Comic Book Stores vs. Superhero Shops

Alan David Doane is talking about the difficulties of finding comic book shops with full offerings of books from across the spectrum, what he refers to as a "full-service" stores. This as opposed to "Superhero Shops" or "Marvel/DC Stores" which neglect the full range of genres as well as publishers available.

I am fortunate at the moment to live in Boston, where there are two fantastic comic book shops and several more merely good ones. But for most of my comic-collecting life I was not so lucky. I have to say that the majority of places I have lived in had very few stores that carried few if any small press books and no independents at all. The majority of shops that I've seen will have a single rack of solid Marvel/DC comics, a few Image titles, and if they're especially adventurous, a Dark Horse title. These are the stores primarily staying afloat through the latest craze of MagicPokemonHero cards, where you have to climb over a table of RPG players to get to a sad stack of comics in the back. That's the reality of non-urban comic collecting, and in many cities it doesn't get much better. Maybe those stores manage to turn a profit on comics-related items, but the variety for sale still runs all the way from A to B. DC's Vertigo line, though I appreciate its existence, is not a replacement for the many, many independent comics fighting for shelf space, and losing.

At those times when I was trying to maintain a comics habit with such limited availability I would usually have to throw myself on the mercy of whoever was behind the counter, via the dreaded "Special Order". I'm sure we've all had to resort to this from time to time. I frequented a shop in Illinois that was actually pretty good about ordering comics for me, on a by-request basis of course. Where independent publishers lose out in this situation is that these comics have to be selected sight-unseen by the customer, generally on recommendations from critics or via the internet. So while it was possible for me to keep up with universally praised titles, fairly safe bets, there was no way for me to even lay eyes on the kind of titles that I stumble over every week at Million Year Picnic but wouldn't have chanced ordering sight unseen in podunk USA. And so these titles tend to die on the vine, passed over by customers who will never have a chance to buy them. It's true that the internet has increased the availability of all sorts of products, but never underestimate the power of examining a product in your own hands, particularly a comic book.

So let me lavish some praise on my favorite comic book shops, and maybe if you're ever in Boston you can take a look at what I would consider the ideal for the direct market. First the aforementioned Million Year Picnic, which has the best selection of comics I've seen yet. Foreign editions, vintage collections, small press, minicomix, you name it, they carry it. The other store I frequent in town is Comicopia, which has an great selection of graphic novels featuring titles mainstream, independent, and manga. Another store I have to mention is Star Clipper in St. Louis, Missouri, an oasis of quality in a desert of full-service comic book stores. They've moved their store recently but I trust the selection is excellent as always.

I maintain a link in my sidebar menu to a listing of Indie Friendly Stores for the purpose of finding more full-service shops, but it might be slightly outdated at this point.

What are your favorite full-service comic book stores?