I Went To Nearly Every Comic Store Around Chicago So You Wouldn't Have To!

[Fan Boy]

This is a fun read. Thanks for sharing.

 

I agree ... even if I've never been in Chicago to wander around. Thanks for sharing! (thumbs u

 

This is great, we should do this with every city, sort of a Zagat guide to comics.

 

Now that is an idea to think for us - if and when we got some time off to wander over!

 

Maybe put up here, a special thread designated like an online travel guide on comic shops, for us to check out whenever we might go out on trips??

[darkstar]

Born and raised in Chicago and now reside just outside in the suburbs. I Totally agree with all of your assessments on these shops. I have visited all of them as well. One I would like to plug is another Dreamland comics in Schaumburg, which has been my go to for the last two years. The shop is spotless. The rack of new issues is huge, plus they have many of last running 3 or 4 months of issues on the rack. They have a smaller back issues section I their store, but have a GREAT online back issue selection which you can have shipped to your house or delivered from their warehouse to the store for pickup.

 

They offer 20% off all new comics online and a free bag and board online and have an AWESOME web interface. Their subscription/pull list starts with only 5 titles and can be changed at any time.

 

http://www.dreamlandcomics.com/html/

 

And they ARE NOT affiliated with the dream land comics in Libertyville that you reviewed above. I would rate this dreamland a 9.4. Their customer service is tops!

 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

Dreamland in Schaumburg has a decent selection but the pricing on their back issues is absurd.

[Darkowl]

I gotta give ya props for compiling such a list. Well done!

 

Ginos East

[RCheli]

I gotta give ya props for compiling such a list. Well done!

 

Ginos East

 

I'm originally from Pennsylvania and I hate all Chicago-style pizza -- both thin crust and deep dish. It's ridiculously gross.

[backtomarvel]

You should buy a url and post these as a website.

 

[Not*Sure*]

pics?

 

No. I didn't think people would appreciate me taking pictures of the inside of their shop.

 

If you told them about it

 

 

[Transplant]

Very nice job. I did not know that First Aid now has a B&M store. He used to work at Graham Crackers.

[eewwnuk]

I would say that the best stores for out of towners to visit are:

 

Chicago Comics: the best selection of comics and comic related items in the city. clothing, books, toys, statues, etc, this store has the best selection. also the only store where I've run into Alex Ross at and that has to count for something.

 

Graham Crackers Loop location: right off of Michigan Avenue with a large selection of everything. The better of the Graham stores with the Edgewater store being a personal favorite of mine. I've always found the staff to be great at the edgewater location.

 

Challengers Comics: the owner really makes an effort to connect fans with creators. If a comic creator is doing a signing in Chicago, chances are that it will be done at Challengers. Store also has an adjacent gallery or original comic art, something no other store in Chicago has.

[chrisco37]

Good thread. I enjoyed reading it.

 

As far as Graham Crackers goes, not really sure if you would've got much of a discount on back issues had someone with authority been there to do it. In my experience (and this is only at shows), I've never gotten any good discounts from them. Even trying to buy something late on a Sunday afternoon (at the very end of the show), they were unwilling to budge on some books I was looking at. They do have a nice selection of books though.

 

I think it's pretty cool that the your area can support so many shops. In the DC/Metro area, there aren't neat as many shops as you would expect in a major metropolitan area. Especially in the city proper. There are some good shops in the area, just not a lot of them. Even if you span the area to include the B'more area, there's just not as many as you would think.

[Darkowl]

I gotta give ya props for compiling such a list. Well done!

 

Ginos East

 

I'm originally from Pennsylvania and I hate all Chicago-style pizza -- both thin crust and deep dish. It's ridiculously gross.

 

[techtre2003]

G-Mart Comics

2641 N Kedzie Ave

Chicago, IL 60647

(773) 384-0400

www.g-mart.com

 

This just seems like a business where the proprietors don’t really care that much. It’s dirty, unorganized, and not very inviting. Their back issues (other than a few boxes) are listed on a computer, so you request to look at them and the clerk goes in the back room to get them. Which is a bit surprising since it’s a big store. It has a nice location in Logan Square, but it’s the kind of a shop where you could open up a store next door and drive it out of business in two weeks.

 

What did I buy? Nothing

 

Grade: 4.0

 

They have a location down in Champaign IL also. Pretty much what you described here when I went except it's a small store. They are in one of those shared business buildings. The first time I went I walked around the block twice trying to find it (cussing Siri the whole time). All they had was a sheet of paper in the tinted window telling you they were in there. You go in the building and have to walk down a hallway that could be used in a horror movie to get to the shop. I just have to think they do a large share of their sales online.

 

Great write up by the way, thanks for sharing!

 

[sd2416]

http://www.the-master-list.com/

 

Email that guy. He will update his list.

[RCheli]

There were a few shops that closed as well. Atlas Comics on Cumberland closed, and that was a decent if small store. Evil Squirrel was a shop in Rogers Park that on Sunday sold their back issues by weight.

[Logan510]

There were a few shops that closed as well. Atlas Comics on Cumberland closed, and that was a decent if small store. Evil Squirrel was a shop in Rogers Park that on Sunday sold their back issues by weight.

 

 

I live right near where Atlas was and it was a pretty good shop. Lots of back issues and you could occasionally find some gems ( I bought an Avengers 99 & 100 graded NM that both came back CGC 9.8 ). Friendly owner with a very good knowledge of comics history. I was sad to see it close down, but it was his choice to close, he wasn't run out of business.

 

 

North Shore Comics is a tragedy. Back in the early 1980's it was a chain with 3-4 stores. The one in Northbrook had a really nice selection of back issues and wall books. I haven't been there since the early 2000's, but it was already starting to go downhill

[999ghosts]

I don't hink I'll ever get to Chicago, but I still enjoyed this comic store trip report. I want to see more of these (with pictures)

 

Somebody do a Orlando one please!

[weaponx12781]

Thanks, well done, very well done. It's obvious though that you are a North Sider and didn't venture too far into the South Side but you obviously ran out of time. You got a job and that's a good thing. Thanks for the very useful information.

 

I got to a couple of shops south -- in Evergreen Park and Oak Lawn -- and I wanted to get to Alternate Reality (where I haven't been in a few years). Maybe next lay off!

 

 

Thanks for the reviews...very helpful as I live near the city and have shopped at a couple of these places...

 

But yeah Alternate Reality is a cool shop with a pretty decent back issue stock...it seems to be run by a father/daughter combo who are pretty friendly...I hit this shop whenever I can

[Calidream'n]

I was hoping you would have hit "Comic Asylum" on 111th in Worth for a review. He has an X-Men #1 on the wall that is so sun faded you have to really look closely to see that it's not a black and white copy. Full asking price. That's for starters...

[ChrisInBaltimore]

http://www.the-master-list.com/

 

Email that guy. He will update his list.

 

This seems really cool, but it is not nearly as comprehensive as this list. It needs a lot more information just clicking on stores in my area.

[sd2416]

http://www.the-master-list.com/

 

Email that guy. He will update his list.

 

This seems really cool, but it is not nearly as comprehensive as this list. It needs a lot more information just clicking on stores in my area.

 

Hes not going to go to every store in the U.S. That's why you email him and send him reviews of the stores you went to. He can add the ones that arent on there, delete the ones that are closed.

[ChrisInBaltimore]

I think a list like this would be awesome though! I've been to most of the stores north of Baltimore, in Frederick, and in York, PA. I usually try to hit up stores when we are in town for my daughter's hockey tournaments. It is a lot of fun and I've seen some neat stores. It is incredible how different every store is too.