Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU

Kamloops celebrates Free Comic Book Day

May 6, 2019 | 12:50 PM

KAMLOOPS — Each year, comic book retailers celebrate Free Comic Book Day on the first Saturday in May. Hundreds of comic book fans gather at their local comic shops to get one of the many free comics explicitly published for Free Comic Book Day and supplied by the retailers.

On Saturday, CFJC Today headed down to High Octane Comics and Collectibles to speak with some die-hard comic book fans from Kamloops about their passion for the medium, as well as find out how Free Comic Book Day got started. Judging by the lineup at High Octane Comics and Collectibles this past weekend, it’s a big deal for comic book fans.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

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“It started when someone saw a huge lineup outside of a Baskin Robbins because they had free ice cream,” High Octane Comics Manager Nick Klie told CFJC Today. “They thought ‘I bet you we could do that too.’ So how about free comics?” Klie added, “We order a bunch of these special comics from all the different publishers and then we give them all out to people.”

While the Golden Age of Comic Books happened back in the 1930s, when comic books as we know them first appeared on the scene, some fans say their love for comics reignited thanks to the success of movies based on popular comic book storylines.

“I kind of fell off of [reading comics] for a little bit, but I’ve got back into them,” said one comic book reader dressed as Batman. “Now I read them regularly.”

“I think the movies reignited a lot of people’s passion for comic books. It kind of happened for me,” Batman’s sidekick Robin explained. “I’ve jumped back into it quite a bit since all the movies have come out in the last ten years or so.”

For High Octane Comics manager Nick Klie, those movies have helped to turn a new generation of kids into fans of comic books.

“Kids have seen these movies, and they go ‘Wow, this is amazing! Tell me more Dad, tell me more Mom.’ And they can go to the comic store and show them where this all started.”

So for at least one Dad, passing along his love of comics has had some unexpected benefits as well

“Anything that gets him reading is always a good thing,” Dad Mike said of his son Logan’s love of comics.

For Klie, Free Comic Book Day might be one his busiest days of the year. The genuine enjoyment of what he does makes coping with the chaos a piece of cake.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

“Comics are a medium unlike any other,” Klie explained. “It’s hard to film things, but if you can think ti and you can draw it, you can make it. It’s amazing; I love comics.”