Shops in your area

[Freiherr]

 

I live in Memphis, which is more like a huge distribution center instead of a real city. I think we have more acres zoned out for storage than residence, but anyway…

 

For the first time in over 2 years I decided to hit some shops. Money is still tight, but I figured I would pick up a handful of new releases and some SA size Mylar sleeves. My first stop was a new shop a friend told me about. Depressing would be putting it lightly. The oldest book in the shop was a copy of Silver Surfer #1. The number of back issues on the floor would fill maybe 3 boxes and the new comics were so abused it looked like each had been rolled up to chase away stray dogs. Ohh…and no Mylar sleeves. They only had cheap modern-sized bags.

 

My next stop was my old stand-by. No SA or GA comics here either and no frickin Mylar sleeves (but they did have SA size bags). There were a lot of beat-up new comics on the shelves, but I managed to pick up Plastic Man 1-2 and some GI Joe/Transformers that survived (I picked up Ultimate FF, but figured I didn’t need yet another FF #1).

 

Ignoring if you live in a city with one of the mega-dealers are shops in your area like this as well? It use not to be that way here. GA books were rare, but not SA. The lack of supplies was a shock, but the condition of the newsstand stuff was a bigger shock. Either comic buyers have become very inconsiderate or something is amiss during shipping.

 

[Foolkiller]

Philadelphia doesn't sound as bad as Memphis for comics, but it's also a terrible city for comics, back issues, and any serviceable stores.

[rob_react]

Just on the train I can get to Million Year Picnic, New England Comics (about five different shops), Comicazi and Comicopia. All of which rock in one way or anther. Beyond that Webhead and That's Entertainment are within about an hour's drive and offer the possibility of hours and hours of searching through back issues.... Eastern Mass rules the comic book roost

[Foolkiller]

I've been to MYP and the Harvard Square NEC and one other... you're right... the area you live in is a great area for back issue hunting... I've enjoyed it everytime I've been there.

[ist102951]

Live in Birmingham, Al. - We have two good shops and a couple of others. Captain Comics is excellent with the new comics - I buy them there. They also have a good inventory for modern age comics. Bob's comics is good with SA & GA - although have not seen to many highgrade SA & GA there. He's also pretty good with modern age backstock.

[Hensley300]

Nashville TN has like 2 good shops, the rest manhandle their moderns and cram their back issues into tight bins.

Props to Outer Limit and The Great Escape in Gallatin and of course, in Memphis TN my favorite: Comics and Collectibles (much better than the [!@#%^&^] hole Memphis Comics and Records). Excellent back issues/statues, paperbacks, and stuff if you can get passed the snobby attitude of some employees but I love em.

Also, nice modern comic shop on Winchester Rd but cant think of name. Mainly sports stuff but they handle their new issues like babies !

[seank]

Sacramento, CA, a few mediocre shops and one great shop-- A1 Comics.

[Zonker]

Yeah, Boston comics shops were great when I lived there in the early 1990s. Took the train down to NYC a couple of times, and at least at that point, comic shops in Manhattan had nothing on Boston/Cambridge/Quincy. Comicopia and NEC/Quincy were the best for Silver/Bronze back issues, NEC/Coolidge Corner had the best quarter bins, and Million Year Picnic had the best comics-related stuff (fanzines, undergrounds and the like; believe Jerry Wiest was affiliated with MYP, yes?). Last time I was in the area MYP had moved elsewhere in Harvard Square and seemed a shadow of its former self (more Newberry Comics than the MYP of old). Tried to find the Quincy store, but it had apparently moved elsewhere in Quincy Center. Are Comicopia and NEC/Quincy still tops?

[underthebigw]

Yeah, Boston comics shops were great when I lived there in the early 1990s. Took the train down to NYC a couple of times, and at least at that point, comic shops in Manhattan had nothing on Boston/Cambridge/Quincy. Comicopia and NEC/Quincy were the best for Silver/Bronze back issues, NEC/Coolidge Corner had the best quarter bins, and Million Year Picnic had the best comics-related stuff (fanzines, undergrounds and the like; believe Jerry Wiest was affiliated with MYP, yes?). Last time I was in the area MYP had moved elsewhere in Harvard Square and seemed a shadow of its former self (more Newberry Comics than the MYP of old). Tried to find the Quincy store, but it had apparently moved elsewhere in Quincy Center. Are Comicopia and NEC/Quincy still tops?

 

I gotta agree with Zonker, MYP hasn't been the same since about 1990. Used to be great. I used to hit Comicopia twice a week on my way home from work, especially when it used to be in Brookline. Great guys, great shop. Haven't been there for about 8 years. As for NEC Quincy, I had always heard stories about it, and went there last year. Honestly, a disappointment. Lots of over-priced mid and low grade SA books. There were lots of VF's, but all priced at the max, sometimes over. I strongly recommend Webhead(s?) in Wakefield and That's Entertainment in Worcester. The only downside to the latter is that I've always found dead bugs in their boxes, which always turns me off to buying books there. Also, I haven't been there since it flooded last fall when a water main broke, so who knows how clean it still is.

