Free Comic Book Day started in 2002 and according to the owner of Lost World of Wonders in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “every year it gets bigger.” Airi Williams noted that for LWoW, FCBD brings in “non-hardcore comics readers” to comic shops and as evidenced by the many children in the shop, exposes a new generation of readers to comics.
Williams estimated that Lost World hosted approximately 1,000 FCBD visitors in 2015 and around 1,200 in 2016. From the looks of the line stretching around the building this year, that number will most likely be higher for 2017.