I had a laugh at one of the comic store owners in my home town. Guy is an idiot. He is not the one i go to.

Anyway it all starts about 2 1/2 years or so ago. Right before Reissue Jazz came out. I had a G1 junker Jazz (heavy chrome damage) with box. I sold it to that Comic Book store. The owner paid $45 for it.

Well a guy i knew from Allspark came down from either Terra Haute or Vincinnes to see about it. The owner was selling it for $90. He asked the guy if he'd lower the price. He says "No! The guy who sold it to me ripped me off! I'm never buying anything from him again" Etc. Well the guy told me what the owner said. I then went and started shopping for all my comics at the competition.

Well as i mentioned i Read Living With Zombies. It is written by local guys and a lot of the readers shop at the cometitors store. Well i signed up on their message board. I had the signature "{owner's name} and {store's name} can burn in hell - ever customer who shops at Comics Unlimited (aka the competition)" Well he whined to the guys who write the comic and run the site to remove me and the signature. They said no.

My comic book guy told me about the wanting my signature removed. Well i just changed it. I now have it saying:

"A certain comic book store owner in a town in southern Indiana cannot take any negative criticism....

PS: Matt Hawes and Comics Unlimited rule!"

Just did it to further put a bug up the guys butt.

 

Also the thing is most all of Comics Unlimited's customers are former shoppers of the other store who got pissed at the owner or were talked about behind the back and found out about it. So the first signature is semi true.

 

I had similar crap happen to me a a comic store where I went to college. After awhile I just had my comic store back were I lived hold my books and i'd pick them up monthly. The other comic store didn't bag their comics, wouldn't let you read them and it was like hell to get an issue removed from your list. I finally got kicked out after 4 months of trying to remove Spawn from my list. This was 7 years ago and it was still kind of popular. Guy threatened to have have me thrown out of the store for saying "Your out of excuses now take the title off my (insert cuss word) list." Threatend to call the cops. I just said fine I'll just go to my store in Atlanta where they give me 20% off everything in the store, (I spend alot of money on comics) Not your measly 10% off new issues. So I'm still going to Titans to this day. And I hope that asshole in Savannah went out of buisness. But he probably didn't seeing as there are few stores in Savannah.

 

they had no idea who i was at the other store. Matt knows me and my interests. He suggest new stuff i might like, the old store never did..

 

Which asshole in Savannah? I go to SCAD and get my comics at Home Run Video and News and I just want to know if it's the same place.

 

Man, what's the deal with Comic Quest? It seems like everyone I know is a former customer.

 

Those aren't bad stories. Mine's a bad story.

When I was younger, I read comics quite a bit. But I never religiously became a fan until the entire "Death of Superman" storyline happened, and during that, I got into it and started going to, at the time, the only comic shop in my town. Over the next 3 or 4 years I got pretty friendly with the owners, as it was a mom and pop shop and they were really nice people. I even brought the guy my own story that I was writing for him to read and he always had time to critique it with me. Great guy. Eventually, through my later years in high school, I couldn't afford to continue collecting, so I stopped suddenly and pretty cold turkey.

After school ended, I started writing on a local youth newspaper. They had heard that this comic shop had been sold to new owners and was moving. I volunteered to go and do an interview regarding this as I now had more money with me and wouldn't have minded getting back into it, and I wanted to see what had happened to my old friends, the previous owners.

So I arrange for a sit down with the new owner. He then tells me this story regarding the previous owners as how they couldn't handle the stress and were unhealthy and couldn't take care of a business anymore. I felt pretty bad about it, but as I figured the guy had no reason to lie to me, I ran the story in the paper.

Turns out that the guy was a bald-faced liar and they were just getting out for financial reasons. We had to print a retraction and public apology because the previous owners decided that they felt that the story was libelous and were threatening to sue if we didn't. And the worst part was that they knew exactly who I was and spoke, surprisingly, fondly about me in their letter to the paper.

