# Comic Book Stores **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936 "2018-04-23T03:49:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936/21 "2018-06-25T19:29:13Z")
I never laid eyes on an actual, dedicated comic book store until I was in my mid-20s or so and no longer into comics enough to get too excited about it. I did, however, buy a lot of back issues mail-order from [Richard Alf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Alf) in the mid-70s. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936/22 "2018-06-25T20:03:15Z")
My old comic book stores are all gone. The original ones were newsstands, with the oldest one closing for good only a few months ago. They will be missed. The first place I bought comics that specialized in particular issues was the book stand at Englishtown Auction Sales in Englishtown, NJ. They shrewdly noticed that a lot of us kids were trolling their racks for old, classic, and valuable comics, so they started buying and hoarding them themselves. On the plus side, you could request a particular back issue, in good shape, from them and get it. It was priocier than the old way, but more reliable. I used them to fill the gaps in my collection. I didn’t encounter my first “comic book store” devoted to comics until I was in grad school. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936/23 "2018-06-25T21:30:43Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > After graduation, in New York, my main providers were St. Mark’s Comics in lower Manhattan, and Montague Street Comics in Brooklyn Heights. Both long gone; comics shops can’t hack the rents. I think St Mark’s Comics is still there. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936/24 "2018-06-26T21:27:46Z")
> [@Textual\_Assault](#): > > Geppi’s was in downtown Silver Spring, right? That was the first comic store I ever went to, right around the time Crisis On Infinite Earth’s started, bought a bunch of stuff including the Flash, simply because he was on trial. > > Then I found Collectors World in Gaithersburg, I’d take the Ride-On there, the employees treated customers pretty disdainfully. > > But then I found [http://bigplanetcomics.com](http://bigplanetcomics.com) at the time they only had the Bethesda store, eventually I got a box there. Joel, the owner was always super nice. The first Geppi’s I went to was way out on the western edge of Baltimore. In another post someone mentioned that it was one of the earliest comic book chain stores, so there were probably others. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936/25 "2018-06-26T22:04:03Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > The first Geppi’s I went to was way out on the western edge of Baltimore. In another post someone mentioned that it was one of the earliest comic book chain stores, so there were probably others. I just saw a Baltimore Sun article dated 5\30 announcing that Geppi’s museum collection is moving to the Library of Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936/26 "2018-06-27T17:50:40Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > I think St Mark’s Comics is still there. You’re right! Number 11 St. Mark’s Place. Thanks for making me look, best news I’ve had in days. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936/27 "2018-06-27T17:54:09Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > I just saw a Baltimore Sun article dated 5\30 announcing that Geppi’s museum collection is moving to the Library of Congress. Not surprising. One of the neatest places I’ve ever been, but I doubt I’ll ever go again. Can’t be very popular. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-stores/812936.md?page=1)