{"id":2601,"date":"2017-04-04T11:33:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T18:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2601"},"modified":"2024-01-09T11:36:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T19:36:34","slug":"maggies-world-050-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/maggies-world-050-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie\u2019s World 050: Free"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MAGGIE’S WORLD BY MAGGIE THOMPSON<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie\u2019s World 050: Free<\/h1>\n\n\n
Maggie Thompson<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"HD<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A free comic book? Free?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who thought up that<\/em> idea?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A look at the \u201cPromotional Comics\u201d section of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide<\/em> will demonstrate that many, many free comics have been released over the years\u2014even over the decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most are long forgotten\u2014and, by the way, are really hard to find, even via Internet searches. How did we get them in the first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walk Right Up!<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Mom! Dad! Let\u2019s go to the shoe store!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What? You don\u2019t think kids would ask to visit a shoe store?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shoe stores attracted kids with free comics.\u00a0Boys\u2019 and Girls\u2019 March of Comics<\/em>\u00a0#26 (left) featured \u201cOur Gang and the Skeleton River Mystery,\u201d written and drawn by Walt Kelly. \u00a9 2017 Turner Entertainment Co. \u201cThe Shark Woman\u201d (right) drawn by Ray Willner (and clearly influenced by Milton Caniff\u2019s Dragon Lady) appeared in\u00a0Smilin\u2019 Ed\u2019s Buster Brown Comics<\/em>\u00a0#19 \u00a9 2017 Calares, Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While there have certainly been a variety of reasons to hand out comics over the years, shoe stores were among the most generous in the 1940s. Buster Brown shoe manufacturers licensed the character a couple of years after Richard Outcault created the strip. Though his strip ended in the 1920s, the company introduced a Buster Brown Comic Book<\/em> series in 1945, tied to Ed McConnell\u2019s TV show Smilin\u2019 Ed\u2019s Gang<\/em>. It ran for about a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps inspired by that series, other shoe stores (including the shoe department at Sears) soon began to offer the March of Comics<\/em> series featuring Dell\u2019s licensed titles. (Some issues may have been reprints, but several contained stories that appeared only in this series from Western Publishing. Yes, probably just in order to drive completists nuts.) Whereas Buster Brown<\/em>\u2019s output was fewer than 50 issues, March of Comics<\/em>\u2019 numbering reached #488 (and was by that time handed out by, yes, the Buster Brown shoe folks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of Course \u2026<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

There have been many other free comics: some designed to attract kids to stores, some set up to keep kids busy while elders were otherwise occupied, and some simply provided to convey information entertainingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After World War II, for example, Peter Wheat Bread distributed tales of The Little Folk of the Wheat Field\u2014initially by Walt Kelly, later by Al Hubbard\u2014in the swords-and-sorcery comedy fantasy of The Adventures of Peter Wheat<\/em> and Peter Wheat News<\/em>. The two different formats were delivered along with bread by friendly neighborhood breadmen (like milkmen but with wheat products).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Adventures of the Big Boy<\/em>\u00a0#143 (1969, left) placed BB in a strange situation. \u00a9 2017 Big Boy Restaurants.\u00a0Popeye<\/em>\u00a0#E2 (right) was \u201cPopeye and Environmental Careers\u201d (1973), written by Joe Gill and drawn by George Wildman. \u00a9 2017 King Features.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In fact, comics seemed to be a natural additive to food. Such cereals as Cheerios, Quaker Oats, Malt-O-Meal, and Wheaties each offered promotional comics. In fact, while we\u2019re considering long-running free comic books, we should note that Adventures of the Big Boy<\/em> kicked off in the mid-1950s and ran for decades, though BB resonates so little with comics buffs today that most would even be hard-pressed to name his dog (Nugget, named in #10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But free comics serve a variety of purposes. For Outdoor Power Equipment Institute in 1966, underground comix writer-artist Vaughn Bod\u00e9 produced Powermowerman and Power Mower Safety<\/em>. In 1973, King Comics (printed by Charlton) produced an entire series of educational Popeye<\/em> comics written by Joe Gill providing a look at a variety of occupations. (They included Popeye and \u2026 Health Careers, Communications and Media Careers, Transportation Careers, Construction Careers, Consumer and Homemaking Careers, and so on.) \u201cThe National Joint Bricklaying Apprenticeship and Training Committee recommends completion of a 3-year apprenticeship program as the best way to learn this trade. Master bricklayers must know math and read blueprints.\u201d You get the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why bring up free comics now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Your Calendar<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take one more trip down memory lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Field of the Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff shop proposed an \u201cindustry open house\u201d outreach in Diamond Dialogue<\/em>\u2019s January 1998 issue and went on to suggest a \u201cFree Comics Night\u201d in Comics & Games Retailer<\/em> #113 (August 2001). The C&GR<\/em> article was titled \u201cThe Power of Free,\u201d and Joe called attention to the fact that the Baskin-Robbins ice cream franchise holders had the tradition of an annual \u201cFree Scoop Night.\u201d He\u2019d observed its success and wrote, \u201cIsn\u2019t this an idea that we can tailor to the comics market?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He outlined a general plan, adding specific suggestions that individual stores might adopt, including subscribing to the Comic Shop Locator Service, so that people who want to find shops in the first place could do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wrote, \u201c\u2026with a better breadth of material in our market than ever before, we should be looking at inviting as many as we can to join us in the enjoyment of comics as amazing entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Releases for the first Free Comic Book Day included (left)\u00a0Ultimate Spider-Man: Free Comic Book Day Edition<\/em>\u00a0(May 2002). \u00a9 2017 Marvel. Releases for last year\u2019s Free Comic Book Day included (right)\u00a0FCBD 2016\u2014DC Superhero Girls 1 Special Edition<\/em>\u00a0(May 2016). \u00a9 2017 DC Comics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Diamond Comic Distributors reacted with enthusiasm. Roger Fletcher wrote, \u201cJoe threw out a spark. If we all work together, maybe it will catch fire. Maybe we can deliver a powerful \u2018thank you\u2019 to current customers and bring new and lapsed readers and fans into comics shops!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Free Comic Book Day was May 4, 2002, when more than 2 million comics from DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and Image were given away at more than 2,000 locations. The first Saturday in May has turned out to be a terrific choice for the annual event, and the variety of treats has become amazing. A decade and a half after the first celebration, the event will include comics geared for younger readers, comics aimed at superhero fans, comics for \u2026 Well, heck. If you Google \u201cFree Comic Book Day 2017,\u201d you\u2019ll find a lot of information on the delights that await.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or you can just join the rest of us on May 6 to see for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Oh, and before I forget: that comics shop that\u2019s handing you a free comic book? It paid for what it\u2019s giving you. So you might enjoy checking to see whether it might also be selling something you or someone you know might enjoy. I don\u2019t recall a time I\u2019ve entered a comics shop without finding something I wanted to buy. Just a thought.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maggie\u2019s World by Maggie Thompson appears the first Tuesday of every month here on<\/em> Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Maggie Thompson<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n