Even though we should all be reading comics all day, every day and everywhere, sometimes it doesn't hurt to set aside a special day to make sure we all get out and do it.

Behold: Read Comics in Public Day. The event – held each year on Aug. 28, which just happens to be famed comic book creator Jack Kirby's birthday – is an opportunity for all comics geeks to come out into the open air and read in solidarity with fellow fans.

The first celebration of open comic reading came in 2010 by the will of co-creators Brian Heater and Sarah Morean, the editor-in-chief and managing editor (respectively) of currently-on-hiatus comics site the Daily Cross Hatch. Creating a day for reading in public came after a moment of feeling vaguely embarrassed to be reading a Johnny Ryan book on the subway, said Heater.

"Filthy subject matter aside, I'm not entirely sure where that came from," Heater, now a senior editor at Engadget, said in an e-mail to Wired. "The day's as much a geek pride parade as it is a social network of sorts."

>'The day's as much a geek pride parade as it is a social network of sorts.' — Brian Heater

To that end, Heater said, the organizers are encouraging people to talk to fellow fans and share books. "The whole thing has been fairly organic from the start," Heater said. "Watching the pictures and stories flood in from various continents is a humbling statement to the power of the internet."

And the holiday has even spawned a sister event, so to speak. Women Read Comics in Public, Again is also happening Tuesday, thanks to the awesome efforts of Sue (no last name) at the DC Women Kicking Ass blog.

"You hear so many times that girls don't read comics or comics are a male medium," Sue said in an e-mail to Wired. "I thought, why not show visually the diverse set of real women that simply love comics to try and dispel this. It thrills me to see so many different women who love comics. And love them enough to go out, take a picture and send it in."

In an attempt to get in on the geeky action, we asked Wired readers on Instagram to post photos of themselves celebrating Read Comics in Public Day. Check out the best reader submissions (so far) in the gallery above (including one of yours truly). Follow the action on Instagram using the hashtag #WIREDcomics or on Twitter with the hashtag #ReadComicsinPublic.