Did you know both Samuel L Jackson and David Hasselhoff portrayed the exact same comic book character? And that Scarlett Johansson has portrayed not one, but two comic book heroes?

If you didn’t know the answers, well then, it’s time to find out how this is even possible!

It might be that you’ve been missing out on one of pop culture’s most fun days: Kinokuniya’s Free Comic Book Day (FCBD)!

(Spoilers: the answers, respectively, are Marvel’s The Avengers’ Nick Fury and, of course, that well before portraying Marvel’s The Avengers’ savviest super-spy, Black Widow, our ScarJo first played the role of Rebecca from Daniel Clowes’ GhostWorld.)

Comic-loving crowds in store on Free Comic Book Day

If you needed any proof of how much people just simply love comic books and pop culture at the moment, you simply had to take a look through our doors on May 2nd 2015. From the early hours of the morning, people were already crowded on to the entire first and second floors of The Galeries.

Spilling out onto the streets in an expectant mode as they lined George St for most of the length of the QVB, Sydney’s coolest customers painted a picture perfect panorama of geek pride, colourful characters and cosplay chic!

The queue on George Street

Rogue AND Kuroko no Basuke team in the queue, amongst many others

Patiently waiting to get in

Not only would you have been privy to the most obvious treat of the day, that you get a FREE comic book just by asking for it (and, boy, we gave away THOUSANDS!), it’s the chance to immerse yourself in the many, varied pockets of pop trends. For example who hasn’t dreamt of reigning the seven kingdoms of the Game of Thrones? Well, you could’ve been sitting on the Iron Throne all day long, courtesy of Kobayashi Inc. But beware, as they say, whenever you play games of thrones: “you win … or you take a selfie on it before the next person comes to take your place FTW!”

Selfies on the Iron Throne

Throughout this  massive day-long celebration, you could go around the store and get as much swag as you could want – from free calendars to anime stickers to mini-manga giveaways to free comic books, not to mention free chocolates (!) while you waited in the cash line and you could even get free sketches (if you were under 12 yo) from some of Australia’s very leading comic book creators.

Yes indeed, a dozen artists including the awesome David Yardin (X-Men, The Avengers), amazing Nicola Scott (Earth2, Birds of Prey), marvellous Marcelo Baez (Marvel Super Hero Squad), jumpin’ Jon Sommariva (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and delightful Mukky (I Don’t Know Why I married a Otaku) turned the middle of the bookstore into an Artists’ Alley. Every one of these talented and generous artists were on hand to entertain and chat with customers on all things comics and to show off just how much comic book culture had to offer! And so that no one gets caught out on comic book trivia ever again!

Marcelo Baez at the Artists’ Alley

Nicola Scott at the Artists’ Alley

And if that wasn’t enough, we had our annual Cosplay Competition, where anyone with a costume could enter and win gift vouchers and other awesome prizes donated by the one and only Hanabee Entertainment. Truly one of the most engaging parts of FCBD, some of these costumes are so elaborate that it takes months to craft, sew and construct! Although that isn’t always the case, as our stunning Cosplay Ambassador, Black Cat, only took days to craft her costume – from clothes she already had in her wardrobe and things lying around her house! It just goes to show, any one can be part of the cosplay fun, and – in the humble opinion of this Comics Consultant – should!

Cosplayers roam the bookstore

Any day is better when you cosplay it away!

…even the little ones!

So never miss out ever again and don’t forget to come by for FCBD 2016!

It’s usually a month long celebration and filled with movie, anime and graphic novels giveaways in the lead-up to the magic day.

Just before I go, did you know Chris Evans has played the role of no less than four comic book characters? Can you name them?

You can always wait all the way till next year to find out or you can just Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to discover both the answer and oh so much more!
Check out more of this year’s photos here and on the Facebook event page.

Chewie Chan

Comics Consultant