In this issue: Random comic talk! Everything from Justice League, Star Wars, Matthew’s Trip to Denver and more!
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19 Comments
I love the comic shop I go to now Riverside Hobbies in La Crosse WI. But this is not my favorite comic book shop. That title is reserved for Bob’s Trading Cards. This store is no longer in existence due to Bob’s unfortunate passing. The store itself wasn’t very great. All the back issues were in torn up boxes stacked on top of each other, the new issues were shoved in the back corner and it was always a crap shoot whether or not they were up to date. But, with that being said that store resides in my heart for one memory in particular. I was born in Milwaukee, but at age 10 my family had to move north to this tiny town that I still live in today. Of course I was distraught about this and nothing my parents did made me feel better. But the first day we arrived in this tiny town my dad took me to Bob’s Trading Cards and told me to pick out one comic. I spent a good hour tearing through all the boxes trying to find the perfect one. I ended up with Superboy #4 (the cover has him passed out in front of a T.V. with him on it). I had no idea what was going on in the book, but I loved it and I felt better about the move. Plus it was a great moment I was able to spend with my dad. I’ll always remember Bob’s Trading Cards fondly.
My favorite comic store, and what got me really into all kinds of comics, was fortune Bookie in Whittier California. Before this, the only comics I was aware of was the ones in grocery stores hidden behind magazines in a huge rack, and always months late with no continuity of issues. I still have my first issue of Giant Sized Spider-man/Man-thing framed on my wall from there. But, when I moved to Whittier and found Fortune Bookie uptown, ran by real comic geeks, my life changed. They helped me get into more than just the general comic, and because of them, I got the first run of Dark Knight Returns, which changed my perception of what a comic story can do. I also got into independent titles, Dark Horse, and graphic novels, like the Death of Captain Marvel, and the original oversized TMNT comics. This place got me into Macross and robotech long before the American TV series came out here and changed my perception of cartoons as well. It was a weekly pilgrimage to travel by bike to Fortune Bookie , and taking in suggestions of new series to try from the owners, like Cerebus, Ninja High School, Ambush Bug, Elementals, and the Tick. Then in 1987 The Whittier Narrows earthquake happened and leveled all of uptown Whittier, Including Fortune Bookie. I was also devastated, but weeks later, a lone trailer appeared in a nearby parking lot, and this was Fortune Bookie two. Sure it was hot and very cramped, but it was comics as usual. About a year later, a new Fortune Bookie was built, and new readers would be indoctrinated within. When I eventually moved from Whittier, one of the things I missed the most was growing up with Fortune Bookie and riffling trough back issue bins. Whenever I get homesick for uptown Whittier and my old comic Store, I just pop in the Masters of the Universe DVD, It was mostly filmed around Whittier and in Fortune Bookie (heavily redressed) before the quake.
The best comic store i ever visited was a place called space travelers trading post in derby,ct. This was the first comic store i ever saw and for a young geek kid in the early 80’s this place was pure magic. It was a store front building and you had to walk down 3 of the most uneven stone steps to get to the front door.The store inside was all hard wood on the walls and floor and had a comfortable smell i can’t describe but will remember forever. The store owners would sit behind the counter with some others and swap blues licks on their harmonicas while the others played guitar.I also remember the smell of pipe tobacco but i don’t remember who smoked it.My father would drive me here and wait patiently While i would spend hours digging through long box after long box looking for the best value for my news paper money. I went every chance i got and bought so much from them over time that they would even give me free bags and boxes to put it all in. I left Connecticut in 1984 and so i don’t know what ever happened to my store but i hope it is alive and well because every visit was an event.
My very favourite comic store is a now closed Shoe Box affair in my local town of Kingston Upon Thames.
I remember in my very early teens (many moons ago now!) I used to spend an hour or more during recess in “The Oubliette” thumbing through all those comics I clearly couldn’t afford.
The shop also sold Dungeons and Dragon books of every kind, stacked precariously on creaking shelves and completely lacking any kind of order.
