Comics distributor Penguin Random House has officially announced Comics Giveaway Day, their competitor/compliment to Free Comic Book Day, the annual comics event that is now owned by Universal Distribution.
Last week we learned that Universal Distribution and Lunar Distribution had teamed up to bring Free Comic Book Day back to comic shops in 2026, following the bankruptcy and dissolution of Diamond Comics Distributors. They announced they would offer free titles by the various publishers they distribute, including DC, Image Comics, Archie, Dynamite and more.
Missing from the list were any publishers that are now distributed by Penguin Random House, and now we know why — titles by Marvel, BOOM!, Dark Horse and others will be released on Comics Giveaway Day, which just so happens to fall on May 2 as well.
So, everyone wins, right? Free comics for everybody, even if some of them will have a different events log on them.
Marvel also posted their own announcement about Comics Giveaway Day, revealing they would offer four titles for the event: one that’ll promote the upcoming Queen In Black event and Amazing Spider-Man #1000; one spotlighting the upcoming crossover event Armageddon, the X-Men titles and the Fantastic Four; a 20th Century Fox anthology with Alien, Predator and more; and a kids-focused title with Spidey & his Amazing Friends and Jeff the Land Shark.
Running through the other publishers, Dark Horse will spotlight their Avatar, He-Man, Dungeons & Dragons and Minecraft comics, while BOOM! will have titles featuring Power Rangers, Garfield, Jem and the Holograms, My Little Pony and Something is Killing the Children:
IDW will have one for the youngsters and one for the adults, Sonic and Locke & Key:
The Comics Giveaway Day logos on these, you’ll see, are green and red; that’s to note who the comic is appropriate for. Green logo comics are for all ages, yellow are for teens and red are for adults. Unfortunately Free Comic Book Day has a history when it comes to adult-oriented landing in the hands of kids, so I question whether having adult-oriented comics available at all is really a wise move. But at least PRH is attempting to make it easy to identify content that isn’t meant for kids.
Newly minted publisher Ignition Press is on board, with Minotaur:The Cold Open:
Manga publisher Kodansha is on board with Kodansha Blue Lock Full Color Selection & Dragon Circus CGD 2026:
TokyoPop has a Stitch manga:
And Webtoon gets involved with Unscrolled Preview CGD 2026:
And then there are the various titles offered by PRH’s various companies, like Ten Speed Press, Random House Childrens Books and Penguin Young Readers:
No doubt we’ll be hearing soon from Universal and Lunar on what titles they’ll be offering, so stay tuned.