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 in the mid-70s.
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.
I think St Mark’s Comics is still there.
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.
You’re right! Number 11 St. Mark’s Place. Thanks for making me look, best news I’ve had in days.
Not surprising. One of the neatest places I’ve ever been, but I doubt I’ll ever go again. Can’t be very popular.