CR Sunday Magazine

So, Are There Any Good Shops Out There Not Located in a Major Urban Center?



The answers appears to be "Yes, of course there are." Last week I asked CR readers to send me word of good smaller-city and small-town comics shops. It's my belief that running a good small-town store may be even more difficult than competing with other retailer in an urban location. I also think that shops serving smaller communities got the worst of the 1990s market contraction and the brutally stupid tweaks on policy put in place around that time.

I also think that comics pundits, such as they are, get locked into models for shops that are perfect for an urban setting but are impossible for a store serving a smaller audience base.

Here's a list of some stores that are serving their customers well, from the people who recommend them. I have no way of confirming or denying any statement they make, which remain their own and not this site's. They are greatly appreciated.

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Chris Arrant:

Here's my recommendation for a great small-town comic shop, TBS Comics of Fort Walton.

I live 50 miles from this location, but I visit every other month to get good deals on tpbs and ogns.

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Chris Mautner:

Obviously, the Comic Store in Lancaster is a good bet (28 McGovern Ave, Lancaster; 397-8737; www.comicstorepa.com), though it's gotten so crowded and cramped with pop culture emphera recently that finding a particular book can be difficult. Joe remains extremely nice and helpful though.

Much better organized is Comix Connections (6200 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg; 591-2727). They just moved and I haven't been to their new store, but their past location was well laid out and they had a little of everything (and a heck of a lot of manga), plus friendly service. I see no reason why the new location wouldn't have more of the same.

Also good is Comics and Paperbacks Plus (201 E. Main St., Palmyra; 838-4854). The owner Ralph Watts is a very nice guy, and the store offers some pretty good deals on back issues and trades. I don't get to go often, but I've always had a good experience when I do.

Finally, the place I've been spending most of my time is Sequential Arts Too, namely because it's in my hometown (11 Center Square, Elizabethtown; 361-7198), The shop is very small, so there's not a lot of room for any indie or manga stuff (though I did order a Marc Bell book through him), but again, it's nicely laid out, and very easy to find what you're looking for, plus he's got comfy chairs so you can sit and peruse. It's where I go when I need a DC or Marvel trade, which, these days, seems to be quite often.

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Craig Fischer:

I'd like to praise a small-town comic shop that I've only visited once, Mountain Empire Comics in Johnson City, Tennessee (population 55,000).

Recently, I've been in Johnson City a few times on business. About a month ago, I visited downtown Johnson City's Atomik Comics, which has the biggest collection of Silver Age Marvels I've ever seen. But these back issues weren't cheap ("More expensive than heroin!" as Peter Bagge might say), and the store itself was dirty, cluttered, and absolutely devoid of indy titles. So the next time I went to Johnson City, about a week ago, I looked in the Yellow Pages to find another store to visit besides Atomik, and found Mountain Empire.

Mountain Empire is a good shop. It's small but clean, and the person behind the counter was friendly and helpful when I had questions. He spent 5 minutes looking for a couple of issues of JACK STAFF, and when he realized that they'd sold out, he offered to call another Mountain Empire store in Bristol to get them for me. One complaint: I could do without the right-wing talk show played on the store's sound system, though I am glad the volume was turned down low.

The stock was much more diverse than Atomik's. Mountain Empire has a decent selection of manga, old copies of THE COMICS JOURNAL and COMIC BOOK ARTIST, spinner racks full of mainstream and independent TPBs, and boxes of back issues for sale. (There was a small room at the back of the store that sold unwanted back issues for 50 cents apiece.) I bought a pretty copy of THOR #171 (Kirby inked by Everett!), volume 2 of Ariyoshi Kyoko's SWAN, a recent $6.95 Gemstone issue of WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES, and Darwyn Cooke's DC SOLO book.

