They really aren't about the comics...

My wife and I decided to take in a matinee this afternoon at a small local theatre in Tempe...the movie was Maleficent. It was a bit of a chick flick but I liked it...totally flipped the whole Sleeping Beauty story. Anyway, as we were walking into the theatre we noticed a small new comic book store in the corner of the shopping complex. After watching the movie we of course decided to take a peek inside the comic store.

I am noticing a prevailing theme in these new stores...

Young guy behind the counter, nice but knows nothing about comic books as evidenced by the lack of knowledge when attempting to discuss anything from the latest comics to the greats of the Silver and Bronze Age.

New comics on the wall, a few Copper Age CGCs which was nice, but nothing of significance.

Magic the Gathering cards, Star Wars toys, mini fridges filled with sodas, and a couch with a video game console.

A couple things that were different with this one...

Several pages of original comic book art from some Sabretooth comic and other character art, all priced at 250 bucks each.

Long boxes packed with LOOSE comics from the Copper Age mostly...yes I saw some New Mutants being mangled in there...and modern comics printed within the last couple of years all nicely bagged and boarded. Makes no sense to me.

In the end, wanting to support a new local business, and a comic shop no less, I walked out of there with a bagged 10 issue reading copy set of Daredevil from the Bronze Age...issues 120 through 130. I picked up some earlier Daredevil issues from my LCS a couple weeks ago and have really liked the stories so why not.

It seems new comic shops have a serious lack of inventory problem when it comes to older comics as this is not the first time I have experienced this. I also think these new shops are geared more toward new readers inspired by the awesome comic movies we have seen in recent years...and thats OK. If kids wanna read through some cheap older books, new books, grab a soda and play video games at their new LCS I say more power to them. As for me, I just hope there will always be comic shops out there with plenty of older inventory that can satisfy my collecting and reading interests.

Til next time...

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