Here’s a fascinating longread for a summer’s day: The Denver Gazette profiles Chuck Rozanski, owner of Mile High Comics, who grew up in an abusive household and used buying and selling comics as an escape, established a successful business, was called a “dinosaur” by Morgan Spurlock, made some wise real-estate investments, realized in his 50s that he was gender-fluid and became a drag queen, faced down the Proud Boys, and keeps his megastore open, even though he knows he could make more money renting the space out to someone else, because in his words, “I’m trying to touch the future”: “If you look around at the young people who are slithering through the aisles here, this is their happy place. This is a place they can come to with their families and they can have a great time. But there is an evil scheme to this, as well – OK? I have no great memories of my childhood. But by creating this shared memory, I am making myself eternal. Because I am planting in people this memory of coming to the world’s largest comic book store and sharing that experience with people they love.”
A similar spirit animates Jeff Figley, co-owner of The Comics Place in Bellingham, WA, which has been open since 1982 (through four different owners). When local publication The Front wrote a piece on the store, Figley told them “Since I was a kid I’ve always just asked myself ‘What would Superman do?’ I personally have gotten through the toughest times in my life with comics. I want to make sure I give other people the same opportunity.”
8th Dimension Comics, located in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Vancouver, will close its doors at the end of August after six years in business. In an interview with the news site Vancouver Is Awesome, owner Nick Paraschos said that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the neighborhood, emptying out offices and residences alike. As a result, he said, “a lot of people aren’t working around here anymore, and with rent evictions people aren’t living in the neighbourhood anymore.” A major downtown construction project has also slowed down pedestrian traffic in the area. The store was originally R/X Comics, where Paraschos was an employee before buying the business and changing the name.
Elsewhere in Vancouver, Lucky’s Comics is looking for a new location after over 25 years at the same address. The official store account Tweeted the news: The building where the store is currently located has been sold, and as the Tweet said, “retail space has gone bonkers on price.” The store will stay in its current spot for a few more weeks, and the online store will remain open even if they can’t find a spot for a new brick-and-mortar store right away.
Across the pond, Paul Bender is living the dream, literally: He is opening up Cursed Earth Comics, the first comic shop in Leigh, England, and the fulfillment of a childhood passion for comics. Bender, who is 45, told the Basildon/Canvey/Southend Echo that he and his wife Donna made the “change of life” decision to open the shop while on a year-long trip. He plans to carry a wide range of comics, including for young people, at affordable prices. “At the end of the day, it’s comics that got me into reading, so my aim of selling at a reasonable price is to get others – young and old – to do the same,” he said.
Tom Fleming, owner of Fanfare Comics in Kalamazoo, Washington, told MLive that he is moving the store, which he opened in 1983, to a new location to secure its future. “I just turned 60 and as I begin to think about wanting to step away a little bit, I want to make sure I can keep the business going for our employees and for the customers,” he said in the interview. “We’ve built a good community over the years and I’d like to keep that going if we can.” Fleming will own the new location, giving him more control over the business going forward.
Michael and Leslie Damron went from a hobby to an online business to a brick-and-mortar store, Atomic Comics and Collectibles, in Logan, WV. “I have bought, sold and traded with people consistently since I was 17 in 2001, when I was old enough to have a job with steady income in,” Michael told the Logan Banner. “People knew I liked this stuff, so they would constantly clean out their garages or closets and I’d buy everything. I’d use what I didn’t want or already had as either trade bait or I’d sell it for items I wanted in my collection.” He got serious about the buying and selling after he was injured at work and his worker’s compensation ran out, and eventually the couple decided to go all in on the business.
Boston’s WBZ News profiles Omar’s Comics in Lexington, MA, a comic shop staffed entirely by people with special needs. The store was founded by Dr. Sohail Masood and his wife, Mona, as a place for their son Omar, who has Down Syndrome, to work after he aged out of the education system at age 22. Now the store provides jobs for Omar as well as special-needs students from a local collaborative.
NPR Marketplace did a radio interview with Phillip Rollins, owner of the OffBeat comic and record store in Jackson Mississippi, a community with a lot of problems, including a shrinking population. Rollins is determined to bring people back to the city’s downtown, saying, “There’s always something to do here. People just don’t know how to find it.”
Lightning Bolt Comics, in Charlottetown, P.E.I., is closing its doors after almost 24 years; owner Dylan Miller told CBC News that inflation and flooding from Hurricane Fiona, which damaged the basement storefront, were both to blame.
Source: ICV2
