Steven Bates of Bookery Fantasy in Fairborn, Ohio saw the notice that voting is now open for the date for Free Comic Book Day 2005 (see 'Retailers Voting on Free Comic Book Day Date') and prefers May:
Free Comic Book Day began, as I understand it, as the inspiration of Joe Field of Flying Colors, a real 'grass roots' movement attempting to unite comic book publishers and retailers in an outreach program designed to educate the 99% of Americans who don't read comic books on a regular basis (as well as reward regular patrons of the industry and lure back in the former readers). Though it has benefited immensely from synergistic relationships with the film industry (and theaters on local levels), it was not originally conceived to promote or piggyback off movies in general. Inspired as it was to tie-in with May-released Spider-Man and X2, waiting until July to cash in on Spider-Man 2 created problems for many retailers, and confused a good many comics fans who expected 'their' fix of freebies in May. Personally, Bookery Fantasy did extremely well with FCBD 2004, as reported in an earlier posting, but my gut reaction was, and remains, that May is a better time for FCBD. Why?
Scheduling FCBD during the summer months creates dilemmas for many customers, conflicts with summer jobs, out-of-town trips, and lounging on the beach or by the pool. There's just too much going on in the summer, with kids out of school, families getting together, and, of course, comic book conventions. Holding events then, with or without a comic book movie tie-in, presents problems. Nothing much happens in May. There's very little to distract comic book fans, and fewer people take vacations then. In fact, FCBD was the biggest event in May, for fans (and retailers). After the first fiscal quarter doldrums, with Christmas bills and taxes come due, FCBD was a celebration for everyone, a time to get excited again about all things comic book. Including movies.
I don't begrudge DC wanting to coordinate FCBD with Batman Begins. Marvel movies have dominated, for good and for bad, the event almost from its inception. I'm sure Time-Warner would like a piece of that action as well. But I feel that June 18 is the wrong date for FCBD, so I challenge DC to come up with something else. Marvel printed cheap Incredible Hulk comics to tie-in with Ang Lee's film, and DC has proven it has the resources to print inexpensive comics for promotional purposes before (two Batmans, a Superman, and the DC Archives samplers come to mind). Why not give comics fans the old 'one-two punch,' with a Batman Begins teaser comic in May, followed up in June with a sequel? Better yet, print half the comic book for FCBD, and save the second half for the film's release? Retailers could place orders for both at the same time, or distribution of the second book could be matched to orders for FCBD quantities. As for content, material could be culled from Batman: Year One (which might help sell a trade paperback or two), the official adaptation, or original material. Whatever the interiors, both the FCBD and the June release should sport photo covers, and contain text articles on the background history of other characters in the film, such as Scarecrow and Ra's al Ghul.
Needless to say, I'm pushing for a return to May for Free Comic Book Day. But I'm also anxious to see what DC has in mind to promote Batman Begins. Hopefully, the two do not need to be inextricably linked.