On the very top was every conceivable table top game known to Geekdom, and inevitably we knocked the odd one down in curiosity.
Trevor (the owner) would regularly poke his head through from behind a curtain, and half heartedly shoe me and my friends away.. It never worked of course, and we only left when it was time for school to start.
I don’t think I really appreciated that shop until thinking back to it now. Also, I’m not in the slightest bit surprised it closed. I’m sure it made a roaring loss.
Thanks for reading guys, my fingers are crossed ^_^
My favourite comic book shop is not the most impressive I’ve been at. But it is linked to a very good memory. A couple of years ago, I started to listen to this little known podcast called Major Spoilers. And it creates the itch in me to restart reading comics. Brief aside here, just say I’ve been an avid comic book reader in my teens but then was told that grownups aren’t reading comics and stopped.
So I was walking in this quite unsavoury neighbourhood and I spotted this book store called “The Hairy Tarantula”. I had to stopped just because of the name! But I was also looking for the core set of books for that new edition of D&D put out by the kind folks of WotC. The staff was nice and I got the precious books (pun fully intended). I decided to test the guy and asked for two must read titles, according to my only reference at that time, the Major Spoilers crew, Atomic Robo and Locke and Key. And they had the first 2 volumes of Atomic Robo and ordered for me Welcome To Lovecraft.
This comic book is not the biggest, certainly not the fanciest but I can fully relate it to my renewed love for comics, along with you guys. And since then, my fiancee complain every month about my “geek expenses”. Even if I moved, I stop to this shop every time I’m around.
My favorite comic shop was called “The Daily Planet” and it was located in Frisco Colorado. About fifteen minutes from where I live in Breckenridge. The store unfortunately closed in 1998.
I have many great memories of going in weekly to look at all the new comics. I bought a ton of Gen 13 books there back in 1996 and 1997 as well as various Star Wars comics in the early 1990’s. They also had a pretty large selection of back issues and trade paperbacks.
Now I have to either buy my comics online or get them digitally. I’d love it if another store like that would open near me.
My comic store would have been Gatekeeper when it was in Manhattan in Aggieville ,but due to expense, the economy, and various other things closed. I was without my Devil’s Due GI JOE comics. My friend Ryan then introduced me to a comic book store downtown Salina called the Collector’s Pair of Dice. From then on James Deckart{owner},( and no I am not doing a shameless plug either), has kept me connected on comics, toys, collectibles, that I am into. In that time though the physical store has closed, there is an online store, but more so friendship, and on Saturday evenings we all meet at the Appletree Restaurant,(or at the mall when there’s a comic book or fantasy, sci-fi movie playing), order comics, have some laughs, and dinner.
So my favorite comic book shop has to be midtown comics in New York by Times Square. As a female raised 2nd generation geek, it was nice to walk into a comic shop and be respected by my nerdyness and not the fact I have boobs and not moobs. Also that store was one of the first places where I was exposed to comic history, the concept of continuity, and nerd rage. Literally I spent every Wednesday. (When we got out of school early) combing through back issues, talking to fellow nerds, and attempting to justify to my girlfriends why nightwing isn’t the sexiest character in the DCU. I was introduced to crisis on infinite earths, found my love for jeph loeb art, where wolf and cub became part of my collection, where I lost my loove of spiderman, watched X23 come into her own, and understood for the first time that there is a difference between an action figure and a doll (points to my collection of kingdom come figurines). I spent most of my high school life trying to come out of my nerdyness but I kinda have to give it to midtown comics, they let me embrace my inner dork and introduced me to past issues of the flash.
Can’t believe no-one’s commented on this, but the original, theatrical releases of STAR WARS *HAVE* been released. The last DVD release of the trilogy featured two discs, one with the special edition of the movie, and one with the original release.
