I’ve been getting my comic books via mail order for the past four years, ever since I moved from Chicago out to Phoenix. I had a friend that worked for one, and since I’d been a good customer for three years previous, he offered to continue providing them and shipping them my way.
I’m a pretty loyal guy that way. Besides, Comic Shop Shawn was a friend, and to boot, knew the books I liked. He even took it upon himself to inform me via phone call when books were beginning to suck (new writer/artist, bad story arc, etc.) so I would know to cancel and/or add something new.
All in all, Comic Shop Shawn was the best thing to ever happen to me. Comics showed up at my doorstep quarterly, credit card billed, and I needn’t do much other than await my shipments.
When Shawn took another job recently, I decided to go searching for a local shop. I’d been missing the weekly trek into a shop, and I knew I’d been missing out on a lot of books I didn’t know about.
I stopped into Atomic Comics in Chandler, AZ. Located at a mall, this shop is (no lie) the finest comic shop I’ve ever seen. Unbelievable selection, lots of merch and little-seen stuff, well set-up, well-lit, the whole nine.
And staffed by the biggest collection of misfits, idiots, and Sam Goody-rejects. It’s like Empire Records in there, only less accommodating. :mad:
Listen, assholes, you work in a comic shop. Know something about your trade. I’m not asking you to recite all the founding members of L.E.G.I.O.N., all I want to know is when the goddamned Empire trade paperback is coming back into stock. You people act like you’re working in Hot Topic. Some of us want concrete answers, and if you can’t get them, what ever happened to “I don’t know, let me ask the manager or someone that gives two shits”? Huh?!
And I swear, if I hear “if it’s not on the shelf, it’s out of stock” again as a stock answer, I’m going to beat someone over the head with a fucking Daredevil cold-cast statue. :mad: I get that it’s not on the shelf, you fucking tool-smoke. I’m not so stupid that I can’t look at the same shelves you’re looking at.
So no, I will not be buying from you, Atomic. I don’t think I’m asking the world that your representatives know something about the products you shill. I also don’t think I’m asking the world to want some recommendations of products from your salespeople, who haven’t read a comic that didn’t involve Jughead eating a plate of hamburgers in front of Mr. Weatherby.
This is what kills me – true comic fans are nothing but loyal. We want to spend untold amounts of money in your store. I spend at least $1000 a year on comics. But now I’ll be tossing the money to G-Mart, an online retailer, because you can’t hire people that I trust to pull the right comics every week.
So stick a copy of “Identity Crisis” in your browneye, you fucking self-important, too-cool-for-school jackholes. You just lost a damn decent customer. :mad:
When I lived in Chapel Hill, I had to drive an hour to downtown Raleigh to go to Capitol Comics, this hole-in-the-wall place that had two levels of stained yellow carpet and lovingly-organized boxes, and shopkeepers that didn’t stink of arrogance. The owner knew about everything he had in the store, and loved his trade.