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Post by brianf on Dec 4, 2020 1:57:17 GMT -5
A few years later my mom moved to Anchorage Alaska and I followed. Anchorage didn't have a comic book store when I moved there, so the only place to buy old comics was at this really weird business called Magic In Advertising - this creep Chuck ran it. My mom thankfully wouldn't come into the store - the dude would some time be playing pornos and he was really creepy. His actual job was making cheap late night TV commercials for local businesses. One year he ran for mayor of Anchorage - maybe 1985? - and I remember me & my comic books friends jokingly voted for him in the primaries, but he only got like 20 votes total. I couldn't find anything online about him. Weird times. I do remember an actual legit comic store opening on Spenard Blvd sometime in the mid 80's
Just for fun I did find a compilation of some Alaska commercials from the 80s, plus heres a video by one of my favorite local punk bands of the era, The Psychedelic Skeletons
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Pat T
Full Member
Posts: 102
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Post by Pat T on Dec 5, 2020 20:19:05 GMT -5
If there was a comic shop anywhere near me as a kid, I didn't know about it. But I was only about 10 years old, and it was the 1970's, so my knowledge of the world outside of my little world was very limited. The comics I bought new came mainly from drugstores or the grocery store. Whenever I accompanied Mom to the grocery store, I would sit at the magazine rack and read comics while she shopped. That's where I saw Wolverine for the first time in Hulk 180, and got so excited that I had to find Mom to show her this cool new character. She was not as impressed as me. Nobody ever said anything to me about reading there, but I did usually buy all the ones I read when Mom checked out. There was also a drugstore located in the middle of Mom's favorite mall that had a comic rack, and I got drug there a few times every year when I needed clothes. The worst thing about that mall to me was that it only contained clothing stores, where it always felt like we were there for hours. God, I hate Parisian to this day because of those awful memories of sitting there waiting forever. But discovering comics at the drugstore was my salvation. That way, after Mom had picked out my clothes and I had tried them on, she would release me to read comics at he drugstore. I had to buy them there first, but they didn't care if I made myself comfortable reading in that general area until Mom came to get me. That's where I discovered Giant Size X-Men #1. Those 2 places stand out to me because of all the time I spent reading there, but comics were at just about every drugstore and grocery store, and if I saw a rack, I always checked out what was there. Sometimes I would get lucky and find an issue a few months old that I had missed. It was several years later that I discovered there were dealers at the monthly flea market that had back issues for sale. But it was only 1 weekend a month. And of course, there were the old small ads in the comics, well before Mile High started their "comprehensive" catalog in the middle of every comic. You had to send these dealers a quarter or something for a catalog, which arrived in about a week. Everything in their catalogs had prices, and you had a choice of Mint, Fine, and Good condition. For every book you wanted, you also had to list up to 3 alternates in case they didn't have it. After totaling and adding shipping, you mailed the order form and a check back to them, and waited. 6-8 weeks later, the package would arrive. In my few transactions with a few of those dealers, at least half of the books I got were the alternates. But that's just how it was then.