The best thing about my visit? For the above haul, the clerk charged me 20 bucks. Apparently I came on a day when trade paperbacks were discounted by one-third, and back issues were half-price. In addition, the folks at Mountain Empire have a clever way to get rid of crappy back stock -- if you spend $20 or more in a single visit, you get to play the "Dice Game," where you roll four dice and win a free back issue. A wall rack displays the comics you can win, and while I was gunning for either double snake-eyes (THE DAYTONA 500 STORY) or 4 sixes (MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12, the first appearance of Captain Marvel, cool Gene Colan art), I instead won the first issue of some mid-'90s X-Men spin-off called PRYDE AND WISDOM. Anyone who wants this comic gratis -- you don't even have to roll the dice! -- should contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

It's nice to know that some small towns have stores like Mountain Empire.

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David Feld:

Peter Dolan's Main Street Comics in Middletown, NY, is my all-time favorite comics shop. Fantastic service and an unstereotypically friendly, clean and well-lighted store. Alas, I had to move to North Carolina, where I've yet to find a shop remotely close to the caliber.

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Jamie Coville:

Comic Cave in Brockville, Ontario, Canada.

Brockville has about 5,000 people. It's an hour away from Kingston which has 100,000+ people (and two comic shops of their own).

Comic Cave is run by Pierre and Jan Sigman. Jan typically runs the cash and talks with everybody. Pierre is there on Wednesday and does all the pull and hold stuff, ordering and everything else. He's also there when he's not working his 2nd job. The store pays for itself but not a lot else.

They specialize in new comics and back issues. They used to be what I called the undiscovered gem in terms of comic book stores for Ontario. They had a large and wicked back issue selection, from Golden age and up. But last time I went there most of it got bought. The "secret" got out and people came running to buy their stuff. They still have plenty of comics, most if it is more modern now but there still is some 60's stuff from non big name publishers there. They also have a number of cool posters and original art on the walls. Occasionally people will want to buy them, but they don't sell them.

For about 6 months I lived in Prescott, a town 15 minutes away. They were my regular comic shop and out of all that I've been to, I got the best service from there. Everything I wanted they got, with one exception. That one exception Pierre immediately called Diamond and discovered Diamond wasn't going to ship the book to Canada for fear of customs. Pierre and Jan are very, very good at customer service and are very friendly.

They also sell Trades, for a long time they had a lot of older trades on the shelves from a previous owner. It took them some convincing but they took a gamble on some newer books, but they did ordered some trades for the rack and are doing well with them now. They also sell a lot of cards and let kids in after hours on certain nights to play. Speaking of kids there are a lot of them in the store. They don't all buy comics but at least they are exposed to them. It's a friendly place for kids to hang out (and they do) and they do check for parental approval for any mature readers books they want to buy.

I should also say they carry a wide variety of comics. Like most stores their bread and butter is superheroes, but they do have a section for indy / fantagraphics like stuff. I've seen them take gambles on small, unknown publishers too.

Anyways, I typically go up to the store maybe 3-4 times a year just to buy something and chat for a while. They are the kind of store that I go out of my way to support.

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Joe Vince:

I saw your call for good comic shops in small towns. I recently moved from Mishawaka, Ind., which is just outside of South Bend (and if I'm not mistaken, you're from Indiana, right?), and Buy Me Toys does a great job in that area. The shop is run by the husband and wife team of Kelly and Casey Heying (he's doing the art now for the Oz/Wonderland Chronicles and publishing the series himself with Ben Avery doing the writing).

The store is all about customer service, and the Heyings have made it a point to do a lot to getting the word out about the store. I worked with them on a Free Comic Day promotion with the area newspaper. The couple is also good friends with Greg Horn and Alex Ross, which equates to book signings and appearances from time to time, a rarity in South Bend-Mishawaka.

By and large, the store is pretty mainstream fare, and it's not a store that you MUST visit if you're in town. What makes it unique is the presence and commitment that the Heyings have to getting comics into the hands of people who wouldn't ordinarily read them (library donations, setting up radio remotes for an Alex Ross signing, etc.). It's something I really haven't seen a lot of stores do.

