The 5 WORST Types of Comic Shops (and 1 Good One)
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- Опубліковано 19 січ 2025
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I love the idea of the classic American comic shop. A third place away from work, away from your nagging wife, and away from the outside world. Despite all of the negative things I’m going to say about comic shops in this video, don’t mistake this for me not liking the idea of the comic shop.
But aa result of poor writing and declining sales, the few comic shops that haven’t closed their doors are in a sorry state, each one morphing into one of the five types of stores described in this video.
Strap in, because we’re visiting some truly awful comic shops.
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ref. 3:15 to 3:30. I agree. this old culture and joy tradition of local comic shops - that demise leads people I know to be lonely, depressed and isolated. Its a major hangout that is gone.
My wife (a non comic reader) told me once of a shop that essentially berated her of not knowing which book a certain panel was from when looking for a gift for me.
She eventually was told it was "Welcome Home, Frank" by another more helpful shop owner elsewhere.
I told her that shops like that first one give the rest of them bad names and it's a shame they do. Not sure if it's still in business or not.
16:13 Dude I've been to that shop, you're right it does feel like it's caving in but my god they have some hidden treasure.
You forgot the "THIS, you wanna buy this?!"
Shop owner.
He's the owner that berates you, for your personal taste in comics.
Unless it's Marvel or DC, you're killing the industry.
Buy Japanese, European or UK, you're killing the industry.
Buy Bongo or Archie, you're killing the industry.
Buy INDIE, you're killing the industry!
You just can't win with these type. 😢
Yeah, recommendations are fine, but some shop owners really take it personally when you pass on them
I remember the staff in an Electronics Boutique (otherwise an awesome shop, RIP) in the UK all sniggering at me for buying a Star Wars game for the Game Boy. I was only 11!
I decided to subscribe because of the great and necessary things, you said.
Thank you!
I've always wanted to be in a comic shop. This is practically a godsend video. Thx dude.
I haven't bought a new comic ,let alone series, ive liked in 7 years. Yeah comic shops dont carry decent comics anymore.
I find myself looking at 80s and 90s comics for something to read now. I never thought it would be this way as a kid.
Card games players and conventions, within a small shop. they care nothing for comics. Its the bad kind of crowd of D&D players. [some are good. ]
Excellent comparison between the classic american diner and the old local comic shop.
I've been collecting comics for over 30 years and have been to every type of store you described. It's depressing to see what has happened to them over the last decade or so, especially after COVID. Also, Sophie Campbell destroyed TMNT.
My mom used to get me a Iron Man comic at the age 12, I miss that comic now to the point of being obsessed with comic books
My local shops have been guilty of at least 3 out of 5 of these, lol.
i remember my comic shop used to be the biggest one in my town in canada it was called comic connection
but few years i found out they moved and changed there name
they moved inside a smaller place but they still did had a big fine section of comics but it just wasn't big as before
because there old location was very big
Here in Brazil there was only a magazine stand, currently there is only a bookstore.
?
The collector store perfectly described my old comic shop. It was called the comic box. It opened In 1989 during the debut of the Batman movie. It stayed open25 to 30 years. The comics were overpriced and most of the long boxes were not available because they were being cataloged into a computer. During it's last decade of business it just became a place for people to play card games. I miss having a local comic shop but it didn't do me any good because all the comics were decades old and overpriced.
truthwagon
Here in Brazil a DC comic costs between 30 and 100 reais. Thanks tax
I had a local shop that charged extra for variant covers off the rack. Like one of the relaunch TMNT variants was $15
As wise man once said, "You're never too old for SpongeBob..."
I've seen video game stores act similar to most of the list. The only good ones are the hybrids where the library is HUGE or the penny pincher stores that actually has a good selection of what I want PLUS offers discounts if you sign up for their email memberships. Sadly, for comics... I've only visited ONE literal comic shop. That comic shop was in the corner inside of a nearly-abandoned mall, right next to a massive department store (I think it was a Boscov's or Macy's). The collection was huge, but some of those prices were kind of exploitative. I bought only two classic Carl Barks' Donald Duck comics because they were the cheapest the shop had to offer. Everything else from Cerberus to Invincible to even the GODDAMN NINJA TURTLES were trying to shell out close to 40 bucks or higher. EACH. FOR EVERY ISSUE. EVEN THE BAD ONES.
