Loving Your Local Comic Shop

I wanted to make my first official comic review for my favorite comic as of late, Driver For the Dead. But...since I won't have my copy of issue #3 until later this week, I hated to not take the chance to test the waters of this whole blogging thing before venturing into my review when I head to my local funny book store. The thought of that itself inspired me to write for the first time simply about, you got it, our local comic book stores.

Here's my thing. I don't live in a big city, so I have no huge comic book shops near me. As a matter-of-fact, finding a good comic shop here is like finding a needle in a damn haystack. the first shop I visited had absolutely NO comics that interested me, BUT...the lack of options steered me towards my first copy of Chew, which I adore. The shop owner was a very nice fellow, but he just had nothing that sparked my interest. I was worried, at that point, that my renewed love for comics was going to die a quick death. First, a little into my background before I ramble on...

I was born in the early 70's. For those of you who were born in that time, you may share a lot of my same loves: Horror hosts, old time radio, cheesy 70's and 80's horror, and most of all, comics. I remember picking up my first comic, Tales From the Crypt. The smell of tha pages, the crafty artwork, the sometimes silly but entertaining stories captured me and took me away. I recently ordered some old comics from Ebay, and as soon as those buggers got into my hands and I opened them, the smell of the pages alone transported me to my childhood. It was incredible. I loved House of Mystery, I, Vampire, Werewolf, all of the oldies but goodies. But, as I got older, many things in my life changed and comics got swept under the rug. Until I met the duo known at the Caroleo's. Krys and Dave, that is; who I am sure you all know and love as much as I do. We began to talk comics one day and I had literally read nothing that was made after the 1990's. they began to fill in the blanks of all of these incredible series that I have been missing (The Walking Dead, for Pete's sake!!), and generously shared their collection with me so I could get up to speed. Without them, my love for this medium would still be there, but buried deep down. Now it is back, and with a vengeance. I was blown away when I started to delve into the newer comics. Holy hell had times changed! The stories are sharp, witty, and sometimes even heartbreaking. The art is jaw-dropping. I could not believe my eyes when I read the Walking Dead for the first time. I worship George Romero, but this series has changed the world of zombies as we know it, much like Romero's movies of the 70's and 80's did. I cried my damn eyes out at the happenings in Volume 8. Cried!! Like a damn baby!! Over a comic!! I was hooked. I am not a fan of your usual comics, I love horror and anti-superhero books, not Spiderman or X-Men. not saying those are bad comics, not at all....however, many of the best comics are overlooked because they are not published by DC or Marvel. That in itself is a tragedy. Now, back to my quest for the comic shop...

I happened upon a shop called Bent Wookee Comix.

http://www.bentwookeecomix.blogspot.com/
Little did I know that when I went into this shop I would meet another person who would change the course of my comic fate. Bent Wookee is owned by Brandon Wilt, and I credit and thank him as much as I do Krys and Dave for helping me on my comic journey. Brandon is the rare store owner that actually cares about his customers. We struck up conversation in email first, then when we were finally able to meet, it was like I had known him my whole life. He has bent over backwards, forwards and sideways to help me find what I need, and gone to great lenghts to accomodate me getting my order since the shop hours clash with my work hours. Brandon is not only a comic shop owner, but he is an amazing artist, being featured in quite a few funny books himself. There are many titles I would have passed up if he wouldn't have suggested them, ones I absolutely loved when I read them. I often say that I hope everyone has someone like Brandon at their local comic shop. Someone who automatically tunes in to what the customer likes, and can recommend new titles, along with helping the customers get in items that may not be found in the shop. If it is out there, he gets it for me. Someone that knows their stuff, and isn't afraid to share the knowledge and act like a comic snob (which unfortunately happens). Without Brandon's help, I would not have 1/2 of the titles I now own. Could I have found them online? Sure. But I prefer the comfortable, warm atmosphere of heading to the shop as opposed to sitting in front of my ancient monitor trying to guess by the pictures and reviews if I would like the title or not. I actually get excited when I know I can head to the shop, I always have a nice stack of subscriptions waiting for me, making it like a Christmas morning for a child. The joy of driving home with a stack on new comics beside me warms my heart, and the process of trying to decide what should be read first can be maddening! But I love it, and can not thank Krys, Dave and Brandon enough for helping me re-discover my love for this medium. My hope is that some day, my passion for comics can help steer someone into their local shop, and one more comic fan will be born/reborn.