Broken Frontier

This week I was feeling lazy and decided to enlist the writing talents of my friend Sapphira to write a guest column. In this male dominated industry it’s interesting to see things from a different perspective. Don’t forget to check out her site at Sapph.com, and be sure to direct any hate mail to her and not to me!

- JP

My dad has been a comic book store manager for years. Last week the final store in the chain he worked for closed. But I grew up helping out and seeing comic book shops and I know what makes a good store. Unfortunately, there aren't many good stores left. Here in Tampa, there are a bunch of comic book stores and I still haven’t found one that is close to my ideal shop. For some reason, the comic book stores in this area follow a pattern that includes filth, poor customer service, and sexism. I can barely walk into them without cringing and wanting to run out the door.  I hear from people all the time, telling me, “Try this store!,” “Try that store!,” “Have you been to such-and-such a store?” and when I get there, with high expectations of course, I'm always disappointed.

First off, a lot of comic book stores cater to men. There is usually porn displayed visibly somewhere. A lot of shops put their 'adult' titles on the top of the shelf but, c'mon, kids can look up and see that 'Cherry' back issue. I do too, and I hate it. Why does everything have to be about boobs? Oh yeah, because supposedly boobs sell. I disagree. What is hurting the traditional comic book shop? Manga. Something girls read in droves and something that a traditional comic book shop for some reason turns their nose up at. Because they are run by men, they don't seem to think those cute books have enough colored boobtastic artwork for them to look at. So I find I get a lot of my Manga books at bookstores and Amazon where I know I can consistently get them.

How can you have a successful store when you cater to only 50 percent of the population? You can't. That is a big reason comic book stores are closing down in my opinion. You want sales? Recommend something that women want to read. Have a section of best-selling female titles. When you see a female customer, ask if they've read Owly, Courtney Crumrin, Mary Jane, Runaways… something! I can honestly say out of every store I've ever been to not one man has recommended me a comic - EVEN WHEN I ASKED!

Secondly, many comic book stores have very poor customer service. I test it at every store I go to. I ask about obscure comics like 'Death Jr.' or 'Elk's Run' or I’ll ask about variant covers. Often they have no idea what I'm talking about. If you don't know the products, don't run a specialty comic book shop!  Most of the owners are trapped in the 1980s and don't even read the books anymore. Sure, occasionally I get a guy who knows what I'm talking about, but he's usually on the phone or arguing with his pal about how he disliked Jessica Alba's boobs in the Fantastic Four movie. How dare I ask a question?  Then I’m left to find things on my own, something that is hard to do when your store looks like a bomb just hit it.

Finally, my biggest pet-peeve in comic shops, besides poor organization, is the smell. For some reason the vast majority of comic books stores stink. Either BO, salami Italian subs, or mildew greets my nose as I walk through the door.  It's gross. Every time I get a whiff of some Comic Book Guy wannabe, I ask my husband, "Why can’t I just buy my comics at Barnes and Noble?"

I have stopped supporting comic book shops. I feel like they couldn’t care less about me as a female customer. I could write a comic strip about some of the outrageous and horrible experiences I've had. I've never experienced issues like these in any other retail store.  So where do I get my weekly fix? I go to comic conventions with a list and occasionally buy online. I haven't given up on the comic book industry, just on many of its retail stores.