Yeah, video game shops are just as bad
seeing high prices for something like Cerebus is insane
@@aksunglasses24I love Cerebus but really only the first couple dozen issues are the only ones that should be sort of pricey.
@chantillycat5415 100% agree. I'm fine with owning the bi-weekly reprints of the first 20 issues since the first printings are too rich for my blood
100% almost all of them are gay stuff everywhere. I don’t get it.
I agree with your overall take. Even when I finally discover some clean, inviting new stores in my area, I hate the activist content of new comics, it’s made me shy of trying anything new for having insane social and political takes shoved in my face. The nice new stores don’t have enough of the specific back issues that I’m interested in. Shipping costs suck online, but I get the exact issues I want coming in weekly.
Where I live in Virginia, there are about 3 good comic shops. 2 in Front Roya, VA and one in Stephens city.
Here in Puerto Rico the only way to get individual issues is to go the comic shops in the Metro area, a place you can only get to by car since we don't use trains much here. The drivers in that area suck and would kill themselves just to get ahead of you without using their backlights. The only other place you can find western comics (in collections, not issues)is Walmart, but they bring like 2 or 3 while they bring like 20 different manga volumes. The comics most of the time are trash like a random Blue Beetle comic or the Flash movie comic tie in. Rarely you get to see stuff like Watchmen, BRZRKR and Last Ronin.
Man, that sounds miserable
And the Staff are rude sometimes
@ComicFan98 Yeah, it does occasionally happen. Most of the time the most rude ones tend to be the older men, younger men tend to be nicer and more enthusiastic.
@@PyroDragonis mostly because I cancelled my orders in Metro Cómics
@ComicFan98 What a coincidence, that's the place I visited recently. It also sucks that you have pay for parking if you take too long in the mall.
I have been to many awesome comic book shops and some lousy one's growing up. There used to be a comic book store near my parents old house where I used to live and I was a regular customer there, I would go in at least every odd week to get my comics and play some Friday night Magic (good times). I ended up befriending one of the clerks there named Mike, he trusted me so much that he asked me to keep an eye on the store for a sec so that he could run out to his car to get some of his stuff. Mike and I would always shoot the shit about random comic book related stuff. I remember one time he asked me (while I was looking in a box for certain token MTG cards) "If you were to reboot a character like Condiment King, how would you make him more of a threat?" I told him I would make it that his "condiments" were different kinds of chemical compounds smoke screen, mustard gas, tear gas, pepper spray, etc. (He thought that was a awesome idea).
8:25 true question about this, would having an in store ATM, and ONLY accepting cash be an acceptable solution to that?
We had 2 comics shops where I live (1 had 2 branches). 1 closed down due to bad location and service. The other moved their easily accessible branch to a shitty area
New one opened close to me last Christmas and was gone in 6 months die to being overpriced and having bad service
I mainly buy trades online now
The muttjaks are killing me
True story;
I have been to maybe four comic book shops in my entire life. The first two were where I overspent on a nice, thick, stack of various comics [various Ninja Turtles books and collections, 'Flashpoint', 'Gates of Gotham', 'Crisis of Infinite Darkwings', an issue of 'The Shadow', etc. That was over a decade ago]
And the third, I spent significantly less and purchased a whole lot less [the most interesting item from that haul was a prototype copy of 'Joey and Johnny the Ninjas' book 2] That was back in 2018.
Finally; a couple years ago, after I finally got my driver's license, I finally drove myself to the nearest comic book shop -where I'd always planned to go; but when I got there, I realized -to my disappointment, that most of the comics available were the kind that I could already read online for free, and that I was not at all interested in. In the end, I ended up purchasing 'The Best of Baxter Stockman', and that was it, as it was the only comic in the whole shop that even remotely appealed to my interests, primarily because it featured stories from over a decade ago.
I haven't been back, since, and I've since spent more time purchasing the Image Comics' run of 'Micronauts' on Ebay [a far more rewarding experience, given scans of that run simply do not exist on the internet]
Love this video man. I’m very thankful I have a good comic book store, though I wish I could have experienced the golden era. For me personally Card stores masquerading as comic shop and stores that merch first with a pitiful rack in the back always bother me. I enjoy the indie comic scene at the moment and I’ve read a lot of great indie TMNT comics which I enjoy way more than anything IDW coming out with. I’m a strong believer in supporting small business and that’s why I’m a very big advocate for indie comic over anything the mainstream is coming out with right now, though Shudder and the Conan the Barbarian comics are utterly excellent comics. I hope for the return of comics in someway, as I know in Peter Laird’s comments on one of the TMNT short stories he mentions how the guys would go to the comic store and it seemed so awesome. Definitely would love to see more videos like this and loved the Tony Hawk Pro Skater as always dude.
