I has a sad.
So today, Ms. Teresa, the lady who runs the comic shop, sent out this announcement:
If any of you are ready to buy this comic shop, it is now up for sale. Make a good Christmas present.
To be honest, I've seen this coming. They don't order as much stuff as they used to, they have fewer trades, less merchandise, and for the big pre-Christmas sale (which this year was all throughout the first week of November rather than the Saturday after Black Friday), Mr. Jerry, her husband, sold all his 700 Star Wars collectibles that have graced the shop for as long as I've known it. The official reason given was that he wanted to spend more time collecting guns, but really, everything this past year has been done with this kind of feeling of finality.
We have another comic shop, and in a lot of ways the selection is better, but it caters more to the gamer crowd, and I never feel quite as comfortable there. Ms.. Theresa, on the other hand, has greeted me by name since the very first time I walked through her door, with my Dad, because I couldn't drive yet, trying to find a Christmas present for my sister. She put a copy of Meridian in my hands, and that was one of the first comics I remember reading voraciously. Every time you go there, she'd throw a freebie into the bag with your purchase, and on her recommendation that's how I got into Fables and Strangers In Paradise. The past few years, we've had Lightsaber Tailgate Parties, where a bunch of patrons dress up, circle their cars, blare music and have lightsaber duels (or swing dance. Or whatever floats their boat), and it's always been epic. When I lived in Savannah, I either braved the porn-store-pretending-to-be-a-video/comic-shop or did without for a few months. When I lived in England, I did my shopping at either Forbidden Planet or Gosh! Comics (or was it Golly?), mostly ignored. When I got to the other LCS, I'm invisible until I stand at the check-out counter for a few minutes. When I go to Ms. Teresa's, it's my comic shop. I'm going to miss that.
All I can do is hope that someone good for the business buys it from her. It's already chancy, trying to have two comic shops in the same town, but I want this one to stay. Maybe to even build on the community I know is already there, take it in a better direction. But either way, I hope it keeps that corner comic store sort of feel.
...and of course, after seven years, it's this week that I finally get a winning ticket for a drawing.
If any of you are ready to buy this comic shop, it is now up for sale. Make a good Christmas present.
To be honest, I've seen this coming. They don't order as much stuff as they used to, they have fewer trades, less merchandise, and for the big pre-Christmas sale (which this year was all throughout the first week of November rather than the Saturday after Black Friday), Mr. Jerry, her husband, sold all his 700 Star Wars collectibles that have graced the shop for as long as I've known it. The official reason given was that he wanted to spend more time collecting guns, but really, everything this past year has been done with this kind of feeling of finality.
We have another comic shop, and in a lot of ways the selection is better, but it caters more to the gamer crowd, and I never feel quite as comfortable there. Ms.. Theresa, on the other hand, has greeted me by name since the very first time I walked through her door, with my Dad, because I couldn't drive yet, trying to find a Christmas present for my sister. She put a copy of Meridian in my hands, and that was one of the first comics I remember reading voraciously. Every time you go there, she'd throw a freebie into the bag with your purchase, and on her recommendation that's how I got into Fables and Strangers In Paradise. The past few years, we've had Lightsaber Tailgate Parties, where a bunch of patrons dress up, circle their cars, blare music and have lightsaber duels (or swing dance. Or whatever floats their boat), and it's always been epic. When I lived in Savannah, I either braved the porn-store-pretending-to-be-a-video/comic-shop or did without for a few months. When I lived in England, I did my shopping at either Forbidden Planet or Gosh! Comics (or was it Golly?), mostly ignored. When I got to the other LCS, I'm invisible until I stand at the check-out counter for a few minutes. When I go to Ms. Teresa's, it's my comic shop. I'm going to miss that.
All I can do is hope that someone good for the business buys it from her. It's already chancy, trying to have two comic shops in the same town, but I want this one to stay. Maybe to even build on the community I know is already there, take it in a better direction. But either way, I hope it keeps that corner comic store sort of feel.
...and of course, after seven years, it's this week that I finally get a winning ticket for a drawing.