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On May 4th, over two thousand comic book shops across North America and around the world will share the magic of comic books with their communities when they give out over 4.6 million comic books—free of charge—during Free Comic Book Day. Comic Book Specialty Retailers expect record breaking attendance and have been preparing their shops for this event for months.

There’s literally a free comic book available for everyone’s taste, including favorites such as Superman, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Walking Dead and Star Wars…there’s even a comic book on Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time.

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Comic book publishing heavyweights Dark Horse Comics, DC Entertainment, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics are among the many sponsors creating special titles for Free Comic Book Day 2013. The free books are designed to appeal to a broad range of tastes, including action-packed super-hero stories featuring Superman and Marvel’s Infinity; sci-fi adventures set in the Star Wars universe; horrifying stories of survival in a zombie apocalypse The Walking Dead; and great kid-friendly comics for younger fans-The Smurfs, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sesame Street to name a few.

“Free Comic Book Day is a perfect occasion for customers to discover comic books,” said FCBD spokesperson Leslie Bowser, “especially if they’re new to the wide variety of titles that are being published today. On May 4th, we encourage everyone to use Free Comic Book Day as an opportunity to learn about the great comic books and pop-culture merchandise that can be found at their local comic book shop. Hopefully, they’ll walk away with free comics they can’t wait to read, then keep coming back to their local shop for more!”

Along with free comics, many comic book shops will feature events during the day including creator signings, appearances of favorite super-heroes or cosplayers and great deals on exclusives and sale items.

Customers can check out the full list of available titles on the Free Comic Book Day website, http://www.freecomicbookday.com, and use the FCBD Store Locator to find a participating comic book shop in their area.

Look for more FCBD news and updates on the FCBD website, www.freecomicbookday.com; become a fan at Facebook (www.facebook.com/freecomicbook); and follow us on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/freecomicbook.

ABOUT FREE COMIC BOOK DAY— Celebrating its twelfth year, Free Comic Book Day is an annual event where participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. The event is held the first Saturday in May and is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the many worlds of wonder available at local comic book shops. From super-heroes to slice of life to action/adventure and beyond, Free Comic Book Day has a comic book for everyone!