Jay Bardyla of Happy Harbor Comics & Toys in Edmonton, Alberta, sends us this Free Comic Book Day report, along with his questions for publishers that produce books for the promotions:

We had a great FCBD despite the rain.  We doubled our sales from last year and saw about 500 people, another 150 more from last year, though most were regulars (again, the rain deterring most walk-by traffic).  My real concerns about FCBD can only be answered by the publishers.

1)  Why can we have '10 Cent Adventures' and special '25 Cent' issues with new material throughout the year but reprint material for FCBD costs us more?

2)  If we're just going to hand out reprints, why is the paper quality so high?  Wouldn't it make more sense to use a slightly lesser paper quality and lower the price to us?

3)  To those few publishers who still don't leave a space for store stamps, please reconsider.  You don't deserve all the credit for FCBD.

4)  And on the topic of stamps and paper quality, if you use less glossy cover paper and leave a space for a store stamp, retailers will be much, much happier and since we are the ones promoting your comics, shouldn't you take our needs in to consideration too?

My hat's off to Mr. Field for not only conceiving this idea but encouraging the comic companies to go along with it.  Here's to next year!

Retailers -- If you'd like to share your Free Comic Book Day story with ICv2's readers, please e-mail us at Comments@icv2.com with your story and images.