Ain’t It Cool News contributor Squashua dropped me a note about a site he has set up on Comic Space that promotes giving comics to kids on Halloween. The site includes links to articles he’s written on the subject (a new one is due this Wednesday), as well as a flyer outlining the top ten reasons to give comics at Halloween.
This will be my first Halloween in a new neighborhood, so I’m not sure what kind of trick’r'treat traffic we’ll get. But I will have a stack of comics on hand to give out to the kids.
Sort of related: Detroit News on kids’ comics
October 15th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I gave comics to my son’s classmates and to the kids at our church (my husband is a pastor) for a couple of years now. We have not had a single trick-or-treater come to our house since we moved here in 2004, it’s very sad, because every year I’m armed with comics to hand out! I order the special Halloween ashcans through my LCS - he never makes me pay for them, either! I’m prepared again this year.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Just don’t give away copies of Eightball!
October 15th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Putting the right comic books in the hands of youth is a fantastic idea!
I started reading comics when I was four years old and I totally hold them responsible for helping increase my reading comprehension throughout my formative years. I am a lover of literature to this day, in my mind, because of comic books.
Of course, this was in the earlyl eighties when comics weren’t quite as worldly, but I still believe putting all-ages comics in the hands of children can ONLY be a good thing, especially those that are relunctant readers.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
“We have not had a single trick-or-treater come to our house since we moved here in 2004″
That’s my fear now that we’ve moved … we’re going to be competing with several local neighborhood/school/church fairs in our new place.
October 15th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Spread the word, gang. I was late with this last year, but if we can get all the comic blogs talking about it, maybe we can make a dent into the Halloween Candy Monopoly of 2007.
I urge you all to print out copies of the flyer and bring them to your local stores. I distributed to four stores this weekend and (after checking back 2 days later) I know two of them put the flyers up.
There is no cost or hidden agenda. This is a WIN situation to any retailer to put the flyer up
- more sales from the quarter bin
- more inventory moved
- more room for new inventory
- new potential customers (kids!)
All for the price of having a piece of paper taped to your door.
Thanks for helping spread the word, JK.
October 15th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Go to your LCS and tell them what you are doing and see if they’ll give you a good deal on a bulk purchase. I recommend Sean McKeever’s Spider-Man Adventures. They’re all-ages and self-contained.
October 15th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Don’t forget to bring your LCS a copy of the flyer so that other customers can realize that comic-giving is an excellent alternative to candy.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Since my LCS donated the Halloween comics, my son’s classmates will have a little paper in their treat bags stating that the store donated the comic, and if they want more fun comics, go to the store.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Here’s an idea a friend of mine did. I pass it along every year.
When the orders are due for Free Comic Book Day books, have your LCS order extras of a couple of the kid friendly books, then give them out for Halloween. Most of the FCBD comics cost your LCS around 25 cents, so you could cover the cost, getting 100 comics for $25. It’s probably fairly easy to spend $20 on candy for the little bast…, um, er, kiddies, so why not comics instead?