The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent
vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums
here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules
document is now in effect.
EDIT: Talk about your LCS (formerly about lowlife stores)(Comic Shop Thread)
Posts
I'm in Phoenix, so what are the name of those shops please?
But really, I need a cool shop to go to. I go to Atomic Comix near PV mall.
I disremember the name of the first one, but it was in Tempe near ASU, and had a total hottie working there. PLUS, it was next to a tattoo/piercing place, which is like hottie punk girl mecca.
The other was Atomic Comix at the mall in Chandler
There is/was an awesome shop downtown Phoenix when I lived there, but I moved out of the ghetto.
That was the name! Samurai Comics! It was cool as hell. I drove by a few months ago and they were still opened.
The Atomic at Metro is still open and still like walking into a porno shop. Good store but so old school.
There is plenty of room for more shops to open up, but whenever anyone has tried to in the past, Bosco's undercuts the hell out of them and forces them out. The owner is a dick, the prices on anything BUT comics (they have gaming stuff, too) are outrageously marked up, and the employees are nerdy to the point of being unapproachable - a couple of them, the long-timers, are the epitome of "gaming store geeks". Most of them play games (Warhammer, Magic: The Gathering, etc.) but know fuck-all about comics.
Despite all of this, being that I loves me some comics, I'm excited as all hell whenever I get to go there.
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
Oh shit, there is one more store I forgot about called A-1, and they have a killer selection of action figures and back issues. All of their back issues are cover price, period, with the exception of maybe a select handful. They just don't want to deal with the hassle of adjusting prices to book value.
Unfortunately, there is only one employee, the owner's wife, who I can tolerate. The rest are backwards, goth retards with zero customer service skills, or are pompous douche-bags (the owner).
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
The only beef I have with the shop is the card game guys/eleven year olds. I can't stand the little shits, and there's one guy at the counter I can't stand either because he's annoying as all hell. Always following me and asking me questions he clearly has no interest in asking.
"So...that..any good?"
"Yeah, it's some of Matt Fraction's Punisher. Pretty funny stuff."
"That's...that's cool."
*He hangs his head and starts blushing, and then immediately walks away*
I mean, I have no problem with talking about comics. I'm probably one of the few dudes you can do that with in public and not feel like a bitch about it. Dude is just painfully shy.
It's okay if you are. We won't treat you any differently.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Sometimes I'll go to this other place called Black Hole Comix (Their spelling, not mine), which is a dank pit of misery, and the owner just sits there and plays Diablo 2 until you check out, without much interest in interacting with you. But he does give a nice 15% discount on everything.
Black Hole used to be a fun place to hang out when the owner allowed gamers in there to hold CCG tournaments and stuff, but I guess at some point he decided that he wasn't making enough profit on the cards to warrant the noise they made, and turned the open gaming space into shelves of, erm, adult figurines and stuff. It's sort of depressing to go in there now, thinking back to the good times that were had.
And the other half of the store (it's a large place) is a sports memorabilia store. So there's always a bunch of southern football fans there too, buying their team jerseys and beer helmets.
it's a strange mix.
Apparently I'm a large black man.
Man, I can't stand going to A-1 because that lady with the bad teeth creeps me out. Also, you cannot find anything in that store, their organization system was created by someone with no knowledge of the alphabet. I think you are too hard on Bosco's employees though, some are pretty bad but there are a few who are reasonably normal.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Pretty much. Nobody opens a comic shop thinking, "Time to make some money!"
Which is unfortunate, because if more people did, the comics industry would probably be better off.
Tumblr Twitter
Well, we have major bookstores with their vast trade collections to look to for that, though they seldom stock the more esoteric stuff.
That said, a comic shop looking to make a hefty profit wouldn't either.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Firstly, they give you a 10% discount on items in your pull list. This is usually monthlies, but if you specifically order a TPB they'll give you 10% off on that too. They really encourage customers to have more than one or two books on pull that way, I think.
Secondly, there's two essentially "heads of shop". One is the former owner, a guy named Tom, who used to work at the local tattoo parlor and is one of the most awesome guys I know. He's a huge comics geek, and is willing to discuss authors/series at the drop of a hat and has great recommendations (I got all of Transmetropolitan off his recommendation, for example). The other guy is Todd, a local lawyer and current owner. Todd runs the gaming side of the shop and makes sure that we have tables for Warhammer, Friday Night Magic, shelfspace set aside for boardgames and one off card games like Munchkin, and a bunch of other stuff.
The shop has its issues, don't get me wrong. Todd heavily favors Magic and Warhammer 40,000, so occasionally it's hard to get gaming products which aren't those in (usually needing multiple requests). Also, the local Magic players are about as stereotypical of the breed as you'll find.
