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Printheads: Where I Purchase Said Picture Books

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      CommentAuthorthom_wong
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007 edited
     (171.1)
    Just a thread to heap abundant praise on the stores that welcome you in, take chances, and stand up for your right to read about robots killing zombies attacking amazons and whatnot.

    In Vancouver I buy all my comics from RxComics on Main Street. I just happened to walk into this little store when I was starting to get into comics again (interestingly enough, I was looking for the trade of Planetary). The guys who run this store are exactly the way WE says comic store employees should be in Come In Alone. Suffice it to say I know next to nothing about comics, but they take the time to talk to me about what's new, try and hunt down what I want no matter how obscure, and generally treat me like their best customer.

    When I simply can't wait to get back to the mainland I shop at Curious Comics. Big store, nice people.
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      CommentAuthorYann Best
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.2)
    The Comix Shoppe in Swansea (Wales) has always got my vote, as the owner's a sound guy, gives good advice and is friendly (and, as a female friend commented, treats her like a normal person - rather than the strange, alien creature some comic shop owners seem to see).

    Unfortunately, there's a new shop assistant who has... not impressed me so much. More interested in reading his own comics than serving, he gives off a weird vibe, and I've taken to avoiding requesting my orders from him if possible (he clearly doesn't approve of my purchasing Castle Waiting, and I'd rather avoid the embarassment).

    Um, this wasn't meant to be a negative post. The shop's still a good place to shop (not that there's much choice in Swansea, but I'd much rather shop here than in the Cardiff Forbidden Planet) - a little small, it houses a good selection of comics and the owner's always willing to dig for more obscure TP's/singles. Hopefully the new shop assistant will improve with age (or, y'know, change into somebody else...).
    • CommentAuthorElohim
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.3)
    Abstract Sprocket in Norwich absolutely has my vote.
    http://www.abstractsprocket.com/
    Of course, it is the only dedicated comics shop.
    But I only really buy trades and second-hand singles, so I see Waterstone's etc. and the Movie Shop as legit competition.
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      CommentAuthorunderdog
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.4)
    I've been going to Sub-City on Exchequer Street in Dublin (the Irish one) for my comics since I was 12 years old. The same 2 guys have been working there - the owner and his friend - since day one, so any time I go there it's as much to hang out with them as it is to buy comics. They treat everyone as normal people, and are always helpful to mammies coming in to buy things for their kids. They're honest too - many's the time they've told me not to buy a comic becuase it was rubbish.

    So they have my loyalty, unto death...well, unto pain, at least. Or discomfort.
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      CommentAuthorJohn Smith
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.5)
    A brief plug for a store I'm geographically unable to frequent any longer, but if you live or work in Manhattan and are ever on or near the Upper East Side then do check out Gotham City Comics. If not for them I would not have much more than a vaguely passing interest in comics, and almost exclusively in Batman and Superman. They turned me on to Preacher, the Authority and so much more. Any time I'm able to head up to the city (once a year) I make a point of buying my week's stuff with them. Small shops need love and I can't rave enough about them. If you yourself know the shop, tell Johnny and Bernie that John "Travis Bickle" Smith said hello.

    Here's their review from CitySearch which sums up exactly what I would say about them:

    i have been buying comics since i was 8, going to comic specialty shops since i was fifteen and gotham is the only place where the staff asked my name and remembered from week to week. i went there initially because it was convenient and continued because of their subscription service and because i like i shop where the customers want to hang-out and discuss the randomness of their interests. despite the size, the selection is pretty good, and things can be ordered. the only real downside is the lack of comfortable seating for hanging out.

    Pros: subscription service, helpful/goofy staff, beer sold nearby

    Cons: the size
  6.  (171.6)
    While I have lived in Denver now for 7 years, I still get my comics from Night Flight in Salt Lake City via mail order. Mimi and Alan run a hell of a shop and have carte blanche to send me anything they think I might like. They are rarely/never wrong. Their new shop was even featured in an Archie comic, and won the Will Eisner "Spirit of Retail" award in 2005. If you need a reliable mail order comic service, I highly recommend them. They ship nationwide. Tell them I sent you.
    www.night-flight.com
    bonus... Mimi sends me homemade fudge in my Christmas shipment.
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      CommentAuthorScribe
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.7)
    I just moved out of Salt Lake City. I love Mimi. The new location at the library is a great store. My new local shop is Midtown Comics.
  8.  (171.8)
    Page 45

    Best comic shop I have ever been in.
  9.  (171.9)
    Orbital Comics in London Town. Lovely people, big selection of back issues, and they're branching out with new shops selling manga and assorted collectibles. There's a shop much closer to em that's more convenient to get too, but I still go to Orbital because the staff are so friendly.

