Over at ICv2, Steve Bates riffs on the stereotypical comics store:
I call it the “3-D Model:” Dark, Dirty, and Disorganized.
He gets some pretty funny digs in but also makes a serious point: To attract the next generation of comic book fans, these stores need to cater not just to the kids but to their parents, who still control the benjamins.
What happens when Mom walks in with Janie and Junior and catches a whiff of Jocko behind the counter, who gave up bathing to protest the heinous treatment of Hydro-Man? What will Dad do when he and Little Timmy trip across Heavy Metal mixed with Batman Strikes? Assuming, of course, they even set foot in a shop barely lit by one flickering-humming fluorescent bulb, carpeted with Yu-Gi-Oh! wrappers and HeroClix boxes, which looks like it was organized and decorated by Hurricane Andrew.
Well, I’m the Mom in this scenario, and I used to shop in a store like that, back in the 80s when I lived in Brooklyn. The look of the place never bothered me as much as the attitude of the people who worked there, who seemed to regard customers as intruders. Even today, I don’t mind dirt as much as dirty looks.
Bates is concerned about losing a generation of comic-book readers, but what’s really at risk is a generation of independent retailers. We buy lots of manga, but we buy it online or in a chain bookstore.
Borders and Waldenbooks have great manga sections and the books are easy to find. The ultimate testament to their success: I have had several conversations there with hard-core comics fans, the sort of guys who would be right at home at Subterranean Comix. Our local Barnes & Noble carries a lot of titles, but they are so disorganized that it’s hard to find a specific title. Also, the bookshelf is about 7 feet tall, not so good for vertically challenged people like myself and my kids. Besides the clean carpets and good coffee, all three stores offer helpful, knowledgeable employees.
Last week, I discovered overstock.com. The prices are a bit lower than standard retail, but their interface needs work: With multi-volume titles, they don’t include the volume number as part of the title. Sometimes there is a cover image, sometimes there isn’t. Thus it is that I accidentally bought Ultra Maniac volume 2, and then had to go back and buy volume 1 as well. I also bought Gals! volume 2. I ordered all this on July 1, and I’m curious to see how quickly it gets here. (Ultra Maniac 2 doesn’t ship till September.)