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Post by tartanphantom on Dec 5, 2020 23:00:57 GMT -5
If there was a comic shop anywhere near me as a kid, I didn't know about it. But I was only about 10 years old, and it was the 1970's, so my knowledge of the world outside of my little world was very limited. The comics I bought new came mainly from drugstores or the grocery store. Whenever I accompanied Mom to the grocery store, I would sit at the magazine rack and read comics while she shopped. That's where I saw Wolverine for the first time in Hulk 180, and got so excited that I had to find Mom to show her this cool new character. She was not as impressed as me. Nobody ever said anything to me about reading there, but I did usually buy all the ones I read when Mom checked out. There was also a drugstore located in the middle of Mom's favorite mall that had a comic rack, and I got drug there a few times every year when I needed clothes. The worst thing about that mall to me was that it only contained clothing stores, where it always felt like we were there for hours. God, I hate Parisian to this day because of those awful memories of sitting there waiting forever. But discovering comics at the drugstore was my salvation. That way, after Mom had picked out my clothes and I had tried them on, she would release me to read comics at he drugstore. I had to buy them there first, but they didn't care if I made myself comfortable reading in that general area until Mom came to get me. That's where I discovered Giant Size X-Men #1. Those 2 places stand out to me because of all the time I spent reading there, but comics were at just about every drugstore and grocery store, and if I saw a rack, I always checked out what was there. Sometimes I would get lucky and find an issue a few months old that I had missed. It was several years later that I discovered there were dealers at the monthly flea market that had back issues for sale. But it was only 1 weekend a month. And of course, there were the old small ads in the comics, well before Mile High started their "comprehensive" catalog in the middle of every comic. You had to send these dealers a quarter or something for a catalog, which arrived in about a week. Everything in their catalogs had prices, and you had a choice of Mint, Fine, and Good condition. For every book you wanted, you also had to list up to 3 alternates in case they didn't have it. After totaling and adding shipping, you mailed the order form and a check back to them, and waited. 6-8 weeks later, the package would arrive. In my few transactions with a few of those dealers, at least half of the books I got were the alternates. But that's just how it was then. Hold the phone and back up a minute, brother...
You said Parisian. You also said you were 10 in the 1970's... and you mention a mall with a drugstore in the middle.
You didn't happen to grow up in the Birmingham area? Would the mall happen to be Eastwood Mall? Western Hills Mall didn't get a Parisian store until the early 1980's. Those were the only two malls in the area that I know of that had both a drugstore and a Parisian, And neither Brookwood Village or Century Plaza had a drugstore that I can recall. There was also Vestavia Shopping Center and Five Points West Shopping Center, but those weren't technically malls, even though they both had a Parisian and a drug store of some sort.
The reason I ask is that I grew up in the Birmingham area in the 1960's and 70's. I wasn't aware of any comic shops in the area at the time either... in fact, I don't remember anybody selling comics as a hobby medium until Homewood Hobby Shop started doing it around 1980.
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Pat T
Full Member
Posts: 102
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Post by Pat T on Dec 5, 2020 23:08:57 GMT -5
If there was a comic shop anywhere near me as a kid, I didn't know about it. But I was only about 10 years old, and it was the 1970's, so my knowledge of the world outside of my little world was very limited. The comics I bought new came mainly from drugstores or the grocery store. Whenever I accompanied Mom to the grocery store, I would sit at the magazine rack and read comics while she shopped. That's where I saw Wolverine for the first time in Hulk 180, and got so excited that I had to find Mom to show her this cool new character. She was not as impressed as me. Nobody ever said anything to me about reading there, but I did usually buy all the ones I read when Mom checked out. There was also a drugstore located in the middle of Mom's favorite mall that had a comic rack, and I got drug there a few times every year when I needed clothes. The worst thing about that mall to me was that it only contained clothing stores, where it always felt like we were there for hours. God, I hate Parisian to this day because of those awful memories of sitting there waiting forever. But discovering comics at the drugstore was my salvation. That way, after Mom had picked out my clothes and I had tried them on, she would release me to read comics at he drugstore. I had to buy them there first, but they didn't care if I made myself comfortable reading in that general area until Mom came to get me. That's where I discovered Giant Size X-Men #1. Those 2 places stand out to me because of all the time I spent reading there, but comics were at just about every drugstore and grocery store, and if I saw a rack, I always checked out what was there. Sometimes I would get lucky and find an issue a few months old that I had missed. It was several years later that I discovered there were dealers at the monthly flea market that had back issues for sale. But it was only 1 weekend a month. And of course, there were the old small ads in the comics, well before Mile High started their "comprehensive" catalog in the middle of every comic. You had to send these dealers a quarter or something for a catalog, which arrived in about a week. Everything in their catalogs had prices, and you had a choice of Mint, Fine, and Good condition. For every book you wanted, you also had to list up to 3 alternates in case they didn't have it. After totaling and adding shipping, you mailed the order form and a check back to them, and waited. 6-8 weeks later, the package would arrive. In my few transactions with a few of those dealers, at least half of the books I got were the alternates. But that's just how it was then. Hold the phone and back up a minute, brother...
