Columns 

LCBS Spotlight: Hub Comics

By | January 12th, 2010
Posted in Columns | % Comments


This starts with a funny story: this weekend my friend came over to go to a comic book store and partake in the sales. I decided that, since I live in the city and he was coming in a car, I would use this opportunity to drive me around so I didn’t have to get my car out of it’s nice parking spot. So I grabbed an address off the internet and convinced him that not one, not two, but three store visits were required while we were out. We plugged in the address to my phones GPS and headed off.

Now, I was under the impression that this was a store five minutes away. I’d heard of this place before, and then once when driving my cats home from the vet I noticed a comic book store. “That must be the place!” I thought. “This will be fun!” Instead, we ended up driving in the completely opposite direction to a store roughly 15 minutes away, going straight through Harvard Square in Boston (for those who don’t know, it’s relatively jam packed with people… a very tourist-y location). We ended up in Union Square (not so tourist-y) sitting outside an odd looking corner shop far away from where I said we’d end up. But we of course went inside.

And what happened? Look behind the cut for more.

Turns out that Hub Comics is dangerously hazardous to my health and my finances. DANGEROUSLY. HAZARDOUS. Good God! I don’t live that close to the store, but if I didn’t already have a nice pull list set up elsewhere with good discounts, I would relocate myself to this store. This store absolutely knocked me out, stole my money, and left me with a pile of brand new comic books I’d always wanted. It was as if Christmas had come late, which I suppose is bound to happen when you’re Jewish.

Enough jokes though. In all seriousness, Hub Comics ended up being a FANTASTIC store for the huge comic nerd in me (and for those that know me and or have been following this site since I began it, you know I’ve got it bad). I had gone the whole day without spending a single dollar, and that included visiting two separate comic stores, both of which were having sales that day. Hub Comics was not having any kind of sale, but it didn’t need to in order to lock me in. What I found were hard to find comics, good prices, and incredibly friendly service. Would go again.

I should probably mention that the whole reason I was looking for this store in the first place is that it was the ONLY store in all of MA to participate in Indy Comic Book Week. Seriously. I would think that for a state that has had several successful indy books come out (like, oh I don’t know, the Tick?), that some stores would be more about promoting ICBW. Alas, only Hub Comics stood up to the plate. And it’s not just ICBW. Hub Comics actually sells the indy publishers every week too, as I noted when browsing their racks.

So let’s break it down bit by bit: the comics are the first place to start, obviously, since that’s where I “lost” most of my money. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to a lot of comic stores that have a good, or even great, selection of Omnibuses and Absolute books. Hub had them aplenty, including several that you can’t even buy for decent prices on Amazon. We’re talking the first Bendis Daredevil Omnibus (which I almost left with, if not for the luck of a coin toss), Absolute League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and so on and so forth. But that’s not all. There are three trades I’ve been searching for to no avail: Warren Ellis’ Iron Man arc (Extremis), Astounding Wolf-Man Vol. 1 by Kirkman (surprisingly hard to find), and Barnum! In Secret Service to the USA (feature art from Niko Henrichon, of Pride of Baghdad glory). Oh, and Cowboys And Aliens for $4.99. How did that happen? I don’t know, but I’m not complaining. But that’s not all there was. There were old hardcover editions of Kingdom Come, Alias Ultimate Vol 1, and the first volume of Stars and STRIPE (Geoff Johns first major work for DC), all for the taking. I could lose all my money to this store to be quite honest (and I’m already planning my next trip there for when I have more money).

Continued below

I’d also like to take a brief moment to talk about the format of the store. Often times I will frown upon a store taking a new format of organization (which has gotten me stern but polite e-mails in the past). Hub Comics does as such. At first, I was very unused to their organizational style. Aside from having a large Marvel and DC section in the corner, the store organizes by genre instead of publisher. Originally, I didn’t care for it. I couldn’t find what I wanted. But as I got more used to it and I began to navigate the system, I found it quite charming, and I found a LOT more than I thought I would (such as the aforementioned Cowboys and Aliens and Barnum). So kudos on that!

Next we have the extras: I’m a little torn on this. On the one hand, there is a lot here. There are toys and statues of all shapes and sizes, genres and titles. Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot that interested me, personally. Sure, I could have left with a handful of toys and statues, but all in all, the items that existed weren’t totally geared towards my wants and needs. Never the less, I can’t take points away from them in this category either. From the most outrageous Batman painting I’d ever seen to an excellent array of toys of all different kinds, I’m sure I could find worthwhile presents for all my geek friends at this store.

Finally, the customer service: my God, was this guy nice. I’m not sure the name of the man behind the register, if he is the owner or simply one employee of a select few nerds lucky enough to work in a comic store, but he tolerated me and my friends nonsensical comic book store behavior easily. Not only do I allow us to loiter for a good 15 minutes as we took in our surroundings and touch everything (because that’s how we absorb information), but when we finally paid he indoctrinated us into their trade club (which is a great addition to the store, by the way: buying trades to earn points to store credit? Love it.) but he also made nerd-related jokes with us the entire time. Unlike some stores, he wasn’t nosey to the point of making us uncomfortable for wanting to browse, and he was very open and friendly when we finally sauntered over. Granted, this was a shop that had just us in it by the time we finally paid (there were several people there when we first arrived, but we stayed the longest), so it would be very easy for him to just brush us off. But that kind of great service means that we, or definitely I, will be coming back for more.

Needless to say, I found a new great comic store to try and visit on a regular basis. With a great selection of trades, all of which I want, friendly service, and enough extras to make every Christmas a breeze, I can only help to point other Massachusetts residents at this hidden gem.


//TAGS | LCBS Spotlight

Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

EMAIL | ARTICLES


  • Columns
    LCBS Spotlight: The Million Year Picnic

    By | Aug 10, 2010 | Columns

    Massachusetts is famous for many things, but one of the top things we have going for us here is our education system. Specifically, we have some of the top post-high school schools in the country. One of our schools is rather famous – in fact, maybe you’ve heard of it: Harvard University. Of course you’ve […]

    MORE »
    Columns
    LCBS Spotlight: Comicazi

    By | Aug 3, 2010 | Columns

    I haven’t done one of these in a while, but I recently made a list of comic stores that I’ve been to that I never reviewed, so look for more LCBS Spotlights spanning the East Coast in the coming weeks!!I’m a simple man who likes simple things. Honestly (ok, maybe not so honestly). Every year […]

    MORE »
    Columns
    LCBS Spotlight: Laughing Ogre Comics

    By | Jun 29, 2010 | Columns

    Located in Lansdowne, Virginia (not quite Ashburn yet not quite Leesburg), Laughing Ogre Comics is in an excellent spot to do business. Located right off of the ever-busy Route 7, Laughing Ogre is only a minor detour away for those many commuters that use the route, and I have seen firsthand the incredible amounts of […]

    MORE »

    -->