    I've seen that Rich Johnston in there too.
    • CommentAuthorDragone
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.10)
    The place I put up with here in Winnipeg, is Galaxy Comics. They find and order whatever the hell I want. Also occasionally they just order stuff for me thinking that I'd like it. They know my name. The thing I like about this shop is they don't bug me. I can come in order or buy whatever the hell I want. Talk a bit maybe, but I know what I want and I get it.
  11.  (171.11)
    In Bristol it used to be Kathie's Comics, but they shut last year. Now I get my fix from Travelling Man. I've finally trained them out of calling me 'sir' when I go in!
    NB, this means I walk 300 yards past the Forbidden Planet that's about five minutes away from me. Though I do occasionally get a book from Forboding Prices, I've always got my monthly funnies from smaller independents where I can, or small chains like TM if not.

    It was nice, for example, that TM put by a signed copy of 'Phonogram' for me, since the book was made by a local team. And they scored me a Black Dossier, bless 'em.
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      CommentAuthorBen
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.12)
    RxComics rules. He was the first guy I heard of who gave american prices on graphic novels waaaay before the american dollar plummeted like a pigeon filled with concrete. He's also a wicked MTG player.

    Lucky's up main around 23rd is also a great place. Next to no selection as far as *the hell do you call those things? just comics? The little floppy things.* go, but oodles of indie graphic novels and local art. Plus the owner's an infectiously nice guy.
  13.  (171.13)
    I bought comics from The Comic Company (RIP) in Atlanta for many years. They closed in 2006 and since then I order online from DCBS. Oddly, the Comic Book Company closed for a very old fashioned reason, the owner wanted to retire and his MBA Son - not a comic book reader - did not feel like keep the business open.

    I occasionally buy from Oxford Comics, but mostly to fill in things I missed, the store always feels a bit off putting to me and I do not feel like buying all my books that way.

    I do miss having a regular store though.
    • CommentAuthorAlexa_D
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.14)
    Well, back home in Massachussetts I go to That's Entertainment in Worcester, which despite being everything Warren railed against in Come In Alone, is really great once you learn your way around it. (If only I could convince them to use the space more efficiently, and you know, stop using the storefront for storage.) When I'm at college in Boston, my favorite shop is Comicopia. It's pretty much perfect in every way, and the manager is named Shannon Outlaw (f'real).

    I'm spending this year in London, and since my pull list is being filled back home, I'm not really buying many comics while I'm over here (except 2000AD, which I usually just pick up at the WH Smith at the Tube station I take to get to campus). But I occasionally drop by some of the shops round Tottenham Court Road, namely Orbital and Gosh Comics, both of which are pretty great. Forbidden Planet I use more as a museum of Doctor Who merch, although I did once buy a hardcover From Hell because it was 5 quid off and I was meeting Alan Moore the next week.
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      CommentAuthorBrand
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.15)
    I work at and get all my comics at Steve's Comic Relief, in Levittown, PA. Everything is kind of done kind of willy nilly (Though we do have a good selection of comics and trades), it's cramped, and our bathroom smells funky. That being said I love working there. It is my favorite retail job that I've had. We have a lot of regulars whom I enjoy seeing every week and over all it's pretty laid back there.
  16.  (171.16)
    ash ave comics in tempe,az- diy anarchist run, weirdo patronized. these guys are the best.
    • CommentAuthorStefanJ
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     (171.17)
    Dark Horse has a retail chain, "Things from Another World," where I buy them funny books I likes.

    Specifically, I get my single issue stuff there; I buy collections from Amazon or Fantagraphics or Powell's.
  18.  (171.18)
    I live in Queensland, Australia. In some ways we're a slightly backwards state, the only one of these ways that actually affects me is that for some reason our comic shop owners still think that the Aussie dollar is worth about half a US Dollar, so they double the US prices on all the stock in their store.

    The Aussie dollar has actually been at around 87-92 US cents for a long while now, so generally it's cheaper for me to order a few books off Amazon and get them shipped out here.

    But when I want to order single issues (that's right, I'm getting to the point here) I order from a store in Sydney, King's Comics. They've got a great range, their prices are reasonable, and the staff is friendly and helpful (that's from my experience with the person that runs the online side of the store, I've got no idea what the in-store staff are like because I live about 1000kms away...).

    So yeah, until any of the comics stores in South East Queensland up their game I'm more than happy to shop at Kings.
  19.  (171.19)
    I enjoy going to Rocketship when I can. It's small and they don't have anything in the way of back issues beyond a month or two, but it's very clean and organized and they have some great events every once in a while. If there were a comic shop I had to work at, this would be the one.

    I really hate the one in St. Marks and the people at Forbidden Planet turn me off. The other NYC/Brooklyn shops aren't quite as convenient to get to, so that's how I roll.
  20.  (171.20)
    ....i live in the nerd capital of the us - sf bay area so - isatope in san francisco - comic relief in berkeley - dr mind in oakland - blackcat in milpitas or comic conspiracy in sunnyvale

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