“Heroes, Villains, and Me” is a weekly article on Geeky KOOL about the world of comic books and my reaction to it. “Heroes, Villains, and Me” is not a comic book review article. I will write about current events, speculation and rumors, or my own wacky thoughts about the world of comic books.
I remember my first experience at a comic book store. It was a thing of wonder and intrigue. A whole store dedicated to love of comic books was foreign to my thinking. I was used to reading comics at the pharmacy and grocery store.
As a kid in the early 80s, I lived out in the country. We were over an hour away from Springfield, MO. My father discovered the first comic store in Springfield by accident one day. The next time we went to Springfield, my father took me with him. I was like a kid in his first candy store.
The rules were different in a comic book store than they were at the grocery store. It was frowned on to sit down and read the comics without first purchasing them. The new comic books were well displayed where you could see every issue without having to look behind them. The comics weren’t bent and creased but looked perfect.
They did have back issue alphabetically placed in boxes below. This was great because we could easily look for issues that we were missing. One of the problems of purchasing comic books at the grocery stores and pharmacy was that it was easy to miss an issue or two. I remember my father bought some issues that we were missing.
There were several valuable back issues displayed behind glass. I really desired and coveted one of the comic books on display, The New Teen Titans #1. My father and I started on this series at issue #3 and loved it. The number 1 issue was Ten Dollars at that time. My father could not justify paying that much money for one issue.
I don’t remember the staff at the store very well. I think they were fairly friendly except they would not allow me to sit and read comics on their floor. They must have been somewhat friendly because my father and I made several trips to that store over the years.
Comic book stores have evolved over time. In the late 80s to the mid 90s, competing comic stores popped up everywhere. Comics were the hot item and the comic industry was in a boom. When the comic book bubble burst, many of the stores went under. The stores that did not go out often changed into a combination store such as comics and games. The popularity of Magic, Star Wars, and Pokémon card games became the bread and butter for many stores. Some of the stores have totally gone away from comic books. The pure comic book stores have become extinct except in large cities.
One of the problems with Comic and Comic Hybrid stores is a lack of friendliness. If you are not a regular, then you might not feel welcomed at many stores. They often market to 30 year old males and the staff doesn’t know what to do when a family or a lady or even someone new walks in. Some of this might be a social awkwardness of my fellow comic book geeks. Sometimes you have to prove your geek cred before you will receive the customer service that you desire. This needs to change and quick.
These stores need someone to greet people and make them feel welcome. If they don’t they will not survive the digital comic era. Customer service will be the difference in buying comics digitally or on Amazon or in a brick and mortar store.
I love my local comic store. The comic book guy at my store knows me and what I like. He is quirky and we have wonderful conversations. But I can see even this store struggles with the issues that I described above. I hope they can find a way to address these issues otherwise they will not survive.
My friend, Chris Wilson, and I were discussing these challenges the other day. He had a great idea on how to make this local store friendlier and family oriented. One of his ideas was to make an All Ages section for comics. It could be marketed and the staff could help people find this. This would bring in new readers and make the store feel more accessible to newbies. So far, our local store has not taken these ideas and ran with them.
Now back to my original focus. I think about my first experience at a comic store when I drive by that original location. I still get nostalgic even though it is now a used book store for a local University. I am hopeful that my kids with have positive thoughts about their first comic store experience.
