Heroes highlight the importance of reading

6:42pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

COMIC book fans picked up thousands of comics and other accessories for free as part of a global reading initiative.

Spider-Man and Batman were among the guests handing out the comics on Free Comic Day at Swin City in Morley Street.

Vince Mancari, who co-owns Swin City, said: "It was brilliant. We had a selection of over 40 comics and people could take away one of each, and we also had buy one get one free offers on t-shirts and boxes of comic books.

"By midday we had given away 500 and by the end of the day I'm pretty sure we probably gave away thousands. It's proved really popular. It's a great way of getting people involved. You have fans come in who generally like specific comics and try out new ones, and you also have those who wouldn't read them otherwise.

"Comics are for people of all ages. We have the same amount of young customers as we have older ones. They could be seven, or 57. It's something for everyone. Also with all these movies coming out, there's a lot more interest which is brilliant."

Ryan Horan, 14, from St Andrew's Ridge said: "My favourite comics are the Marvel ones and I've been into them for a few years. It's great here because there's so much choice."

Nathan Pound, 15, from Stratton said: "The variety here is brilliant and I am sure it'll get more people interested in comics."