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BY JUSTIN EUGENE EVANS

Anyone who has seen The Simpsons thinks they understand comic book stores. Their mental picture is of a dying strip mall with a lonely store. Its' dirty windows are filled with sun- bleached posters. Inside, an angrY clerk lectures kids to stop reading and just buy something already. Dust and sorrow hang thick in the air.


While these shops exist, they are not the stores we shop in. Step inside Detroit's Vault of Midnight or Berkeley's Fantastic Comics and you’ll see the very best comic shops in the world. You’ll also see why comic shops will never die.


The comic shop survived the comic apocalypse of the 1990’s. As American shopping malls were gutted by private equity and corrupt debt, American comic stores grew in number. While the American big box bookstore died, comic shops thrived. And now comic stores are global. From Poland to Cape Town to Quebec City, there are more Comic Book stores in 2023 than there were in 2003.


Globally, comic books are a 16 billion dollar industry. And the overwhelming majority are not bought online. They are bought in comic shops.


The reason is simple; the best comic stores in the world provide a sense of community for comic book readers. The best stores are far more than a place to sell comics. They have reading areas and game rooms where patrons can hang out. Sports fans have the local bar...comic fans have the local comic shop.


And comic publishers owe their success to comic stores around the globe. We know because we’ve been to stores in seven countries...and the best of these stores in every country are owned by people who are deeply passionate about story, art and culture.


Most importantly, comic book stores are the only part of pop culture not controlled by corporations. Hollywood, the music industry, video games, sports and fashion are owned by monopolies. Not comics! There are 3,000 comic stores across the United States. 10,000 or more around the globe. And while some are big, none are continent-spanning corporate monoliths. Comic stores are our last, best hope to control our storytelling future. Comics is where anyone with skill and talent can become part of popular culture.


Mainstream society doesn't get it yet. They need to. The comic book store is saving global culture from a corporate oligopoly too stupid to understand how to tell stories well. Comic book stores are not nerdy. They aren't weird. They aren't niche. They're the salvation of culture itself.


This is why we want a relationship with our stores. We want to meet our readers. And that’s why we tour comic shops. Touring connects artists with stores and their customers.

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