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. And you're lucky to have a good shop!
"Away from your nagging wife".
thank god I don't live in a big city. Move to our area. its way quieter and comic shops and fun imagination is rampant here. Good area for hobbies.
2:52 yeah, i miss the top 3 too
Yeah I’ve always had a sort of love/hate relationship with comic shops. I’ve found a few good ones and I’ve always wanted to find the great one but yeah it’s hard. The one I go to now has a lot of the same issues. It’s in a part of the city that isn’t great and when we went there one time there was some guy who seemed like he must have been on something and was sort of freaking out.
I buy Savage Sword of Conan at the shop, instead of online.
I think it's odd that you included St. Mark's Comics on the 'bad type of comic shop' list. It's true that St. Mark's place is not especially great for parking, but that thoroughfare is renowned for its eclectic array of shops and consumer experiences. It's actually considered to be one of the more 'hip' and 'trendy' parts of the city. I recall going to that store as far back as the mid-80s, and they only recently pulled up their stakes and relocated to another boro.
I love card games.
@Leonardovideogoes Wish they weren't also dying, at least Bandai's new games are staying afloat and Yu-Gi-Oh! is starting to pull its head out of its shell.
@autobotstarscream765 The real problem with Yugioh is this, it is at 500% a highly powerful setting.
Sadly MTG, DND, Robotech, Warhammer all infested by DEI activists. I loved them too once
@autobotstarscream765 Digimon Card Game is the best current Digimon product, bringing the old and unique elements of Japan and expanding the lore.
I love One Piece and how interesting the card game is.
@Leonardovideogoes I hope Union Arena and the upcoming Gundam TCG find success as well.
Damm, listening to all of this I'm glad that one and only comic book store in my town is just smal place to buy comics.
I go to a card and comic shop that has a decent selection of both. I have been to shops like the hybrids you mentioned though.
I just hope comic shops return to their old roots
None of my comic shops are in the hood, all of mine are in the suburbs or right off college campuses.
This means they are mostly LGBTQIA infested places but they usually have what I want and the staff is great (though they can be a bit cringe).
One of my comic shops hosted a podcast where they promised to Black list costumers who tried to order "Ya Boy Zack's" comics. They refused to stock Kamen America, too. I stopped making it my regular shop in 2017 or so.
Now i have to go further away where they are still LGBT infested but the staff secretly are more reasonably-minded and not as into virtue signaling...probably because the shop is in a muslim majority part of the region lol
Man, the long standing actually good comic shop by me (nostalgia and comics) now no longer sells either nostalgia or comics. Just funko pops, lounge fly bags and gundam models. Goodbye clerks that knew you, goodbye recommendations of obscure or new titles. Hello arsey coloured haired girls who rolls their eyes like its a chore to put their phone down and ring me up.
It's like seeing a friend die
Yeah I don’t like the kind that is described in #5, I go there to look at and possibly buy comics not look at a bunch of people playing Magic the Gathering and only a small selection of actual comics are available.
Tatoruzu I am going to my local comic con and Kevin Eastman is coming and I don’t know what I should bring for him to sign! I was thinking a neca last ronin figure or the novel itself. But what I was hoping for was something a little more of an original idea. Could u help me with one ?
I'm pretty simple. I'd just have him sign my favorite issue
The best part? Now the cards are in the toilet, too. Dozens of card games? It's 5 if you're lucky now. And Magic's even making the same mistakes as the comics and getting the same results. So now those hybrid shops are right back to dying along with the pure comic shops or trying to jump ship again, this time to the retro video game market...which is already dying because the pandemic lockdown is long gone.
