The annual celebration of pop culture is back and it’s our biggest event ever as we celebrate 30 years of Paradox Comics-N-Cards!
Legendary Comic Creator Chris Claremont In-Person!
Books Signing
In his own words, Chris won’t leave until every fan who wants to meet him and gets a signature has done so! He understands what a truly special day this is going to be for comic fans in our area. We want to make sure this is an unforgettable day for you!
How it all works:
- Single Signature: $19.99*
- *Includes 1 copy of X-Treme X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont and Salvador Larocca
- Additional Signatures (Max 4 additional items): $12.50 EACH
- All signatures will be sold the day of the event
- Signings Begin: 10AM
- Signature Line: The line for signatures will be on the Roberts Street side of the Gardner Building and starts at the front door to the Paradox retail store.
- Paradox Staff will be on hand to keep the line moving and make sure you get your signatures. When it’s your turn, you’ll pay for your signings, let us know what you’d like to have signed and what you’d like it to say, and get to meet the legend himself.
Meet & Greet @ the Fargo Air Museum
- Sunday, May 7th 1PM — 4PM
- Tickets: $74.99
- Tickets On Sale Starting: Wednesday, April 19th 10AM
Spend an afternoon with Chris and hear him talk about everything from his love of airplanes to writing comics. You’ll be able to meet Chris and chat with him and listen to him regale the crowd with stories from his legendary life in comics. Chris is an amazing storyteller and has a never ending energy to share with you and this fun and casual atmosphere is a truly special opportunity.
Your ticket includes entry to the air museum for the Meet & Greet. You’ll also find refreshments waiting. We will set aside time at 4PM for anyone who still needs signatures and all signatures will be priced the same as Saturday’s events.
This event will be limited to 100 attendees.
Chris Claremont writes both comics and prose. His initial unbroken 17-year run on Marvel Comics The Uncanny X-Men is the stuff of industry legend. The story arc “Dark Phoenix,” with its radical treatment of the story’s central character, paved the way for the reinterpretation of superhero mythos throughout the comics industry. His work is lauded for its anti-prejudice themes, and groundbreaking inclusion of minorities as heroes. He is the creator of such iconic characters as Gambit, Mystique, Kitty Pryde, and Rogue.
Although best known for his work on Marvel Comic’s X-Men series, Chris has written other seminal characters such as Batman and Superman, and The Fantastic Four. He is especially proud of his creator-owned work, with includes The Black Dragon and Marada, the She-Wolf (art by John Bolton) .
Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) 2023
First time comic readers, super-hero movie / TV fans, and longtime collectors, FCBD is for everyone. You and your family choose from nearly 50 different titles from the industry's top publishers. FCBD is the biggest event in the comic book industry—a single day when Paradox Comics and specialty comics retailers across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops! Founded on the belief that for every person out there, there’s a comic book they’ll love, the annual event offers a huge selection of free titles designed to appeal to a broad range of age levels and their tastes.
Major publishers such as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, BOOM! Studios, Dynamite Entertainment, and Image Comics, along with a slew of independent publishers, put out free comics for fans to enjoy. The diverse range of titles available each year proves that there’s truly a book for everyone: from superheroes, to popular film and television shows, to beloved video games, and all-ages tales.
Here’s a sample of just a few of this year’s titles:
What to expect
at FCBD!
You know about Chris Claremont and all the free comics, but that’s still only part of what we have planned! We’re working on sales, entertainment, promotions, and an extra-special giveaway to attendees!! We’ll update our social media regularly, but please bookmark this page as your ultimate guide to FCBD 2023!
Back Issue
Warehouse Sale!
More than 250 long boxes of comics with over 75,000 books!
All Warehouse Sale books $.50c a piece!
Plus browse our main stock of nearly 150 long boxes & wall displays featuring over 50,000 books priced & organized & discounted for the big day!
How Free Comic Book Day works
- FCBD Hours 9AM — 8PM
- Choose 3 FREE comics per person or 5 per family!
You’ll find a selection of nearly 50 unique comic titles to choose from. You can browse the all ages, pop culture, and independent sections to find the right books for every fan.
Free Comic Book Day line!
You’ll find the line for this year’s books on the west side of the Gardner Building. We’ll have staff outside to make sure you are all set.
The Paradox Event Center:
As you enter, you’ll find all of this year's titles displayed to your left on a series of tables with Paradox staff waiting to help you find the best books for you and your family.
Once you have your books, we’ll guide the line through the Gardner to our hallway entrance and on to shopping and Chris Claremont. You’ll find sales on graphic novels, board games, and much more while you shop. Plus Chris will be set up at the very front of the store for his signings.
We do enforce a cap on people in the shop during FCBD to avoid over crowding and chaos. This year, we’ll have 50 people in the shop at a time so we just ask for your patience as we get you your turn in the shop. This ensures there’s more than enough elbow room for everyone to browse and interact and for our staff to help everyone.
Plan your day!
While FCBD starts at 9AM, it also runs all day until 8PM. We’ve ordered enough books for at least 2500 fans. We know there will be lots of excitement and being in line when things get going is exciting, but we encourage you to plan your trip to Paradox when it works best for you. We won’t run out of titles for you and Chris Claremont is here all day, so make the most of downtown Fargo and all our sales while waiting your turn.
Local Partnerships
Pixel Brewing
Pixeled Arcade and BeerHall. Specializing in vintage arcade games. Pixeled has all of the dedicated classics in retro row; including Pac-man, Galaga, Centipede, Tron, star wars, and Track’n Field . Bring your friends to play a match of Killer Queen or pump up your sneakers on NBA Jam. We serve a variety of beer and seltzer. Coming up on May 6th Pixeled will be celebrating with Paradox Comics-n-Cards as they turn 30! In honor of special guest Chris Claremont, we will be offering a variety of X-Men games to play and having a one token challenge on our retro X-Men Beat’em up. Come on over and let’s play a few classic games at classic prices.
(Click Image To View Larger)
Get Yours on FCBD!
On the first Saturday in May, join Paradox Comics to welcome the legendary Chris Claremont and take part in Free Comic book day! We commissioned this incredible poster to commemorate the big day and the first 1,000 attendees can take it home absolutely FREE!!!!
The poster, which celebrates not just FCBD but the 30th anniversary of Paradox Comics as well, was crafted by local artist Troy Becker Art, whose incredible talents are on display in the chamber of the Fargo City Council. We can’t thank him enough for the energy and excitement he brought to this and he’ll be at Paradox all through FCBD to meet you and hand out the posters!
Thanks to Emily Beck and the staff of The Fargo Theatre for putting up with our mutant shananigans and being part of this once-in-a-lifetime event!!
30 Years of paradox
Paradox Comics turns 30 this year and that couldn’t have happened without literally thousands of supporters from staff to volunteers, business and charity partners, and especially the generations of customers who have chosen us for 3 decades and counting. Our goal is to celebrate all of those incredible people with this unforgettable opportunity. We hope you’ll plan to join us to meet Chris Claremont, choose great free comics from the best publishers today, check out our back issue warehouse sale, and so much more.
