Podcast hosted by Anthony Desiato exploring the culture of the comics retail industry. Available on
(12)
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when My Comic Shop History posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to My Comic Shop History:
Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?
When I was five years old, a routine trip to the local galleria with my parents proved seminal when we happened upon the now-defunct comic book store Heroes World. To advertise the headline-making “Death of Superman” storyline, the store staged its window display with a Superman action figure in a small box mimicking a coffin. That moment in front of Heroes World drew me into the world not only of comics, but also of comic shops.
Ten years later and one town over, I was making one of my weekly visits to Alternate Realities in Scarsdale, NY, when the owner asked the question that would ultimately set me on my path: “Hey, kid, how’s your alphabet?” He was offering me a part-time job alphabetizing back issues, but really, he was inviting me into a community. I unpacked shipments, stocked shelves, worked the register, and did so much more over the following years. More importantly, I became part of a second family comprised of staff and customers alike as we bonded over our shared passion in that cluttered, but warm, store. Lively conversations, weekly dinners, and movie outings became part of my routine at a time when I did not have other people in my life who shared my hobby.
The Alternate Realities community was the subject of my first movie, My Comic Shop DocumentARy, which screened at film festivals across the country and garnered press in multiple media outlets, including The New York Times. When the store eventually closed in 2015, I chronicled its final days on my podcast, My Comic Shop History. That series continued beyond its original mission and is currently in its sixth year.
Then, I embarked on a quest to see if what I found at my shop also existed at others. The end result is My Comic Shop Country, which explores comic book stores across America and the different types of places they represent: they are clubhouses, time capsules, gathering places, and destinations. They are—individually and collectively—a community. At a time where face-to-face interactions, let alone meaningful ones, are increasingly rare, comic shops are struggling but enduring by remaining part of people’s routines.
