Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) taking place on the first Saturday of May, is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics in Concord, California, brainstormed the event in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer magazine. Free Comic Book Day started in 2002 and is coordinated by the industry's single large distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors. The event has spread to countries in Asia, Europe, and Australia.
True Believers (TB) is a budget reprint publishing line that releases approximately ten comics per month, with each issue featuring one of Marvel's "most popular stories" from "fan-favorite titles."