Comic book stores, using their wits and their devoted customers, are pleasantly surprised to find themselves surviving the apocalypse.
For those of you who might be worrying about how comic book stores are faring during a pandemic and subsequent economic turmoil, the answer is: quite well, thanks to the agile ninja business skills of their owners, managers, and staff, plus the ardor of their devoted customers. Location in a bigger city also seems to help.
Chris Losack, manager of Astro-Zombies, Nob Hill’s comic book store, said in an interview, “The weeks after the quarantine were brutal, but then we opened back up, and the floodgates opened up. We did better than we usually do.” Why did he think that happened? “People are having difficulties… and they need something to elevate themselves out of their shitty lives—for fifteen minutes while they are reading a comic book, they are lifted out of that.”
“I’m pleasantly surprised that it looks like we’re going to survive this.”
They missed their single biggest day of sale in May, but they hope to make up for that by having mini free comic days for the next few Saturdays. “Comic books used to be for nerds, but now if you read them, you’re a regular person.”
In Santa Fe, Big Adventure Comics adapted by scaling back to curb-side and phone-in orders. Kevin Drennan, the owner, says, “I had to let go of my three part-time employees—who I’m happy to say all got jobs elsewhere. With small businesses, you can always scale down. The question is, how to scale back up?” He kept in touch with his regular customers through social media. Magic the Gathering (a card game) fans were especially good customers, he says. He also sold a lot of trade paperbacks and graphic novels that were already on his shelves to people who needed something to read.
“I’m pleasantly surprised that it looks like we’re going to survive this.”
Don’s Paperback Books, an Albuquerque business for fifty years, run by Don Pierce’s daughter Elizabeth Johnson, along with her daughter Grace and Don himself, half-comics store and half-used bookstore, has managed by shifting focus, from dealing with in-person customers, to online, curbside, and phone orders. In addition, they have moved to selling high-end comics and books. A few of these sales on eBay a week, says Ms. Johnson, is enough to keep them afloat. She is frequently asked to curate items that a customer might enjoy, based on their likes and dislikes.
“Financially, we’re lucky enough to be in a different position than many others, because we own all of our three buildings, we’ve been here for fifty years, and we’re doing as well as we were before.” The bookstore is staying closed to indoor browsing to protect ninety-year-old Don from the coronavirus. “Albuquerque is a university town, with people who love pop culture and love to read. The city supports five comic book stores and eleven used bookstores!”
Comic books may not be food, shelter, or clothing, but they clearly fulfill some enduring human need. In recent years, they have become influential source material for modern myths. In some ways, though, they are like any other small business, in which a strong customer base, location, and adaptability are key.
