on comic store conversations
reflections on five of my favorite comic book stores i've visited before
1.
Recently, I was in D.C. for a business conference. Across the street from my hotel was a comic book store, and seeing as I had a few extra hours after I arrived early, I decided to visit. During my time at the store, I was delighted to see that they had a section for zines and comics by small and local creators. At the check-out counter, I had a lovely conversation with the owner about visiting comic and art conventions and acquiring independent comics to add to the comic store’s catalog.
He talked about the importance of supporting small businesses and artists. I agreed because in a commercialized world, finding things created and treated with love is, unfortunately, rare.
2.
The local comic book store near my academic institution is literally underground, as in I have to walk 15 minutes from a downtown area and walk into a dimly lit basement cluttered with boxes of meticulously organized comics. I bring all my friends who visit that comics store, and every time, they’re shocked that the book store is actually underground. Sometimes, it’s the first time they’ve been in an independently-owned comic book store like that, and it’s an incredible feeling watching their faces light up in wonderment as they gaze around and take it all in.
The owner always encourages people to take the free stickers with the store name. At the checkout counter, sometimes he’ll comment that he didn’t even realize they had issues of a certain line of comics, and I proudly beam at my pretentiously obscure comics taste. Either way, he always seems happy to see people in the store.
3.
Comic book stores exist even in the most remote, unexpected locations. I found one while visiting a semi-abandoned town in 2021. Through talking with the owner, I found out that the town was originally planned to be the state's capital during the height of its activity. Still, after the economic activity from Western Expansion in the mid-1800s died down, another city was chosen as the state capital. She talked about how her husband owned all the comics in her store and how she sorted everything to sell after his passing.
After talking with her, I walked through the mostly abandoned downtown area, taking all the closed-down stores. I followed the owner’s suggestion to check out the nearby abandoned Chinatown. There’s something eerie about searching for life in a ghost town where few people can tell the story to anyone who will listen.
Sometimes, that’s how comic book stores feel. Sometimes, in a small comic book store, I’m the only person, other than the owner, in the small cramped room full of dusty boxes of forgotten back issues that had been loved by some bright-eyed-teen once.
4.
Even without a physical location, comic book stores exist. On a Saturday afternoon, I was visiting a mostly empty mall. Like most malls, there were big stores like Hot Topic and a food court with Cold Stone, but none of the shoppers congregated in these locations. Instead, they were gathered on the first floor around a long stretch of booths of collectors selling their Pop figures, collectible toys, baseball cards, and any other item you could think of collecting.
While walking through this area, I spotted a person with a table containing a couple of boxes of comics. Curious, I wandered over and started picking through the comics, and when I pulled out a few Teen Titans comics, the person started a conversation with me about our favorite comics. We bonded over the fact that Teen Titans comics were some of the first comics we fell in love with. As someone with a wide knowledge of TV shows, I updated him on the live-action adaptation of Titans and talked about the differences between the comics and the live-action. After our conversation, I picked out two comics I wanted, but he insisted that I pick out two more for free because he wanted them to go to someone who would truly care for them.
5.
The comic book store near where my friend lives has a wonderful selection of comics. During our gift exchanges, my friend somehow always finds the exact issue of comics on my wishlist through that comic store. I visited the store while visiting my friend this past spring, and I loved seeing how many people filtered in and out of the store while I took my sweet time browsing.
During this visit, I also got to visit an archive with my friend, and as we flipped through old editions of Doom Patrol, Teen Titans, and Batman comics, I was overcome with a sense of sentimentality. The fact that these comics were preserved and kept in an archive really illustrated how valuable they were, that they were something worth keeping for future people to lovingly flip through like my friend and I did.
6.
Arguably, comics are having a resurgence in this day and age. With the digitization of comics and the accessibility of comics through pirating sites, anybody can get into comics nowadays. But even though I could rely on digital comics, I still love owning physical comics. Partly because I can hang up in my dorm room as decor. Partly because growing up, I didn’t have any comic book stores nearby, and I had always wanted my own comics.
There’s something about the tactile aspect that I love. Most of the comics I own are pre-owned, and many are original prints, with yellowing pages and advertisements trying to convince readers to spend fifty cents on bubblegum. I love the fading ink, dog-eared pages, and fraying edges. I love the worn pages hanging onto the spine with all its might. I love holding something in my hands, knowing that it had been loved by someone once, and I now have the privilege of loving it too.
This is so lovely ^_^ i hope there are many many more comic book stores to explore in ur future