I remember the smell of newly printed comics back in the day. My favorite was the X-Men Christmas issue where Penance was introduced at the end. Saddest. Thing. Of. All. Time. I kept hoping for a better story line for her. My hope kept me reading and introduced me to different characters – like Husk and Jubilee.

My husband gave up on paper comics ages ago and has moved on to digital comics. “They take up less physical space,” he reminds me. “But you’ll never smell that fresh-printed aroma with digital comics,” I retort.

Walk into any participating and independently owned comic book store the first Saturday in May, and you’ll likely be treated to several free comic books. Awesome, right?

Since 2001, Free Comic Book Day has been widely attended and celebrated across North America and parts of Canada, as well as internationally. You can pop into a participating store and walk out with any number of specifically printed comics. There is a catch however: individual stores have their own policy on the number of free comic books you may receive.

Each year they try to give you a heads up on all the comics available with a showing on their site. This year, these are available: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/981

Find the nearest participating comic book stores here: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/storelocator

Go forth and find some good stuff!