by Katie Alston

kalston@thekmgroup.co.uk

Poison Ivy, Spiderman and Superdog were just some of the unusual visitors to Canterbury on Saturday.

Whatever Comics in St Peter's Street welcomed hundreds of people for the annual Free Comic Book Day, which sees shops around the world give away comic books absolutely free.

It is designed to encourage new readers into the world of comics and graphic novels, and this year up to 37 comics of different genres and for all ages were made available.

Several characters were on hand to declare the event open including Dead Pool and Grandpa Munster, who were later joined by Captain America and Nightwing.

They then delighted and surprised shoppers in Canterbury when they wandered through the streets of the city inviting others to join the fun.

Store owner Manny Amario said: “One of the goals of Free Comic Book Day is to reach out to those unfamiliar with the comic book specialty market, not to mention a comic book shop.

“So, every year those behind Free Comic Book Day launch a massive campaign and spreads the good word of comics to potential readers everywhere.

“This year was so successful we ran out of this year’s promotional comics by 2pm, so we had to dig out some stock from previous years to give away.”

The next event at Whatever Comics will be on June 4, when author and illustrator Cy Dethan and Nic Wilkinson will be in store signing copies of the graphic novel Slaughterhouse Creed.