 

I just recently returned to MA, and am on the fringes of the Metro-West area. Anyone know any good shops within an hours drive (the Worcester-Springield-Hartford area) ? I just drove down to Hartford to check a place out last week. Huge disappointment. I was initially excited--a ton of back issues, great SA and BA selection. Somewhat overpriced. Couldn't find a single true NM issue. The kiss of death however, was that EVERY single book smelled like vinegar. I asked the guys working there if it got hot in the summer, and they said it was a nightmare. Obviously, their books roasted for 2-3 months a year. An interesting note- when I eventually asked about Marvel price variants, the guy working there claimed that the store owner was the writer of the variant articles in CBM and was the first one to understand what they were (unless, Jon McClure lives in Hartford, obviously a load of crappola).

[rob_react]

MYP is still pretty cool in some ways. They have a great Indy/ Small Press section and they really go out of their way to help out small-time artists. That counts for a lot. They also have an excellent selection of trades and the like. It's not the same in any way shape or form in terms of back issues, of course. Jerry Weist basically took that part of the business with him when they parted ways (or whatever happened, I'm really not sure. )

 

I'll second That's Entertainment and Webhead. Both are great shops that could provide hours and hours of back issue browsing. My girlfriend is originally from Worcester, so she now knows a foolproof way to get me to go out there with her to visit her family

 

Comicopia sells no back issues at all. At least they didn't the last time I checked. They too have a nice Indy/ Small Press selection though, so I can't be too hard on them.

 

The NEC stores aren't really that impressive. Quincy is okay and the rest of them are only good on occasion- in terms of back issues at least. Back in the day they had a bigger emphasis on back issues and it showed chain-wide.

 

Now Superhero Universe in Downtown Crossing... that was a store

 

 

[FlyingDonut]

The Northern Virginia area is the worst area in the United States for comic shops. The county I live in, Fairfax County, has the highest per capita income in the United States, so you'd think we'd be fertile ground. Au contraire. There are five comic stores between the DC line and West Virginia going north. Its awful. Pheonix Comics in Herndon is quite good, and, given that they are pretty much it around here, have pretty nice pricing - no older stuff, however. EG comics in Vienna has older stuff, but is a truly bizarre place, much like the Android's Dungeon. I keep waiting for Comic Book Guy to come out of the back room. Everything else around here are either snooty "superhero comics are for frat boys, you must read the latest issue of this incredibly esoteric independent or you are a insufficiently_thoughtful_person" stores, comic stores thinly covering up the Yugioh and Magic foundation, or NEW HOT THINGS ONLY stores. Grrrr.

 

I need to go back to Chicago, where there's a GOOD comic store every six blocks.

[lighthouse]

***briefly pondering the idea of opening a shop in Northern Virginia***

 

[greggy]

***briefly pondering the idea of opening a shop in Northern Virginia***

 

[SharpComics.com]

Chicago it is! I live about a half hour south of the Windy City, and could easily hit 20 stores. Although I can't say I've hit a lot of stores in Chicago itself, I have searched through hundreds of longboxes from Bloomington-Normal to Gurnee. Fortunately for me, most of the back issues I go looking for I have a relatively easy time finding. Some stores are overpriced, some under. You DEFINATELY will pay dearly for HG silver and gold, even some bronze. One thing I dislike about the Chicago area, WAY TOO MUCH MODERN.

[mrwoogieman]

A moment of silence for what used to be Forbidden Planet in the Village, NYC. When I was in college, we used to go to FP for back issue shopping like no other place; tons of issues on at least two floors (maybe three?); always lots of customers; groovy staff. I still recall the sounds of the creaking floor boards as you walked around.

 

Fast forward about ten years later, and Forbidden Planet is no longer the same store: now in a truncated space, back issues down to 10%, if that, of what they used to carry, clueless staff, no creaking floorboards even. What happened FP?

[Lantern]

***briefly pondering the idea of opening a shop in Northern Virginia***

 

 

You should ponder long and hard on this one........you would also gain quite a bit of traffic from Southern Maryland, because when it comes to comic shops this side of the beltway is not that much better than 'Donuts side.

 

 

 

[lighthouse]

***briefly pondering the idea of opening a shop in Northern Virginia***

 

 

You should ponder long and hard on this one........you would also gain quite a bit of traffic from Southern Maryland, because when it comes to comic shops this side of the beltway is not that much better than 'Donuts side.

 

 

Who knows? I pretty much just follow the wife around... If her next gig is with a national organization that's headquartered near there you never know what might happen...

 

But I'd say it's highly unlikely... The furthest east we have ever even considered moving was Memphis...

[chrisco37]

you would also gain quite a bit of traffic from Southern Maryland, because when it comes to comic shops this side of the beltway is not that much better than 'Donuts side

 

 

B,

 

You must never refer to our area as Southern Maryland!!!!! We live in Mont. County. "Southern MD" is east past PG and towards the Bay --- South of those places! It's alot more "boonie" then where we are! I'll take you and "T" down there sometime, and you'll see why you never want to say you live in S.MD!!!

 

Chris

[Ares]

In the section of Toronto where I live there are no decent stores.

 

I have to go out of my way to find a decent store to buy stuff.

 

Thats Why I go to paradise even though it half way across the city for me

 

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

In the section of Toronto where I live there are no decent stores.

 

I have to go out of my way to find a decent store to buy stuff.

 

Thats Why I go to paradise even though it half way across the city for me

 

 

Paradise sucks!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding Doug.