When comic fans think of the top cities for comics, the number one choice almost assuredly would be “New York.” Why wouldn’t it be? It’s home to DC and Marvel as well as a ton of high profile creators. It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption…but one that I wholeheartedly disagree with.
No, for me, the best comic city in the nation is Portland, Oregon.
More known for the huge amount of yearly rainfall that befalls the city and the overabundance of hipsters proliferating its streets, it also is a mecca for the writers, artists and publishers who create the comics we all know and love. Check after the jump as I walk you through why exactly Portland is where you should be if you’re a comic fan or creator.
Whenever I go on vacation (and I like my vacation), I make sure to check out the comic shops in every locale. I’ve spent time checking out shops in London, New York, LA, Seattle, and many other cities. As a complete comic addict, I find myself naturally gravitating towards these shops — I like to see how each city differs in how they run things and just overall quality.
None of them can touch Portland.
Whether it’s the major shops you hear about when you hear the discussion about the best in the nation (Things From Another World, Floating World Comics), the super high volume — from an inventory standpoint – shops (Cosmic Monkey, Excalibur Books & Comics), or the smaller shops that are a little more hidden (Guapo Comics & Coffee, Bridge City Comics), Portland is absolutely loaded when it comes to top notch shops. If you don’t believe me, consult the back of the most recent issue of Brian Michael Bendis’ Scarlet in which he thanks the local Portland shops for all of their support (he should really thank Excalibur — that shop praised the living heck out of Bendis when I was buying an Alias trade there).
Why are they so exceptional? Well, there are a number of reasons: top notch selection, great deals, innovative organization (they simply stock back issues directly behind the new issues — it’s so freaking easy!), and local friendly approaches. A great example of the last reason comes from Guapo’s website, in which they say “Do you make a zine or comic? We always accept self-published zines/comics for consignment or buying. Feel free to bring it in!” This idea is completely foreign to almost all shops I’ve experienced previously, yet in Portland every shop had inventory of self-published works. It was fantastic and unexpected.
All of the shops that I went to placed far more emphasis on independent and self-published comics than other stores I’ve been to in the past and the staff of the shops were uniformly friendly and knowledgeable. I often noticed that the demographics of these shops also skewed younger and more equally split between men and women, but I think a lot of that shift stemmed from the fact that these stores were simply positioned better to be inviting to those demos.
In short? I love Portland’s shops!
The Top Talent Calls It Home
Brian Michael Bendis. Matt Fraction. Rick Remender. Jeff Parker.
What do those four writers have in common save being four of the pillars of the Marvel Universe architecture?
They all live in Portland.
Besides those creators, you’ve got Mike and Laura Allred, Craig Thompson, Gail Simone (or at least I think she still lives there), Greg Rucka, Kurt Busiek, Jamie S. Rich, Joelle Jones, and a whole lot more. This place is absolutely loaded in talent, and more and more creators are joining up because of how creator friendly and economically viable it is. It’s just a mecca for those looking for a livable place that stokes the flames of creativity. I mean come on, the city had a month decicated to comics in April of this year as creators stormed the city for Stumptown Comics Fest. That is awesome.
Continued belowCreators are even paying the city back now, as Rucka works with fellow Pacific Northwest resident Matthew Southworth on Stumptown from Oni Press and Brian Michael Bendis based his new Icon series Scarlet in the City of Roses.
Multiple Top-Notch Comic Publishers
Not just creators call Portland home — publishers do as well. The first and most prominent was Dark Horse Comics, and many say their rise to prominence allowed the city as a whole to become such an attractive option to creators. It’s not just Dark Horse though, as Oni Press (home of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” series) and Top Shelf (“Blankets,” “Jimmy Corrigan”) also reside in Portland.
Having high profile publishers in the city is fantastic for the talent and for the fans. It gives the former a potential outlet and a reason to reside in the city and gives the latter the excitement of being at ground zero for a ton of prominent works. It adds a ton of weight to the reputation, especially with each of the city’s publishers being of such pristine repute.
Encouragement of Smaller Creators
Portland is an incredible location for smaller creators, not just for the opportunities it provides (being near the aforementioned comic publishers and stores that encourage self-published works are a boon to those lesser known creators) but because of the sheer enthusiasm of the creators and fans as well as the short divide between thoose groups.
One of my favorite things is how everyone in Portland provides unique chances to these creators. Jamie S. Rich was nurtured by the Allred’s, web comic rising star Emi Lenox both used to be a Top Shelf intern AND regularly is aided by the whole of Periscope Studio (more on them in a bit), and once burgeoning creators like Craig Thompson are able to get their break thanks to local pubs like Top Shelf taking a chance on works like Good-bye, Chunky Rice. The support system in the city is a very rare animal indeed.
I mentioned Periscope earlier, and that is a great example of another opening for creators: the little covens (not in a weird vampire way) that spring up because of common interests. I mean, Periscope is loaded up with talent and is one of the biggest studios in comics thanks to not just people like Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber, but smaller creators on the rise like Erika Moen and Dustin Weaver. They provide each other a sounding board of like minded individuals that is incredibly valuable, and I feel like any number of drawing groups or other gatherings could eventually turn into the next Periscope.
Opportunity, Opportunity, Opportunity
Because Portland is so interconnected and so artistic, comic creators are given opportunities to succeed in ways that are rare in other cities. While being given the chance to self-publish and work with local national publishers is great, it’s pretty fantastic that creators are given opportunities that are completely unique. For example, Craig Thompson provided the album artwork for local band Menomena’s 2007 album Friend and Foe, which eventaully led to him earning a Grammy nomination for his effort.
Local papers regularly hire writers and artists like recent Skybound Entertainment signings Brandon Seifert and Lukas Ketner to work for them, providing supplemental income when they work on self-published materials like Witch Doctor until fat Image checks start coming in.
One of the coolest opportunities in my mind are the little things like Portland’s reputation as such a comic heavy city getting them incredible things like the R. Crumb exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. This exhibit had every single original page of the legendary creator’s opus The Book of Genesis on display, and is inspirational for both readers and creators alike. Things like that aren’t rare around town — they’re commonplace.