I bought them as soon as they came out because I thought it’d be cool to compare them, but having grown up on them, I realized I already knew all the differences and have grown to prefer the special edition releases. I may be in the quiet minority, but I am totally okay with George revisiting these movies and continually tweaking them. JRR Tolkien did it with The Hobbit, Orson Scott Card did it with Ender’s Game, and who knows how many other artists throughout history have done it. Why should STAR WARS be held to a higher standard than the rest?
My favourite comic store is forbiddenplanet.com as i live in the UK and the comic stores are few and far between :(. but my favourite gaming/hobby store is spirit games in Burton on Trent as it has wide selection of good’s and the shop it’s self is like a TARDIS, as it’s just room after room all stacked floor to ceiling with stuff you’ve never heard of but apparently exists, and stuff all the good stuff like D&D, Magic, AT43, warmachine and hordes, dice, magazine, and board games. the reason this is my favourite is because of it’s screw you message it sends to game workshop, as they like to keep a close eye on it’s independent stockists and well it got to the stage were the shop was selling more than your average GW so they got into one of those silly corporate argument that said right you need to stop selling as much of our stuff and plug our shop to which they said were not going to turn away customers to another store screw you were not selling your stuff any more and the shop is better of because of it. Plus it runs Beer and Pretzels every year which is a fantastic event involving a full weekend of games from yu-gi-oh to D&D to board games and magic
it is an awsome store that i do not get to visit often but wish I could.
My current comic shop, Queen City Comics in Fairfield, OH is great, but it’s not my personal favorite. The location in Fairfield is actually an expansion of the branch from the original Queen City Comics and Cards in Pleasant Ridge, OH. This place is really amazing. They regularly stock every new comic that you could ask for (and some you might not) and have a great selection of back issues as well. Queen City sells comic-related t-shirts, posters, figures, British lead statuettes, trade paperbacks and they have this amazing three-part poster set on the wall that features Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and a large original Star Trek logo. As a younger child, going in to the comic shop with my dad and seeing those life-size posters of Kirk and Spock was one of the coolest feelings, simply because I was fascinated with anything titled ‘Star [Blank]’ and it got me into the original series of Star Trek.
Along with having a great atmosphere in the decoration, the staff is amazingly helpful. They’re always friendly and, even myself being a minor, they always treat you with the utmost respect. They really make you feel like you’re buying comics from a good friend, not just from some store in Pleasant Ridge. At every opportunity that I have, I’ll make my way out to Queen City Comics and Cards and buy a bunch of new bags and boards, have a pleasant little chat with the guy who’s on register while I shop, and buy a lot lot LOT of comics because I never want this store to go under, especially in these desperate economic times, along with the rise of digital comics, when comic books may not sell as well. I love this store and its staff to death, and it is by far my favorite comic book store.
I wonder how far that is from me, I’d like to check it out. I’ve never been to The Laughing Ogre in Columbus yet, I tend to either sadly wait until Mid-Ohio Con to buy a bunch of back issues there (especially since the con is small enough that you aren’t packed in like sardines and you can actually look around). I also like Hobby Central, 28 Troy Rd., Delaware, OH, 43015 (740) 363-0381. The owner, Jamie, is a great guy and always personable. It’s a smaller store without a HUGE selection, but they have a variety of different things. I mostly like that you can spend some time in there just talking and looking around at things and you never get that feeling like you’re bothering anybody just by being there. That’s how I’d feel if I ever went into Comic Town in Columbus. They were there to talk to each other or maybe their friends who came into the store. I always felt like I wasn’t very welcome there. I need to seek out some of these other shops in Ohio though, there are quite a few spread out throughout the state.
I think George Lucas has an illness, like those people who are addicted to plastic surgery. He just cannot help himself. Every time he looks at his film he ends up cutting something or change something that does not need to be fixed. By the time he dies his movies will no longer be recognizable, like Michael Jackson. It makes me sad.
Hann shot first.
