PANAMA CITY — Comic book shops in Panama City are getting ready for Free Comic Book Day on Saturday.
Comic Emporium, 2403 N Highway 231, the oldest comic book store in town, is planning to give away all the comics listed on freecomicbookday.com and offer half price on back issues, with lesser sales on new comics.
“We’ve been here 14 years and we’ve participated every year,” co-owner Greg Ray said.
New Force, 2461 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., is taking the event a few steps further. They plan to give out as many as 5,000 comics. New Force also is offering 50 percent off new comics and back issues.
“Our back issues, you can get eight comics for a $1,” owner Rick Whitelock said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
New Force also is doing an hourly give away starting at 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Included in those giveaways will be a Walking Dead Compendium vol. 2, valued at $60 retail.
Whitelock said Free Comic Book Day brings people from all over the Southeast to New Force.
“People stock up,” he said. “I had a guy sat in here for six hours. He bought thousands of comics.”
Arena Comics, 1360 W. 15th Street, is offering almost all of the Free Comic Book Day comics and 25 percent off on back issues and $.50 comics. Arena will also host two local artists, Jason Kretzer and John Smith, who will do free sketches by request. Kretzer recently published a comic, “Wannabe Heroes,” through kickstarter.
Free Comic Book Day also has become a spectacle. People like to come dressed as their favorite characters. Comic Emporium boasts they will have a cast of live characters from science fiction, fantasy and the world of comics.