Tell us about that old comic book shop you remember...

[jeffreyk]

I live in South Florida and have been to virtually every comic book store since the early 1980s. The one that brings back my fondest memories is Tropic Comics in Plantation, FL.

 

They carried everything from new books to a terrific selection of Golden and Silver Age. During the early 1990s, when new books were superhot, I think they had 4 locations with the one in North Miami being the largest.

 

I still remember the block long line wrapping around the store the day that Superman #75 (Death of Superman) came out.

 

I miss that Plantation store. I believe it closed in 1999. I still enjoy seeing their ads in my old Overstreet Price Guides. They were always very funny.

[Blind Owl]

I used to go to Tropic Comics too....mainly the Plantation store which I thought had a better selection of stuff that i wanted, than the N. Miami Beach store...

 

John especially was a nice guy with great taste in music. he had hundreds of DAT tapes...in the day of some really rare stuff...he let me copy a few of them...just fantastic...

[otherworldsj33]

Good thread topic.

In Brooklyn, NY, on Flatbush Ave., no less. My Friends Book Store. I frequented the place from about 1968 to 1974. I know Roger Stern, Paul Levitz, and Sal Q. worked there at one point or another, and remember them being there.

In early 1968, I had talked my mom into taking me there about every 3 weeks or so. The comics were generally seperated from about 1960-61 to the present, which was of course,1968. And then they were organized by decades. And then genre, with super heroes being the most popular. The store had a decent amount of comics from the 40's, and 50's. Hard to belive now, but at that at the time, comics in their modern form, what we most of us collect, were only about 30 years old, so there were really "only" about 3 decades worth of selection.

We were middle class, and the idea of spending a lot of money on old "used" comics was preposterous to most people, my mom and dad included. So when we arrived there, I quickly made my way to the back section where the 1960-61 to 1968 comics were, and started looking through them. They were10 for a dollar, and most were in about good to VG condition. No keys, but still great stuff.

My mom was very paitent with my almost transparent and fanatical pursuit of comic collecting, and she would look through their book section to pass the time, as I almost always took at lease 40 min. or more to agonzingly choose which 40 or 50 comcis I wanted to read and collect, as my mom would usually spend about $4 -$5 on my comic selection. I purchased mostly DC's in those days.

Those 5 dollars worth, kept me busy til the next visit.

And I built a very nice, low grade, low cost, large collection over the years. One that eventually helped me purchase my first home in 1987.

I could go on and on. But I gotta go, lots to do before Saturday. So many memories, and fun, and stories. From the Action #1 that I never got, to the Superman #1 that I almost got, to many other golden age comics I viewed, read, collected, traded, purchased and sold. To the days I was finally able to get there on my own, to the raising prices, and consciouness of condition. So much I learned, when there was bvery little info available. When I first went, there was not even a price guide.

 

[Moondog]

Moondog's Comics on Busse Avenue in Mt. Prospect. I was probably one of the first customers, and would go there every week - first at the Busse Avenue location and then across the street at the larger location. Went all through high school.

 

I would take the 3:16 train from Barrington to Mt. Prospect, get off, walk the three blocks, go to the comic store (and marvel at the books), gab with Moondog, and buy books. For a while there was a pinball arcade on the corner of the street across from the train station, and I'd go there, play pinball, and listen to AC/DC, and then take the 5:30 train back. I did this at 14 and 15. I have a 15 year old son now. I can't imagine what my parents were thinking.

 

 

 

(thumbs u

[Mister_Comics]

Hey Donut. I use to take the Halsted bus from 35th south side to way north and go to the Lincoln Park Zoo when I was like 10 or 11. And I did this a lot back then. What were my parents thinking? I won't even let a 10 year old ride a bus alone down my own neighborhood today. How times have changed.

 

Moondogs in Ford City was one of my regular stops during the 80's - 90's. The one thing I remember from there was getting a autograph from the actor that played the THING in the Corman FF movie. He was signing photos right outside the store down in Peacock Alley. Today all that is gone.