Today is Local Comic Book Day 2021 – here’s what to expect

DC, Marvel Comics, Image Comics, BOOM! Studios and more have signed up to participate in Local Comic Shop Day 2021.

The annual event, scheduled to take place this year on November 24, will feature several exclusive variations of popular series covers, as well as the debut of Brian Michael Bendis’ new book, Joy Operation.

What is Local Comic Book Day?

Local comic day

(Image credit: Todd Nauck / Gabe Eltaeb)

Local Comic Shop Day is an annual event hosted by ComicsPRO – a trade association of North American comic book store owners.

“Local Comic Shop Day honors the lifeblood of the comic book industry, local comic book stores,” a DC representative recently said in the announcement of its 2021 Local Comic Shop Day exclusives.

Local Comic Book Day 2021 will take place on Wednesday, November 24 – the second year in a row, it takes place on a Wednesday. The event was previously held on Saturday for Free Comic Book Day, founded in 2002 by ComicsPro member Joe Field.

“We moved the local comic book store day from Saturday to Wednesday last year and more stores participated,” ComicsPRO executive director Marco Davanzo said in the date announcement. “Because Wednesday is the day new comics traditionally come out, it made a lot of sense to make that move.”

He uses the term “traditionally” because the majority of the comic book industry releases new titles on Wednesdays, as it has for years – but in 2020 DC moved on to releasing its new titles. Tuesday, making an exception to the general reign.

What will be the exclusives of this year’s Local Comic Shop Day?

(Image credit: Jonboy Meyers (Marvel Comics))

Currently, four special items are planned for Local Comic Shop Day 2021, although more are expected by the date.

The exclusive items for Local Comic Day 2021 are:

  • A Venom # 2 (Marvel Comics) exclusive variant cover of the event by Jonboy Meyers
  • Joy Operations # 1 (Dark Horse Comics) by Brian Michael Bendis and Stephen Byrne
  • Chuck D presents Revelation 91: Revolution never sleeps (Z2 Comics), an OGN limited edition celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Public Enemy album ‘Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Back’
  • Special Edition Metallica (10 Ton Press) A reissue of a Metallic biography comic
  • A Slaughterhouse # 1 (BOOM! Studios) second edition of the exclusive variant cover of the print event by Jae Lee and June Chung
  • A Magic: Metal Master # 1 (BOOM! Studios) event exclusive variant cover by Adam Gorham
  • A Regarding the matter of Oswald’s body # 1 (BOOM! Studios) exclusive variant coverage of the event by Ryan Sook
  • A DC vs. vampires # 2 (DC) event exclusive aluminum variant cover by Francesco Mattina
  • A Detective Comics # 1045 (DC) event exclusive aluminum variant cover by Lee Bermejo
  • A Z Working Group # 2 (DC) event exclusive variant cover by Eddy Barrows
  • A Girl Scouts: Stone Ghost # 1 (Image Comics) exclusive event variant cover by Jim Mahfood
  • A Friday # 1 (Image Comics) exclusive event variant cover by Marcos Martin
  • A The Walking Dead Deluxe # 27 (Image Comics / Skybound Entertainment) Exclusive Event Variant Coverage by Charlie Adlard and Dave McCaig
  • A Radio Apocalypse # 1 (Vault Comics) exclusive Event Sheet variant by Anand RK

And here’s a gallery of covers:

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Local Comic Book Day variant cover

(Image credit: DC)
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Local Comic Book Day variant cover

(Image credit: DC)
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Local Comic Book Day variant cover

(Image credit: DC)
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Local comic day

(Image credit: Image Comics)
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Local comic day

(Image credit: Image Comics)
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Local comic day

(Image credit: Image Comics)
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Local comic day

(Image credit: Dark Horse Comics)
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Local Comic Book Day variant cover

(Image credit: 10 ton press)
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Local Comic Book Day variant cover

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Prepare yourself, because Local Comic Book Day 2021 will be on November 24 – the day before Thanksgiving in the United States – and two days before Black Friday.

Here’s your guide to finding and enjoying your local comic book store.

Daniel K. Denny