Participating stores
› B&M Amusement Co., 5036B Highway 58, 423-490-1162› Infinity Flux, 3643 Hixson Pike, 423-491-5689› Epikos Comics, Cards & Games, 9408 Apison Pike, Ooltewah, 423-531-4184› Epikos Comics, Cards & Games, 5510 Highway 153, Hixson, 423-531-4184› Dicehead Games & Comics, 200 Paul Huff Parkway, Cleveland, 423-473-7125› The Battlegrounds Games, 2708 Airport Road, Dalton, 706-259-9704Chattanooga Public Library› Downtown, 1001 Broad St. The second and fourth floors of the downtown branch, 1001 Broad St., will begin its celebration at noon Saturday. All ages are welcome for activities including an AnimeBlast Session on Foam Sculpting, Dr. Freeze’s Snowball Toss, sushi drawing, eye patch sewing, Minecraft building zone, Hoopla tours, screenings of “Minions” (rated PG) and “Mad Max” (rated R). Some events require registration. Go to chattlibrary.org.› Northgate, Hixson: Infinity Flux will hand out comics from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Visitors are encouraged to come dressed as a favorite superhero. A Tweentastic: Comics program will start at 3:30 to make comic strip crafts and cartoon artwork. The program is designed for ages 8-12, but younger children may attend if accompanied by an adult.
Free Comic Book Day will take place in more than 2,300 specialty shops around the world on Saturday, May 7, delivering 6 million comic books, free of charge, to first-time readers and devout fans of the genre.
“Free Comic Book Day is the perfect occasion for newcomers to comics as well as those who have been reading them for years to celebrate comics and discover new titles that debut on the first Saturday in May,” says national spokesman Dan Manser.
This year offers 50 titles designed to appeal to a broad range of tastes. They include superhero stories such as Marvel’s “Civil War II” and DC’s “Suicide Squad”; favorites for kids such as “Pokémon,” “DC Super Hero Girls,” “Grumpy Cat” and “Sonic the Hedgehog”; stories that feature classic characters such as Strawberry Shortcake, Pink Panther and Archie; and TV tie-ins featuring such series as “Doctor Who,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “Sanjay and Craig,” “The Simpsons” and “Firefly.”
“We encourage fans to use Free Comic Book Day as an opportunity to explore their local comic book shop, seeing all it has to offer,” says Manser. “Hopefully, they’ll walk away with free comics they can’t wait to read and then keep coming back to their local shop for more.”
Six shops in the Chattanooga area will be participating, as will the Chattanooga Public Library.
Find out more at www.freecomicbookday.com.