Directed by E.J. McLeavey-Fisher and released late last week, “Comic Book Heaven” follows the life of Joe Leisner as he shuts down his store Comic Book Heaven, formerly located in Sunnyside, Queens. After running the shop for 26 years, the short documentary follows Joe and focuses on his mindset in the final months of his shop’s existence, leading to some catchy quotes about people being shit and wiping your ass with comics as well as a rather interesting insight into the business.
In fact, I’ll admit: when my friend first linked me to the video, I couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not. Leisner starts off as “the ideal curmudgeon,” but as the story goes on, it begins to show different sides of itself slowly until it becomes entirely compelling and rather sad for a 12 minute experience. I’ll even note that it caught me completely off guard when it switched from a film starring the inspiration for Grunkle Stan into the story of this shop clerk putting his livelihood to rest. It’s not a complete downer, but as a fan of the medium who has watched numerous stores he used to frequent go out of business, it does make for an interesting and poignant little watch.
If you have 12 minutes to spare, you can watch the video below. And if you don’t, carve out 12 minutes anyway.
