A comic shop is more than just a row of comics sitting next to magazines at a convenience store. Great comic shops become places where you can not only buy each week’s new releases, memorabilia, and card games, but where you can let your nerd flag fly, meet up for game nights, and feel welcome.
Sure, there are still comic shops out there where the stench of unwashed masses permeates the air, and the angry guy at the counter will audibly judge you for daring to prefer “Beast Wars” over “Transformers” generation 1, but that’s not what we’re looking at now. Today, Multiversity writers have come together to talk about their favorite shops, and give props to the stores that go the extra mile, in the first of what will be a semi-regular look at the places that we trust to feed our comics addictions.
Mark Tweedale:
Secret Identity Comics
Brisbane, Australia
Most comic stores I’ve visited tend to be cramped and hidden away. This is not true of Secret Identity Comics. It’s in Charlotte House, a heritage listed building in a part of the Brisbane CBD formerly known as Frog’s Hollow, and it’s an elegant store—the shelves line the walls, leaving open space in the middle for socialising and games. Christine Chien and Tash Green (the stores owners) have really pushed the social aspect of their store, with regular comics meet-ups and board game days. They have a focus on inclusivity and diversity, and it shows. It’s more than a comic store; it’s a community (and a welcoming one).
Plus, you should see their back-issue cabinets—they are truly a thing of beauty.
Paul Lai:
Tr!ckster, The Escapist Book Store, Fantastic Comics, Cape and Cowl Comics, & Dr. Comics and Mr. Games
Oakland & Berkeley, CA
Robbie Pleasant:
Comics FTW
Santa Rosa, CA
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, or so the song lyrics go. For many a nerd in Santa Rosa, that place is Comics FTW. The moment you step in you’re greeted by Kris (the store’s owner) or Melissa, and when they ask how you’ve been, you know they honestly care.
But aside from the staff and comic selection, what makes the store really stand out is its events. There’s a strong sense of community at Comics FTW, which has been grown and nurtured by its many weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly activities. Geek Trivia Nights draw huge crowds every other Saturday, where cleverly-named teams compete to prove their combined collection of trivial knowledge reigns supreme, with store credit on the line and some surprisingly difficult questions every time. There’s an Expanded Reading Book Club, game nights, the “Girls With Issues” book club, and writer meetups, that all are free to attend.
Whenever there’s something big going down in the world of nerdom, Comics FTW will be doing something for it, from Free Comic Book Day sales to Halloween parties. In fact, this weekend they’re setting up for a Wrestlemania viewing party, which will be sure to draw a crowd. You really get to know the staff and your fellow customers at this shop, making it one of the most welcoming comic environments I’ve ever been to.
Ken Godberson III:
Fourth World Comics
Smithtown, NY
Fourth World Comics is a shop that has been around for over thirty years and when you go into it, you can see why it has survived for so long. It evolved with the times. It’s not just your Wednesday Warriors shop. It has trade collections, manga, figurines, DVDs, a large RPG/Gaming section. It has also cultivated a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere with a nicely stocked section devoted to all-ages material and a fantastic staff. But what really attracted me to the place, what made me choose this place as my regular shop in spite of other places closer to me, was its neatness. There is a shop closer to me and -while the employees are nice people – the place is not kept well. Single issues on the racks never look neat and they hung their trade paperbacks on displays for so long that the covers began to curl. Fourth World Comics is much more presentable as a shop, always clean and organized. They have bookstore shelving containing all their paperbacks, hardcovers, omnibi and so forth in a nice, organized fashion making it easier for customers, new and old, to find what they are looking for. All in all, the shop is a bastion for great customer interaction, neatness and a plethora of stock.
Have you been to any of these shops? Got one that you’d like to mention? Let us know in the comments below!