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Colin Blanchette:

I'm sure you already know about Danger Room Comics in Olympia, WA. but it's the only one that I'm aware of that would fit your description. It's not my shop (I go to Zanadu Comics in the U District) but whenever I'm in Olympia, I try to go there. And another point in their favor: some day my wife and I want to move to the Olympia area, and the presence of Danger Room is a real perk. Now I live in Tacoma, with 0 indy-friendly shops (a town with well over 100,000 people).

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Matthew Craig:

I suspect your question was really directed at your American readers, but here's a British shop that meets your criteria:

Infinity and Beyond is in Shrewsbury, in the county of Shropshire. Shrewsbury - birthplace of Charles Darwin and comics creators such as Charlie Adlard and myself - has a population of 96.000. There are at least three large schools and colleges in or on the outskirts of the town centre, teaching kids from 11-18.

Infinity and Beyond was established in 1992(ish), when it was called TimeZone, carrying a large range of monthly comics, back issues, and related merchandise. By the latter half of the decade, they had started stocking more and more merchandise, eventually getting rid of much of the back issue stock. The last time I was in there, a year or two back,the comics and trades had been pushed right to the back of the store, in favour of the toys, statues and such. The shop was (and presumably is) extremely well-maintained, and as I recall, if you wanted to order something in, or set up a standing order or mail-order subscription, the owners and staff were more than happy to help.

I&B is pretty much the only real pace to buy comics - as in US comics - in Shrewsbury. The nearest comic shop to I&B is thirty miles to the east, in the city of Wolverhampton.

There's a big hole in the comincs landscape in that part of the country, and only I&B comes close to filling it.

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Pam Noles:

The Fantasy Factory in Lakeland, FL (population around 75,000/80,000) is a good store. Despite the fact that they don't have a website.

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Kevin Melrose:

Despite having a really bad name, Universe of Super-Heroes in Athens, Ohio, is a nice, spacious store with a friendly, knowledgeable staff and a better-than-average selection of comics, graphic novels and the like.

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Steven Rowe:

Greenville, North Carolina (population 60,000) is a college town, so may not fit your list.

The comic shop there for over 25 years is the Nostalgia Newstand. Great place to get comics -- lots of alternative comics.

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Shad Petosky:

Muse Comics in Missoula, Montana (pictured at top from their web site' photo gallery) is the best example of a great small-town comic book store. I grew up in Kalispell, Montana, and the only place to get comics was to special order them in the back of the hobby store or to find T&D Comics, a sign-less store run out of a guy's garage in a residential area. There were also two pawn shops that became half-stores during the early 90s boom.

When I visited Muse on the way back to the homestead from Minneapolis last summer, I was SHOCKED. It is on par with the best big city shops. (and I've been to a lot of 'em) They have a graphic novel focus, with multiples of just about everything, on well-painted and organized shelving. The books with prominent placing were mostly indy and smaller-press works.

They do have the subsidizing gaming section, which comprises about 1/5 of the store and is located near the back. At the far back of the store is a very clean cafe type area, with an original comic art gallery.

The clerk working on the day I was there seemed more interested in games, but when I asked him for Montanan created mini-comics, he had no problem naming off a few people and pointing me to the Muse's own mini-comic anthology.

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My sincere thanks to all who participated. Anything to add? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)


Go, Look: Ganges #1 Preview



From the book Ganges #1, to be published as part of that Fantagraphics/Coconino Ignatz line of deluxe-production comics we first talked about back in June. It's no secret I think Huizenga is perhaps the most interesting cartoonist to come around in years and years. The line is coming out in groups of three. I think Huizenga's threesome will include a book from Lorenzo Mattotti.


Go, Read: Williams on Alan Moore

I'm not familiar enough in academic treatments of superheroes to know if Kristian Williams' essay Nonlinear Narrative and Sequential Art: Alan Moore's Superhero Deconstruction is a good or bad example of the species. But it is a concise argument about Moore's view on superheroes which ties in his work on Rob Liefeld's properties to the more frequently discussed Watchmen, so some of you may find it extremely valuable.


Happy 55th Birthday, Gary Larson!


 
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