At the Diamond Comic Distributors retailers' breakfast at the San Diego Comic-Con International, Diamond VP of Marketing Roger Fletcher announced that Free Comic Book Day 2006 has been set for Saturday, May 6th by the committee of publishers, retailers, and Diamond that sets policy for the event.  The overall retailer support for the first Saturday in May and the success of this year's event has, according to Diamond, obviated the need for a retailer poll to determine the date of Free Comic Book Day.

The early May 2006 date will not be the opening weekend for a major comic book-based movie, but advertising for X3, which is slated for a May 26th release, should be well underway by the first week of the month.  Superman Returns will open on June 30th and Ghost Rider should debut on August 4th.