On the other hand, the shop burned down last June in what appears to be an electrical fire. That was a dire time, as the shop is really the only place for nerds on campus to hang out (it provides a nice center of gravity for comic geeks, RPG players, tabletop wargamers, and CCGers, ensuring an interesting blend of geekery). Now, however, the shop's rebuilt and fully open again and I realized just how awesome it is to have a place like that around. I can only hope that wherever I wind up has a comic/gaming shop as good as Universe is.
PARKER, YOU'RE FIRED! <-- My comic book podcast! Satan look here!
Comics and Games of Tallahassee
Secret Headquarters Comics and Games
Cosmic Cat Comics, Games, And Anime
The Book Shelf
Besides these, the local Books A Million also sells TPBs and a selection of about 30 titles in floppies.
I used to go to Cosmic Cat, which was halfway across town from my job and my house. However, about a year ago I started going to Secret Headquarters because it's closer to both. The guy who owns the place is pretty cool and will talk comics with you. Occasionally he'll have a decent sale, but for the most part the standard 10% discount is what we get. I could surely get a better deal on back issues at a couple of the other shops, but I go to this shop because it's closer and I like the owner. It's really too bad that I probably won't even be buying comics in a few months (thanks to a kid on the way), but when I told him about it, he was completely understanding about it.
That lady freaks me out. She's too friendly. Every time I come in she pounces on me asking if she can help me with anything. Sometimes I just want to look at things. And she hovers as well.
But it is really good that their back issues are cover priced.
Also; I bet we've seen each other and didn't even realize it. Which is creepy.
"I don't want the world, I just want your half"
yeah, i need to re-read that series.
Hrmm.. I can only really second (third?) the vote for Midtown http://www.midtowncomics.com/. They're really clean, the $20 discount for every $100 you spend is nice, and the staff seems friendly enough.
There's another whose name I forgot.. uhh quick google search tells me it was Forbidden Planet: http://www.fpnyc.com/location/index.html which may be more convenient for you depending on your location. I never really shopped at FP, I only visited once; I remember them having some good hip hop on and being sorta crowded and vaguely dirty. Midtown seems a lot cleaner and people are pretty friendly, but again I don't know much about anyplace BUT Midtown so take with a HUGE grain of salt.
Midtown Comics is where I shop now that I'm working (as it is only a few blocks away). valiance is right in his description of it, but I'll add that if you show up on Wednesday after 5 or so, be prepared for some crowding, and a decently-sized line (although they tend to move fast). They're got a pretty sizable collection of back issues, action figures/statues, and, if you're into that sort of thing, old issues of Playboy (for reasons I cannot discern. I guess some people collect old men's magazines the way other people collect comics?).
The third large shop in NYC that I'm aware of is Jim Hanley's Universe. To me, it feels the most mom-and-pop-ish out of the three, but it's still an awesome place. If you're in the city on Black Friday, this is a good place to stop by because they generally have sales on the order of 40% off of everything in the store on that day. OH HEY, I just looked at the list of events on the JHU page, and it turns out that Bendis, Brubaker, and Fraction were there on the 14th, and Darwyn Cooke was there on the 16th. What the fuck, Internet? Why don't you tell me things like this in a timely fashion?
There's also a whole ton of mom-and-pop, hole-in-the-wall type shops, especially outside of Manhattan. I don't know of any, though, because like I said, I just go to Midtown. Oh, I guess I should also mention St. Mark's Comics. They're located in the part of the city that has what is probably the highest concentration of college-age, artsy, hipstery-type people (since two universities are a stone's throw away), so they sort of cater to that atmosphere; if you're looking for an underground, indie comic, I'd check there first. Which isn't to say that they don't have mainstream stuff - they do. They just ALSO have comics with names like "Blowjob" towards the back. Plus they've got a whole lot of old old action figures.
P.S. I love free shit.
P.P.S. Yes, I go to Midtown and then also to Jim Hanley's and then also to Forbidden Planet.
I do not understand the connection between these statements.
They give discounts on everything on your pull list (10%) and sometimes they'll just give you a random trade or single for free.
The other bonus is that their sister store is frequented by Darwyn Cooke and Steve McNiven so it's really easy to get things signed by them at no charge at all.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
A comic book store owner was robbed and shot recently in Michigan. iFanboy is putting up a fund raiser to help him out.
http://www.ifanboy.com/content/articles/Fund_Raising_to_Help_David_Pirkola__Comics_Retailer
PARKER, YOU'RE FIRED! <-- My comic book podcast! Satan look here!
I take my wife in with me Wednesdays, and she banters with Paul while I pick out my weekly crack. He's managed to talk her into some trades and new stuff as well. He's a bit pushy, but knows that if you like one thing, you might just like this other thing here, too.
With about 4 other LCS's in the area, I've never gotten the welcoming feeling I get over there. It's just a great place to shop.
Where do you guys go in Atlanta?
I'm only two hours south, and I come up a lot for shows/friends.
Its called Pop Culture Comix if anyone else is in the area.