Another Free Comic Book Day has come and gone, and from my very unscientific observations (I visited both branches of Midtown Comics), it looks like the fifth day was bigger and more successful than previous years. So why do I feel like Linus on the day after Halloween? Perhaps it’s because the Great Pumpkin didn’t leave me any toys this year, despite my good behavior. The line at the Times Square store was formidable, so my husband and I trekked across town to the Lexington Avenue location. That store was much quieter, giving me the fleeting–and false–hope that I might score a few interesting freebies. Alas, a dedicated crew of hardcore fanboys and girls had already descended on the store, picking the giveaway table clean of the good titles. My husband sampled some of the leftovers–including the much-hyped Spiderman giveaway–but I came away empty-handed: no Unseen Peanuts, no Comics Festival, no Owly/Korgi, no White Out, no Umbrella Academy/Zero Killer.

Having groused about the fact that the good stuff was gone before noon, I do have a few more constructive things to say about FCBD:

People like free stuff. A few years ago, I ran a graduate student organization that sponsored monthly mixers. We could have served Thunderbird and Twinkies at those parties, but as long as the Thunderbird and Twinkies were free, a lot of people would show up. The same is true for comic books. Even though floppies are still a relative bargain (as compared with, say, an $11 movie ticket), folks turned out in droves to snap up freebies.

A surprisingly diverse group of people read comics. If you ever wanted proof that comics are not the exclusive domain of a certain type of 18-to-34-year-old male, FCBD was a great opportunity to gather data. The line snaking down 40th Street was a veritable Rainbow Coalition of readers, male and female, young and old.

Fans are hungry for good titles. The fact that all of the alt-comic material was gone in a flash suggests that many folks look forward to the day’s more offbeat offerings. I couldn’t tell you if enthusiasm for samplers translates into increased sales of The Complete Peanuts or Scott Pilgrim, but it probably doesn’t hurt.

Manga publishers missed a great opportunity to connect with fans. Of the major manga publishers in the US, only Tokyopop participated in this year’s FCBD. Tokyopop’s Choose Your Weapon sampler featured a selection of action-oriented OEL and manwha titles (i.e. Gyakushu!, Phantom, Utopia’s Avenger), none of which appealed to me. But at least Tokyopop offered readers a nicely-packaged booklet that looked and felt quite different from the other FCBD giveaways with its smaller trim size, superior cover stock, and higher page count. Seeing the Tokyopop sampler made me wonder why DC didn’t offer the 2007 CMX preview sampler that was available at New York Comic-Con. Not only did the CMX sampler feature pages from their forthcoming Gon reissue, but it also included a variety of shojo titles. If DC wants to lure more girls into comic book stores, a giveaway aimed squarely at a female readership would have been a great idea.

So that’s my two cents on Free Comic Book Day 2007. I’d be curious to hear from other readers about their experiences. Was the Comics Festival a big deal in your next of the woods, or were fans scrapping over the Marvel giveaways? Inquiring minds want to know.

Me? Well, I guess it’s never too early to write a letter to the Great Pumpkin in anticipation of FCBD 2008. But finding a sincere pumpkin patch in which to wait for him… well, that might be more of a challenge in Manhattan.