So many great card games die before they even really get a chance to take off
I wish I had a comic shop like in Big Bang Theory or something. I'm in uk so the closest comic shop to me is tiny. Krypton comics I think it's called but me and my Dad always called it crippled comics lol
I hate all this woke nonsense, even my taste in comics is more on the gritty side like Batman, Spawn, Hack/Slash, Judge Dredd etc
Love that great dad pun
My local comic shop 🏪 is basically a mix of the Hybrid and the Cat Litter Box. I would call it the Hobby Store 🏬. It sales old and new comics 💭, as well as making orders for you. It also has a good bit of board games, Warhammer, and D&D. It's been around as far back as the late 80s. 😊
Sounds perfect!
what did comictropes do?
He's an incredibly naive person. He cheers on every bad thing about modern comics books. He has also passive aggressively attacked me and mischaracterized my positions (see my Chris Burnham video). And he just generally spreads misinformation, like saying April O'Neil was "originally black" (she wasn't - she was a white girl who got later got a perm in issue #4).
In summation, ComicTropes represents everything wrong with the mainstream comic book influencer: naivety, ignorance, and toxic positivity.
@@Tatoruzu When did he say that? I can't remember or find anything that he said about the April O'Neil topic. (I'm not suggesting here that what you say is not true. I'm just curious).
On March 6 2023, he tweeted: "Apparently the TMNT trailer has triggered some racists who aren't aware that April was originally black."
@@Tatoruzu Okay, that's really stupid... and one of the reasons why I stay away from twitter. It's a shame he never corrected that. I'm just going to assume good faith and accuse him of naivety and unawareness. Even though he should know better. Thank you for your reply.
I Love the video😍
Thank you!
@Tatoruzu ;3
I love my collection.
Based Turtle.
Yeah, but games and other forms of entertainment are better than ever due diversity...nothing is better! The only diversity that matters is the diversity of thought.
Maybe your comic book shops are terrible buy the ones I have visited are very nice and treat me with respect so if you think all comic shops suck you need to look again and look deeper (and maybe try posting positive shot for once!
I know there are some good ones! I talked about a good one as the last item in this video :)
I used to watch Comic Tropes when I was just starting to get into comics, but after a while I unsubscribed from him for exactly this reason. He know things, but man he's such a soyboy.
In Russia we have only 2 types:
1. hybrids, which more like hobby stores, with main theme about boardgames, miniatures and sometimes action figures.
2. book stores, where comics are allocated the smallest shelf remaining from what manga could not occupy.
So most comics I personally order are directly from the publisher/author (it's the cheapest way), or by crowdfunding.
Thank you for interesting topic.
There's a lot of gay people who hate these exploititive nonsense.
Yeah, everyone is getting tired of it
I've purchased LGBT themed comics. Mostly because things like the Superman kiss are propaganda. I use them as educational pieces to show how normalization works.
Can I ask why Jon Kent being bi is propaganda?
@@richadoruisuthegod3674 Think about Jordan Li (The Boys) . Suppose Jordan rejecting their bisexuality became a story arch. In this arch, Jordan became straight (opting to just be a cis-woman). Jordan talks about how their powers may take different forms, but Jordan only has one true form (as a cis-woman). Jordan then begins counseling other bisexual heroes into choosing one and living as it for the rest of their lives.
What would you say about this story line? What would you say if every publication going forward pushed Jordan Li as a cis-woman?
The Superman one is definitely the most egregious one
@@xenoranger79 well first I don't see the correlation since Jon's sexuality was never defined until recently and I don't remember a Jon Kent story where he told straight heroes to stop being straight but yes I am would have a problem with a story promoting a hero telling others to not be themselves as a positive thing
@@richadoruisuthegod3674 What you're not seeing is the monkier 'Superman' being used. Superman is one of the oldest properties in DC Comics. When people think Superman, we think Clark Kent/Kal El. Giving the nom de guerre to an LGBT talking point is no different than what I provided. You're taking an established property and turning it into a tool of propaganda. It doesn't need to be overt such as full comics dedicated to therapy sessions, it just needs to be a series of panels which feel forced in execution promoting a side of the argument.
You said something interesting. You used the words "be themselves". What does that mean to you? Can you give clarity on what it means to BE YOURSELF?
Lol, first world problems
Welcome to most of UA-cam. You don't really have time to make videos when you're spending every waking moment scratching for food and shelter.
@autobotstarscream765 sad story
It's part of the culture
Yes, it is a first world problem. But I guess the point is that my country is starting to have limited options and starting to resemble the third world more and more except with a rainbow hue on top.
@@Tatoruzu ah yes, the gay agenda lol