A look back at @Freecomicbook day 2015

The first Saturday in May has become a comic lover’s dream. The annual celebration on Free Comic

Book Day has become a huge draw nationwide.
Several local comic shops across Downriver and Dearborn held huge celebrations to honor the day.
PHOTOS: Free Comic Book Day across Downriver, Dearborn
Crowds at Allen Park’s Big Ben’s Comix Oasis, Dearborn’s Green Brain Comics and Lincoln Park’s Quick Stop Comic Shop were as large as ever. Other area stores, Taylor’s The Pack Shack, Southgate’s Hero Time Comics, and Trenton’s Comic City also celebrated the day.
The goal of Free Comic Book Day is to promote the comic book medium to new customers young and old and celebrate independent comic book retailers and their stores. In addition to giving away books, many local comic book stores are making the day into an event with writers, artists, bands and other attractions at their shops.
Celebrations at Green Brain and Quick Stop were the first of their kind. Green Brain has moved to a new larger location since last year, and Quick Stop is a new store open from the owner’s of the former Wonderworld Comics which was in Taylor.
“Welcome to the first ever Free Comic Book Day at Quick Stop Comic Shop,” owner Dennis Barger bellowed to a crowd or about 100 people who were there hours after the store opened.
Barger said the crowd was the shortest it had been all day.
“We were wrapped around the building this morning before we opened,” he said.
Patrons were welcomed to the store through a new “fully functioning,” Tardis replica that replaced the store’s main entrance. It debuted for the celebration.
It was a big hit among the crowd.
At Green Brain the celebration was bigger than ever, with the parking lot filled with comic creators and artists. It was almost like a mini comic book convention.
“We’ve been busy all day,” co-owner Dan Merritt said. “I’m really happy with the turn out.”
At Big Ben’s they tried a new system of handing out tickets to avoid the up to four hour lines they’ve had in years past. It seemed to work as the store filled up, instead of having lines wrapping around the building like in the past.
Overall there there more than 100 titles available from the major comic book publishers, with more titles from the smaller and independent publishers also available.
“This was my first time out here,” Dearborn Heights resident Katy Harrison said while in line at Quick Stop. “I can’t believe they just give away books.”