I have always thought of comic reading/collecting as a very solo hobby. I mean we buy our comics and typically take them home and read them alone. The social aspect of the hobby typically comes from when we visit the comics store we shop at, or when we attend conventions. The thing is, pop culture (which comics are clearly a big influence/part of) is huge currently. I can’t imagine anyone in quarantine didn’t watch a single show or movie that wasn’t part of the comic world. Comics are a part of tv, movies, video games, novels, clothing, toys, and just about anything else you can think of. It’s amazing how many people don’t read comics and how much they are missing out!
So the purpose of this article is two-fold.
Buy a comic for / give a comic to a friend.
I’m not here trying to get you to spend more money, I understand it doesn’t grow on trees. I used to fly for work and I would leave Marvel True Believers ($1 each when they release) on airplanes for other people to find and hopefully get them started. Sure, they cost me money, but not a lot. Also, FCBD is (normally) every year and tons of free comics are given out. Many shops (us included) generally have some left, and if you ask one of our amazing staff, they can most likely find you one somewhere. Also, did you know we give three .50 cent comics away from our .50 cent boxes each Wednesday just for stopping by the store? The more people read comics, the more social we get to be with them about it. The more we all get to have conversations about the characters we love and the stories we adore. The best part of working in a comic store is getting to enjoy other people’s excitement over the stories they are enjoying!
Tell us (in stores, on social media, on our website) what you love AND ask us what we recommend based of what you love! We want to hear what you are enjoying!
Ok, here’s the deal! More often than not, we work in comics stores because we love the medium at its core. We may gripe about stuff in the industry, or how the books are packed, but at the end of the day, we all got into this because we absolutely love how something we read made us feel. We all read comics, and it’s our job to be able to help others find what they will enjoy. This gets a dialogue going and allows us to put more social into your comic experience. Tell us three things you like, what about them you like, and we will definitely recommend something else for you to try (odds are you will find something new you didn’t even know about). I call it connecting the dots, and it’s what allows the social aspect of the store to flourish. Also, we want you to read what you enjoy, and not just buy things for the sake of buying. If you tell us you really aren’t enjoying something, we can help with that as well. There are always more great comics to read, so stop reading comics you don’t enjoy reading!
We WANT to talk comics!
We WANT to hear you talk comics to us!
We WANT to know what your current favorite title you are reading is! Let us know!