My favorite comic book shop is my current comic book shop Madness Games & Comics in Plano TX. I moved out to Plano when I was about 19 years old trying to get away from my tiny home town. Growing up the only time I had the opportunity to buy comics was when I went to Hastings in the nearby town or when the local grocery store happened to carry something so, when I moved out to the Metroplex I was shocked at all the comic book shops out here. I went to probably 5 different comic shops in the area but the place I kept coming back to was Madness.
Why did I keep coming back? There were a few reasons.
The staff was friendly. I never had to deal with a rude or know it all weirdo who told me what I was reading was crap. In fact now when I go up there it’s quite the opposite and most of the people up there know me and know to grab the comics out of my weekly pull list and have them for me by the time I get to the counter.
The second reason is the back issues. It was the one place I could find that had all of the ridiculous back issues that I was looking for. I don’t think there is a single time I’ve looked for a comic series and they didn’t have it in their back issues or hadn’t heard of it. If they didn’t have it though they would be more than willing to track that issue down for me so I didn’t have to go to 5 other shops to find it, which brings me to my final point.
They go the extra mile. There is so many shops who want you to get your comics/cards/books/whatever and then get out. Not only are they more than happy to provide you with all the help you need, I’ve actually had them offer to let me stick around and play Magic after tournaments up until they close the store. Not only are they happy to put something on my pull list but I can tell them when I pick it up, I can call them, I can e-mail them, and if I missed a tie in they’ll even put it in my box and if I don’t want it I don’t have to get it.
I’ve never encountered a comic shop where it felt like they actually enjoyed having me around until I found this wonderful shop.
In fact in case anyone is in the Dallas/Fort Worth area they should check them out: http://www.madnessgames.com/Madness.html
My favorite comic book store is October Country in New Paltz, NY.
I have been to several Mile High Comics stores (where I got my Spawn #1 in 1992) in Denver, CO and was disappointed. I might still have the page I tore from the phone book. We ran around Denver looking for a Spawn #1 and hit several of them before I found it. It was a rainy day, and my family was traveling back home from vacationing in California.
I have been to the Fantasy Shop in St. Charles, Mo, Valley Comics in Poughkeepsie, NY, and I have been to Forbidden Planet in NYC. None of them were as good as October Country. The Fantasy Shop had the coolest model castle in the front window. Forbidden Plant mistook having a several hundred copies of the same issue for having a wide selection. Valley Comics was my second favorite.
Every time I smell that newly published comic smell I think of October Country and my youth. I spent tons of money there. I don’t think the owner trusted me. I was a lanky long haired teen and must have look suspicious. The owner would constantly move to keep and eye on me as I dug through the stacks for my missing Lost World of the Warlord comics. Insulted I would always make sure the comic I was looking for was on the other end of the store from where my brother was looking. The owner once knocked over a bunch of manga trying to keep an eye on the two of us.
When I went to college, the only thing from my home town I missed was that comic book store.
Sometimes, when I am standing in my local comic book store, I close my eye and imagine I am in October Country again. Surrounded by a giant horse shoe of metal racks and table upon table of back issues. Then when my wife ask me what I am doing, I open my eyes. I look down at the three long boxes and in front of me and the one wide magazine rack and sigh. I mutter something
about gas, I pay the store clerk for my kids Pokemon booster packs, two for each kid.
As we walk out of the store I explain to my kids that they are not necessarily going to get Arceus in the pack. I then slip into a nostalgic mood and tell them, “No that is not really a comic book store. It is a Magic the Card Game store. When I was a kid I went to an awesome comic books store and this one is nothing like it.”
