Readers Den Comic Shop (Cape Town, South Africa)

Mahdi & Nizar Abrahams report:

Free Comic Book Day 2005 turned out to be highly successful once again! This was our 4th participating year, and so far our best sales day yet. Despite the fact that we had a slightly smaller crowd than last year - we attribute this to the fact that in 2004 FCBD took place in the mid-year school vacation - the atmosphere and vibe was electric ! We were fortunate to get some excellent media coverage via print and radio which helped a lot in spreading the word.

Discounts on all merchandise once again proved extremely popular especially for the regular customers. We put out extra sale tables outside our store adorned with FCBD posters all round, which helped ease the crowds within the store. The lucky draw competitions we held created an extra buzz especially with the help of Spider-man, Batman and Superman! Throughout the day these costumed characters added a festive atmosphere and proved a hit with the kids, handing out snacks and posing for photo's.  A young fan even had Batman autograph his comic!  And mixed in all this madness we hosted eight local comic creators - definitely guys to watch out for!

Oh, and the "small" matter of free comics :) - once again excellent quality and selection. Dark Horse's Star Wars comic and the Tokyopop sampler was the most popular followed closely by Marvel & DC's offering.

We are happy so say FCBD 2005 was a hit this side of the world!