免费漫画日

Celebrated on the first Saturday of May， Free Comic Book Day is a day thathas a three purposes. It’s designed to thank current1 comic book readers for theirsupport throughout the year， to introduce new readers to the joys of comic bookreading， and to call back those who may have loved comic books in the past buthave been away from them for a while. It’s a yearly promotional2 event by theNorth American comic book industry and helps to bring new readers into comicbook stores. The concept3 of this holiday was first set up in an August of 2001column and it was officially celebrated the following year in 2002. Although thisholiday firstly started in North America， it has since spread to other countriesaround the world including countries in Africa， Oceania， Asia and Europe.

每年5 月的第一个星期六是免费漫画日，它的存在有三重目的。它旨在感谢现漫画读者一年来的支持，向新读者介绍阅读漫画的乐趣，并勾起那些过去可能喜欢漫画书，但已经远离漫画一段时间的人的回忆。这是北美漫画行业一年一度的促销活动，有助于帮助漫画书店吸引新的读者。这个节日的概念最初是在2001 年8 月的一个专栏中提出的，在接下来的2002 年人们正式庆祝这个节日。虽然这个节日最初起源于北美，但它已经传播到世界其他国家，包括非洲、大洋洲、亚洲和欧洲的国家。

In 2001， Joe Field suggested in one of his columns that Free Comic Book Dayshould be started. He said that many of the feature films of the day that weresuccessful were based on comic book franchises4. This has resulted in the comicbook industry having its profile5 raised and somewhat improved upon. What wasonce seen as books for children could now be accepted by people of all ages andfrom all walks of life.

2001年，乔·菲尔德在他的一篇专栏文章中建议设置免费漫画日。他指出，当时很多成功的电影都是根据漫画改编的。这使得漫画行业的形象得以提升，并在一定程度上有所改善。曾经被视为儿童读物的东西，现在可以被各个年龄层和各行各业的人所接受。

In his column in a magazine， he recommended6 a Free Comic Book Day.After all， the ice-cream shop next to his store offered free ice-cream on Free Ice-Cream Day to drive sales， so why shouldn’t the comic book industry do the same？The column received a lot of positive reactions7. Jim Valentino， the co-founder ofImage Comics， suggested that the first Free Comic Book Day should start with theopening of the 2002 movie to use the chance to promote the movie.On May 4th， 2002， the Free Comic Book Day was set up the day after themovie being released in theaters. Comic books that are given out are usuallycheaper comic books that are made especially for this day. However， that isn’talways the case. Some comic book stores give out many different comic books and memorabilia8 on this day.

在他的杂志专栏中，他推荐了免费漫画日。毕竟，他店子旁边的冰淇淋店在免费冰淇淋日提供免费冰淇淋来促销，那么为什么漫画行业不做同样的事情呢？这个专栏收到了很多积极的反馈。影像漫画公司的联合创始人吉姆·瓦伦蒂诺建议，第一个免费漫画日应该从2002 年《蜘蛛侠》电影的上映开始，以利用该机会宣传这部电影。2002 年5 月4 日，在《蜘蛛侠》电影在影院上映的第二天，就设立了免费漫画日。赠送出去的漫画书通常是便宜的漫画书，是专门为这一天制作的。然而，情况并非总是如此。在这一天，一些漫画书店也会赠送许多不同的漫画书和纪念品。