But... I had the last laugh... the guy ran the store into the ground, ended up selling it again to new owners, who then moved it and ended up closing shop for good within 3 months.

I now buy my comics at the other shop in town. The guy there seems more interested in anime than comics, but he's pretty good about adjusting box lists quickly and getting in special orders. It's also good because I'd rather go in, get my stuff and get out. I'm not the type to sit and talk it up with the comic book guy anymore.

 

Guess I'm lucky.

In San Jose, there's this place called Hijinx Comics. I've talked to the owner often, and he's a damn nice guy. He doesn't sell toys...pretty much just comics, and some statues, but that place has A+ customer service and very decent prices on most of the stuff. Intelligent conversationalists, plus a welcoming atmosphere, too!

I've been a customer there for the past 2 or 3 years, and although it's a real small shop, I'd go no where else.   Just too bad not everyone else can have the same experience.

 

He owns that place I think and he owned one further out past walmart

 

Ill do one better than all of those.

there used to be a comic shop in Athens, Run by an Actual.. Died in the wool Pedophile. He ran the shop in complete disregard for his parole stipulations to stay 50 yards from children at all time. I used to shop there allot, Until one day he asked my 12 year old sister if he could take Pictures of her. we told my mom and she got freaked out.. So she called the cops. Turns out he had a sign in his window that said " No children under 18" But the bastard covered it up with a poster while the shop was open.

He was loosely connected to some people who used to Run Dragoncon. and needless to say. the guy who Started dragoncon used to invite little boys to his hotel room. That bastards in jail right now. Good enough for him.

 

Well Jim is an idiot. He knows nothing about what he sells. He sees dollar signs in his eyes with everything he buys and when it doesn't sell he blames who he bought it from. He pisses just about everyone off.

I got to Comics Unlimited. Matt knows his customers. He knows what they like nad makes suggestions for them that they might not know about. He gives real personalized service.

 

In Sweden we don't have Comic Book Guys. Comics come from any store that sells them. The specialised comic book stores are only centered around the big cities and they are very far apart.

 

Wow; the worl od comic book shops must be full of missmanagement or something. And that one story about the pedophile... God it sickens me.

I used to shop fairly religiously at this place that was a little out of my way, but it offered decent enough stuff and unlike the other comic shop I used to go to he still sold loose TFs. (In fact that's how I got the Arachnid and Orcanoch sets for my BW collection.)

But I should have realized something was up; because occasionally I'd notice that I wasn't getting every title in a run, my Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker Spider-Man are still missing issues from certain story arcs.
He was pretty good though with TFs and GIJoe, until Issue 8 or maybe it was 7. For some reason he just never got it in; claimed that some of his order were shipped clear across the country by some stupid shipping guy or something.
But I should have known something was up; every time I would go in there the customer selection would be minimal to poor. I guess he just wasn't bringing in the buisness he used to due to his location or something, either way all I know is the guy's still in buisness, but I got out early 2005. He had a dispute with Diamond or something and just wasn't getting any comics in so I had to go elsewhere, so I figured since I couldn't get what I wanted from him I should just cut my losses and pick a new store.

So far the new place seems to be loads busier; every time I've been in there I've seen at least a good six or seven other customers so I'm hoping this place knows how to stay afloat.
If not... Well there's very slim pickings in this city; the local Chapters and Wal-Marts stock some comics, but not all and they sure as hell don't get the elite stuff like GIJoe or Transformers, just Marvel, DC or Dark Horse and a few Image titles.

 

Actually I could ctually be Dimond's fault i haven't been to a comic book shop who hasn't had some major problem with them.

 

My guy has no problem with Diamond. UPS on the other hand.. They keep trying to deliver HIS stuff to the other comic store when Matt (my guy) has a hold put on them.

 

Heh, I'm spoiled Things From Another World is probably the best place I've ever gotten comics.

 

That sounds like something out of that movie "Comic Book Villains".

 

why not take him in a back room with no witnesses and hit him hard..