More than 4.6 million comics have been ordered for Free Comic Book Day, which falls on May 4th (the day after Iron Man 3 debuts in theaters), Diamond Comic Distributors announced today. This is over a 30% increase over last year, which set a record of 3.5 million comics ordered (see “FCBD News: 3.5 Million Books, Halloween Event”).

 

Another record is the number of retail accounts—nearly 2,000—that have signed up to participate in the annual event, which was established in 2002 (from a suggestion by Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics) as a way to introduce new readers to the joys of reading comic books (see “Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--The True Meaning of FCBD”).

 

The free titles to be given away this year, as usual, are a diverse lot, ranging from Buck Rogers to The Walking Dead to Sesame Street to Superman (see “Snyder/Lee 'Superman' Preview in FCBD Offering”).