My Favorite Comic Book Store
My favorite comic book store would have to be the comic book store that I grew up with, Emerald City Comics in Seminole, FL (emeraldcitycomics.com). I grew up in the Pinellas County area of Largo/Seminole in Florida, and regardless of what comic book store I’ve been to, no matter how big, small, extravegant or run down… Emerald City Comics will always hold a special place in my heart. The first time I encountered Emerald City was when I was in middle school, my parents were driving down Seminole Blvd and I was looking out the window… and what did I see on the windows of this small shop in this plaza? I saw a mural of superheroes painted from top to bottom… Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men… all in this beautiful mural in the windows of this shop. I was taken away and from then on, I was hooked, I NEEDED to be in that place at every moment that I could. You have to understand, at that point in my life I had never stepped into a comic book store… the closest things to a comic book store I got was my family trips to the grocery store, and my plopped on my butt in front of the magazine section until they were ready to go home. I had never knew in my entire life that there was a dedicated store that specifically sold comic books.
I remember it all the first time I convinced my parents to bring me into Emerald City. I remember gazing at that superhero mural that drew me here in the first place. I remember walking in and seeing this small store with shelves and shelves of comic books. I remember the fond smell of that distinct comic book paper that comics were made from back then. I remember the action figures, statues, and posters that were displayed in such a fashion that put you in awe. I remember the glass case towards the front of the store near the clerk where you can buy memorabilia such as Green Lantern’s ring and behind the counter on the wall, comic books displayed like wallpaper on the wall of their most valuable comic books. I remember purchasing comic book trading cards, a stack of titles that I wanted the most, and a poster of the X-Men… and I remember the clerk placing my items (aside from the poster) in a brown paper bag and telling me to “have a nice day and come back.” It was the best day of my life at that time.
You know what, I did come back… I came back again and again… all throughout middle school, high school and college… until the very day that I moved away from Seminole to Orlando, FL. To this day… Emerald City will always be my favorite comic book store.
My favorite comic book shop was the old Heroes Haven in Salem, Oregon. It was located in a 1920s vintage store front on State Street, on the wrong side of the railroad tracks and probably hadn’t been cleaned or painted since the 1920s. It had racks on two walls with the latest releases, huge bins of back issues in the middle of the room, and on the other long wall were glass cases containing collectables (including resin figure kits from Japan) and racks full of rather adult fare, like Naturist magazines, underground comics, Cream Lemon manga, and the like. Above all the racks were bagged issues of old, collectable comics. My mother used to make snide comments about a young adult still buying comic books so I took her down there one day and pointed to an issue of “Action” comics that showed Superman bowling against Clark Kent on the cover. I pointed to the $175 price tag. “I used to have that comic book. You threw it away.” I told her. She never said another thing against collecting comics. The store changed hands a few times. The store was cleaned up, and things like anime videos and laserdiscs, the adult magazines, the figure kits, etc. went away, replaced by racks and racks of Collectable Card Game cards, and the back issue bins were reduced to make way for gaming tables. The store was never the same. Now I live in a town with no comic book store, the nearest one being 150 miles away. How I miss the old Heroes Haven.
My favorite comic book store is Tree House Comics in Emporia, KS. For a few years, I lived the dream of owning my own comic book store. Unfortunately, it made enough to pay the bills but not enough to make it worth keeping (since I had a “day” job that DID pay the bills and then some). I sold it to someone who promptly ran it into the ground to crash and burn (he refused to drive to KC to pick up new comics during the UPS strike, and blew the profits on things other than the bills).
I find myself reluctant to post this response because I’d feel guilty making you guys pay international shipping, but here goes anyway…
My favourite comic store, in the short time I’ve been interested in comics, is Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, England. I sadly don’t live anywhere near this store, but the one of two times a year I get to visit London I always make a point of visiting. This has been the case even since before I was interested in comics as this store is a geek’s paradise. Admittedly it’s probably not a patch on the big American stores but to me it is massive. D&D books of various editions, rare board games, collectable figures, comics, Sci fi and fantasy novels, manga, this place has the works.
Mainly the significance to me is personal, whenever I couldn’t find something (before i went online regularly) it was always here, from Babylon 5 novels, some of the more obscure 3.5 d&d books, etc. Its also the store where I bought my first ever d&d book, my first dice set (with multicolour bag) and the place where I can guarantee spending fifty pounds without even trying… =/