From creator signings to cosplay and deep discounts, local shops are turning the annual celebration of comics into a full-day experience for fans.

The freebies will be chosen ahead of time, while a bounty of activities, deals, and perks will add superheroic fun.

Rupp’s Comics store owner Chris Rupp has seen the evolution of comics from a rebellious frowned-upon genre, that teachers would take away from children, to the emergence of comics as collectibles and now returning as a rebellion to all the screens in our lives.