kindergarten Spider-Man.
- Kids that want to read comics? Do not want books that look like bedtime books.
- Kids want their comics to look like everyone else’s.
The same hot title never gets picked the same 2 years in a row
- Last year everyone wanted Street Fighter. This year we couldn’t give it away.
- This year everyone wanted Nightmare Before Christmas. Last time had a giant stack left.
- Free Marvel trumps Free DC.
- People even prefer old Marvel to new DC. Guaranteed.
- Old Marvel usually trumps anything.
- Whatever title I carry the least of? Most wanted guaranteed.
- Fright Night? Can’t sell the title. Everyone wanted it for free.
- Overstreet Guide to Collecting? Never gets picked. Everyone wanted it this year.
- Your friend who doesn’t already like comics, really does not want 3 free ones.
- Smart people that want more than 3 bring a friend.
- That friend unless told to get certain titles, will not take a free comic.
- More people than I would think, travel to multiple stores to get multiple titles.
- If someone has a list, it is never 5 or 6. It is every book. And most are checked off.
- I can’t find 6 books I want to read, much less the 40 titles offered.
More often than not, if someone asks what I read or liked, they will not take that comic.
- I try to read a few titles each year to help people decide and keep the line moving.
- More often than not, especially if it is someone I don’t know, they don’t take the book.
- The definition of “costume” varies greatly.
- Most attempted “costumes” are a t-shirt you can wear every day.
- Least costumes attempted are amazing Halloween/ cosplay pieces of art.
- I still love comic books.