This Saturday is a double whammy of Cinco de Mayo and Free Comic Book Day! Many of you may be thinking “Woohoo! Margaritas! Now what’s this about free comics and why do I care?”

If you have kids, drinking margaritas all day may not be the best way to celebrate May 5th this year. Ok, I take that back. It probably would be the BEST way to spend the day, just not the most practical or family friendly. And by now you probably know kids+hangover=special ring of hell.

Free Comic Book Day is held every year on the first Saturday of May. It’s a day where you can get free comics at almost any comic book shop! The event was started in 2002 as a promotional effort to bring new people into independent comic book stores and has grown into larger events including cosplayers and libraries.

There is no purchase necessary to participate. You just wait in line and then choose 3-5 comics (each place has their own limit) from a special selection featured that day. Usually there are a lot to choose from!

So this year, try taking the kids to your local comic book shop and check to see if your library is doing any special events! Three of the libraries here in Jax are doing ComicCons. I was on the news dressed as Antiope to promote the one I’ll be at – Beaches Library Comic Con!

And yes, you can still stop for a margarita on the way 😉