Every so often our universe is thrown upside down, blown up and rebuilt. I’m talking comic book universes.
In life, we are now experiencing a Crisis of Finite Comic Book Shops, a Comic Industry Disassembling – to borrow inspiration from some of my favorite epics. An invisible enemy is infecting every aspect of our day to day universe. Even the escapism of new comics is on hold.
Lives are at stake as our health and safety must take highest priority. Our ordinary lives are being dramatically impacted by the extraordinary measures to protect against an unimaginable threat. The necessary changes are hitting small business owners especially hard including local comic book stores.
It is like we are in a void. We are in a cliffhanger. Like awaiting next month’s issue, we wonder what will happen? Who will survive the economic shutdown? What will happen to the characters we love and the creators who give us these epic escapes? When will our friendly neighborhood shops open again?
Comic book shops are already an endangered species. Zanadu Comics, my beloved Seattle comic book shop home for 18 years closed a couple of years back. It took time but I found a new source for books at Phoenix Comics and Games. The Zanadu and Phoenix teams always innovated to provide a great place to share our pop culture love and get our weekly fix of issues.
Comic books shops provide a different kind of comfort food for the mind and soul. Having a bad week at work? New Comic Book Wednesday was a source of escape. It’s the spark of seeing your favorite titles in full color. Over the next hours or days you can dive into other worlds to enjoy the latest chapters until the next new comic book day.
I am a subscriber but I still have a checklist to make sure I don’t forget a new book. Even when the friendly staff pulled my weekly picks, I always want to scan the shelves just in case something grabbed my attention like an independent book or creator owned title. And I like going in the store to talk life and comics with the team.
As the crisis escalated and governments issued necessary new rules and guidelines, Phoenix innovated. Subscribers could opt for curbside pick up or mail order. My choice rekindled some memories and reminded me of why I love comics.
In my small hometown there was no such thing as a comic book store. I would occasionally see random comic books in the grocery store, gas station convenience stores or independent pharmacy with the old school soda fountain station. But there was no place you could go to get all the comics new and old your geek budget could afford. I did not even really understand the concept of comics being continuing stories. I just loved seeing the images and the more I read the more I started to understand what was in the world balloons.
My first comic books were Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men and DC’s Secret Society of Super-Heroes. Those were my first single issues bought by Mom after my pleading. The Incredible Hulk and The Avengers were my first subscriptions. The childhood thrill of your heroes delivered to your mail box so you never miss the next chapter of the story.
Flash forward to the present, I opted for the mail to home choice. I was working from home when I received the email notice my package arrived. It was a giddy feeling knowing I was about to catch up on three weeks of comic including several Dawn of X books. I did not know those issues would be my last new comics for an indefinite time .
A decision would close the doors and stop the flow of new comics. The main distributor that delivers new books to local shops chose to stop operations. Without new books, this would hurt shops even more.
As I opened my package I thought these are my last X-Men, Batman, Avengers and Captain America issues for quite a while. I have not even looked at digital only comics. I feel like I want to support my local shop and that delicate ecosystem of comics and commerce. I love turning the pages but is it time for scrolling down or across a screen?
Captain America was among the comics that helped Americans of all ages to be a source of escapism and inspiration. In this new reality of staying home, staying vigilant we wait for return of our favorite things, we need artists and writers to keep creating. Imagine the storylines being thought of right now in this new normal. We will need publishers, distributors and retailers to get those morality tales and epic adventures to us so we can escape, learn and think. I would like to believe some of the best fantasy/sci-fi fiction is being born right now. I hope we have a recovered or innovated system to get those tales to us.
With the threat of infection or economic hardship hanging, we are all watching our finances and thinking about where our money goes. With no new comics coming in for now, it is a great time to discover classic comics in trade collections by way of your shop’s online store.
It is a dark chapter in an already precarious time for the brick and mortar stores. The comics community including readers will find ways to evolve and make a comeback in a new way. In stories heroes fall and we wait for the eventual rise.
Extraordinary times often bring out the extraordinary in people. We will see innovation, compassion, acts of kindness and creativity. Stay vigilant, safe and remember what comics mean to us and be thankful for the shops still fighting the good fight to stay open and provide a safe place to share the stories we love.
By Editor