The 15th annual Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) will grow again in 2016, with advance orders for FCBD comics up 7% according to Diamond Comic Distributors. Final shipments last year totaled 5.6 million FCBD comics.

The 50 comics offered this year appear strong and diverse, led by the Gold Sponsor Books (see “FCBD 2016 Gold Sponsor Comics Announced”). There are also two T-shirts designs available this year (see “Two FCBD T-Shirt Designs For 15th Anniversary Event”).

The number of participating stores is steady, according to Diamond, with over 2,300 stores worldwide planning FCBD events.