The Press Release:
Penguin Random House is thrilled to introduce our very first Comics Giveaway Day™! On May 2nd, visit your local participating comic shop to pick up a FREE sampler or comic.
Discover a new series, share a favorite with a friend, or—if you’ve never explored comics before—enjoy your very first. It’s the perfect day to celebrate the world of comics, and you won’t want to miss Penguin Random House’s biggest comics event of the year! Our 2026 Comics Giveaway Day™ lineup features original content and exciting previews from some of your favorite Penguin Random House comics publishers:
We have comics available for all age ranges! Each Comics Giveaway Day™ title will feature a color-coded logo to indicate age rating, as seen below:
Check out the Comics Giveaway Day™ titles available this year:
Garfield CGD 2026 (BOOM!)
Jem and the Holograms/My Little Pony Flipbook CGD 2026 (BOOM!)
Power Rangers #0 CGD 2026 (BOOM!)
Something is Killing the Children: Road to Slaughter CGD 2026 (BOOM!)
Avatar: The Last Airbender-Legends/Minecraft: Heart of Cobblestone CGD 2026 (Dark Horse Comics)
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe/Dungeons & Dragons CGD 2026 (Dark Horse Comics)
Locke & Key #1: Cover A (Rodriguez) CGD 2026 (IDW Publishing)
Sonic the Hedgehog #1: Cover A (Yardley) CGD 2026 (IDW Publishing)
Minotaur The Cold Open Cover A Michael Dowling CGD 2026 (Ignition Press)
Kodansha Blue Lock Full Color Selection & Dragon Circus CGD 2026 (Kodansha Comics)
ALIEN, PREDATOR, & PLANET OF THE APES #1 CGD 2026 (Marvel)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1000/QUEEN IN BLACK #1 CGD 2026 (Marvel)
ARMAGEDDON/X-MEN #1 CGD 2026 (Marvel)
SPIDEY & HIS AMAZING FRIENDS #1 CGD 2026 (Marvel)
The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade: The Graphic Novel Sampler CGD 2026 (Penguin Young Readers)
The Whole Wide World of Mabel Mulligan: A Graphic Novel Sampler CGD 2026 (Penguin Young Readers)
Pizza and Taco CGD 2026 (RH Childrens Books)
School Bus Graveyard CGD 2026 (RH Childrens Books)
Mister Magic: The Graphic Novel Sampler CGD 2026 (Ten Speed Graphic)
The British Are Coming: The Graphic Edition, Volume 1 Sampler CGD 2026 (Ten Speed Graphic)
Disney Manga: Stitch! Best Food Forever! CGD 2026 (Tokyopop)
WEBTOON Unscrolled Preview CGD 2026 (Wattpad Webtoon Studios)
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PiercingMetal Thoughts: Before I get into any extended editorial opinion, let me state that I have sourced the above content from the website of Penguin Random House. So its without question that I love any event that puts new comic books into the hands of long time collectors and especially into those who are in the younger set and might be looking into the hobby as something to do in their spare time. Now as you can see there are a number of publishers missing from this rundown and that is because these are the publishers that are now being distributed by Penguin Random House after the dissolution of Diamond Distributors. Diamond was the creator of the “Free Comic Book Day” event branding and according to my research this event will still happen under the new owners of the Diamond Distributors assets. That’s pretty cool news and I’ll be likely posting information about that event as well in the coming weeks as any announcements hit my website email address. Before I ask you to chime in down below I want to make sure that you know that while a Comics Giveaway Day like this is free for the consumer it is NOT free for the retailer and does cost them money. Those who walk in the doors just looking for the freebies do not help the local comic stores to thrive and they in particular should look into adding some issues from the assorted back issue boxes, an action figure or maybe even some Funko Pops. The regulars will most likely be picking up their own weekly pulls on CGD and FCBD, I know that this is my own plan. I’m glad to find this addition to the celebration of comic books being launched and look forward to lauding its benefits going forward. Now you out there in the geekier side of the readership (like me), can chime in and let me know what you think. See you next time.
Official: https://prhcomics.com/
