On Comic Book Stores

Today I want to know what the stores you buy from are like. I guess that's somewhat reliant on you buying from a "traditional" comic book store, but really, wherever you get them from. Is it a large bookstore chain? Do you order online? Or, if it is a place that deasl primarily in comics: What is it about that place that you like? Why do you use them? Are they the only game in town, or is there another reason you shop there?

In Cape, Marvels and Legends is pretty much the only store. There is another store, but it deals almost exclusively in older comics. That actually works out nicely, since Ken doesn't carry many books that go back more than a few years, so they each fill have their own niche.

I think what makes me enjoy using M & L is that people like to come there. That sounds kind of silly, but it's fun to go to a place where you know you can spend a few hours talking about various stuff. And it isn't just about what happened in this month's issue of Infinite Crisis. People are talking pro wrestling, sports, Smallville, movies, everyday life stuff. I don't know how big Ken's overall customer base is, but there's a core of about ten people that are guaranteed to show up every week, who are willing to talk about all kinds of different topics. And even though Ken may not get involved, he's very cool about it. He's not rolling his eyes at us geeking out over last week's Full Metal Alchemist, or getting impatient because we won't buy our stuff and clear out (the store isn't very large, so you get more than about six people on the main floor and space does become a bit of an issue). He likes it if people come in just to talk (over the summer I was there for about two hours every Friday, just to talk baseball with him).

Maybe the reason I like it so much is because I've seen the other side. I graduated from Southeast Missouri State with a bachelors in '04. I spent the next seven months trying to get my butt in gear and get into Mizzou's graduate program, while living back home in Columbia, Missouri. Since, it wasn't feasible to drive 250 miles back to Cape every couple of weeks, I had to cancel my pull list at Marvels and start a new one wth a store in Columbia, called Rock Bottom Comics.

In terms of selection, Rock Bottom matched Marvels for the new stuff, and vastly exceeded it in terms of older issues. But it never felt right. The owner was there, but spent all his time on his computer, possibly placing orders. He had college students to handle all the customer-related stuff, and while they were very helpful, that community sense wasn't there. No one was talking about what came out that week, or something really awesome that happened in Ultimate X-Men last week. People picked up their comics, completed their transactions, and left. Maybe that's how it usually is, but it felt kind of cold, you know? Not what I expected from a store that is primarily comics and related items.

At any rate, no one at Mizzou had money for a grad student, so I reversed tracks, applied at Southeast, and here I am, a year after, with this blog.

So anyway, what's it like for you? Does the environment you're in matter? I got to admit, I'm curious to see what Big Monkey Comics is like. I gotta think with Scipio and Devon running the shows, it's a little. . . weird.