Saturday is Wonder Woman Day, so go celebrate with free stuff

People are freaking out about Wonder Woman.

That’s both the DC comics superheroine and her film adaptation, which is out on Friday and already being called “Warner Bros. best superhero film since the Dark Knight trilogy.”

For its part, DC comics is both reveling in fanfare and feeding it. On Saturday, the company is hosting a worldwide Wonder Woman Day celebration. There is an official “Wonder Woman Day” activity kit, plus digital comic discounts and a variety of localized events where fans can get exclusive deals and discounts, including a set of free comic books.

“People are really excited,” says Dennis Martin, a supervisor at Legends Comics and Games, which has shops at both Fresno’s Fashion Fair Mall and Sierra Vista Mall in Clovis. Both locations will be giving away the “Wonder Woman” comics, plus 20 percent off all Wonder Woman merchandise for the day. It will also be raffling off a special double sided “Wonder Woman” poster. Tickets will be available starting at noon, with the raffle taking place at 1 p.m.

Heroes Comics will be giving away 600 “Wonder Woman” comics. There are four different books available for both adults and younger children. They will be given away, two per person, first come, first served. The store will also be giving away paper tiaras and bracelets (for those some quick in-store cosplaying) and other Wonder Woman merchandise throughout the day, says owner Dave Allread.

Fresno’s Barnes & Noble bookstore is offering a special on all DC graphic novels for the day. It’s buy two, get a third graphic novel for free, plus the DC Superhero Girls or DC Universe Rebirth Wonder Woman Day special edition comics, while supplies last.

This kind of publicity push in advance of a movie opening isn’t new. DC Comics, has done two Batman days in the past and both did relatively well for Heroes, Allread says. Passive superhero fans often look to comic books for background or to get a sense of the world they will be seeing on screen, he says.

Of course, Wonder Woman has expanded appeal.

“The girls like it. And the guys like it,” he says.

Well, some guys, anyway.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Saturday is Wonder Woman Day, so go celebrate with free stuff."