Comments on: Can we stop pretending all comic book stores are now awesome?

By: BradyDale

BradyDale — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:18:14 +0000

yeah, didn’t seem off the mark to me at all. Especially since Claire WAS NOT in a big Metro area at the time, she was out in the Burbs somewhere. Seemed totally appropriate. The only part that stretched believability for me was that she would come back after the creepy comment about the dudes looking at her.

Still, I loved that they worked in the reference to new-comics-wednesdays.

By: Web Juice! #5 | A COMIC BOOK BLOG

Web Juice! #5 | A COMIC BOOK BLOG — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:18:26 +0000

[...] Commentary On Comic Book Shops & Girls [...]

By: comicsgirl

comicsgirl — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:44:56 +0000

I’ve definitely made it a point to visit great comic book stores in my travels (my travels being what they are, of course) and pointing them out. While there are many different types of comic book stores out there, I think the comfortable, welcoming ones remain the exception and not the rule, though. I think it’s slowly changing, but every time I think that, I tend to get proven wrong.

By: Tami

Tami — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:56:45 +0000

My experience, as limited as it is, is that comic book stores are as varied as any other store. It comes down to customer service. As a 47-year-old woman I am acutely aware of the fact I don’t quite mesh in your average comic book store. I see few women at my hometown store (Double Midnight Comics in Manchester NH) , but they have always treated me just like any other comic book fan and has made me comfortable enough that I make a trip there every week with my 16-year-old son who is also a comic book enthusiast. I make a point of going to Double Midnight Comics every week and give them business because they treat both of us well and they deserve my business. Other stores, not so much. Stores that treat women or non-”experts” as anything less than a valued customer will only make e-bay that much more attractive and will eventually put themselves out of business. That would be sad, because, honestly, there’s nothing as satisfying as going to the comic book store.

By: comicsgirl

comicsgirl — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:52:46 +0000

That’s interesting to me — that comic book stores can be uncomfortable for just about anyone. I think there’s a fine balance between catering to fans and non-fans. If they swing too far in either direction, they will lose someone.

By: talkinboutcomics

talkinboutcomics — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:51:59 +0000

I agree with you.
I go to Painted Visions in Woodbridge. It isn’t a fancy store, but the owner is a great guy, and the staff greets you when you walk in, and is pretty attentive as well as trying to be mindful of younger shoppers, etc. (They will let parents know that they may want to look at watchmen first before letting their young child buy it, They have quieted down customers and asked them to watch their language when kids are in the store, etc. They don’t stock everything, but they will bend over backwards to get anything you ask for.

That being said… I am a big, huge guy with a beard, and I have felt invisible and unwelcome in plenty of comic stores. Sometimes it’s introverts at the register, and sometimes it’s the Comic Guy from the Simpsons.

I loved Forbidden Planet, but I saw no female employees there in the two trips I made (doesn’t mean there aren’t any.) I did see a good number of women in the store both times, though. Of the employees in the store, half were really trying, and half were rock-stars who were a bit too cool for customers in my opinion. I still love the place and will go back, and I wasn’t ignored at all, just slightly alienated, maybe.

I think that if there is outrage, it may be from the sort of … comic fan ‘ivory tower’ (which I would say I am in… or at least the suburban equivalent) I’m not taking a real position on the Heores thing, just agreeing with you.