The 11th annual Free Comic Book Day offers lots of four-color fun for kids of all ages at area comic stores during regular business hours on Saturday, May 5. This year’s free funny books range from the now traditional superhero-movie tie-in (including a certain Marvel comic that is perfectly timed for this weekend’s multiplex opening of The Avengers’ cinema adaptation) to extra-special adventures with the Smurfs, Sonic the Hedgehog, Spider-Man (he’s got a summer movie, too) and a Simpsons-SpongeBob SquarePants double bill, plus retro appearances from Donald Duck and the gang in vintage tales from artist-writer Carl Barks, a flip book featuring Charles Schulz’s Peanuts gallery and an edition of Burt Ward: Boy Wonder, the apparent sequel to last year’s Misadventures of Adam West. Participating local shops include Carousel Center’s Play the Game, Read the Story (472-4263); Cloud City Comics and Toys, Shoppingtown Mall, DeWitt (449-0016); The Comix Zone (pictured), 628 S. Main St., North Syracuse (452-1037); Bullseye Darts, 615 S. Main St., North Syracuse (458-3278); Larger Than Life Toys and Comics, Great Northern Mall, Clay (622-1891); and farther afield, The Comic Shop, 112 E. Bridge St., Oswego (343-8435), and Ravenswood, 8451 Seneca Turnpike, New Hartford (735-3699). Admission is free. For more information, check out www.freecomicbookday.com.