You said Parisian. You also said you were 10 in the 1970's... and you mention a mall with a drugstore in the middle.
You didn't happen to grow up in the Birmingham area? Would the mall happen to be Eastwood Mall or Western Hills Mall? Those were the only two malls in the area that I know of that had both a drugstore and a Parisian. There was also Vestavia Shopping center and Five Points West Shopping center, but those weren't technically malls.
The reason I ask is that I grew up in the Birmingham area in the 1960's and 70's. I wasn't aware of any comic shops in the area at the time either... in fact, I don't remember anybody selling comics as a hobby medium until Homewood Hobby Shop started doing it around 1980.
It was the Vestavia Hills Mall. It was more of a strip mall, though. Brookwood Village was built in the 70's, and that was probably the first big mall "over the mountain". I don't think there was a drugstore in the whole thing, either.
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Post by tartanphantom on Dec 5, 2020 23:19:25 GMT -5
Hold the phone and back up a minute, brother...
You said Parisian. You also said you were 10 in the 1970's... and you mention a mall with a drugstore in the middle.
You didn't happen to grow up in the Birmingham area? Would the mall happen to be Eastwood Mall or Western Hills Mall? Those were the only two malls in the area that I know of that had both a drugstore and a Parisian. There was also Vestavia Shopping center and Five Points West Shopping center, but those weren't technically malls.
The reason I ask is that I grew up in the Birmingham area in the 1960's and 70's. I wasn't aware of any comic shops in the area at the time either... in fact, I don't remember anybody selling comics as a hobby medium until Homewood Hobby Shop started doing it around 1980.
It was the Vestavia Hills Mall. It was more of a strip mall, though. Brookwood Village was built in the 70's, and that was probably the first big mall "over the mountain". I don't think there was a drugstore in the whole thing, either. I lived in Hoover from 1972 to 1976 (age 9 when I moved there). I also bought comics from that particular drugstore, and yes, I hated trying on clothes at Parisians (and Sears). I spent many an hour in the record department at the Sears in Vestavia Hills Mall.
found this pic of the old Vestavia Hills Shopping Center/Mall. The Mall portion is on the left with Sears and Parisian and a few other stores, and the original shopping strip is on the right.
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Post by brutalis on Dec 6, 2020 11:46:25 GMT -5
Yeah. Thinking back to those early days of the 70's before the LCS arrival my comic book store was whatever Circle-K, 7-11, U- Totem, K-Mart or grocery store that carried comics on a spinner rack or magazine shelf. I would dig through brown grocery bags in used musty and dusty bookstores and through thrift stores that piled comics up anywhere there was open space. It was a thrill to come out of any new store with at least one new treasure. Even happier walking out with an arm full or having a new "regular" stop on my hunting days.
I really miss the golden days of knowing I would and could go into a store in ANY city to find comic books. Today so many cities go without comic books unless purchasing them online. The true death of comics is their inability for spontaneous purchase on a whim😓
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Post by MDG on Dec 7, 2020 9:47:42 GMT -5
It's hard to find pictures--let alone period photos--of the first places I bought comics, but here's one location: there used to be a stationery/magazine/candy/toy store in town. Everyone just referred to it as "four corners." It was the corner entrance of the (now) gray bldg, largely hidden by the utility box. In the 80s, the right half of the yellow bldg on the right became a small comic shop that specialized in back issues, supplies, and grievance. The owner had a poster on the wall listing "The Dragon's Den Parade of Atrocities" or something like that, referring to another local store, mostly listing undisclosed "trims" of comics and baseball cards. The first comic store I frequented regularly was Dream Days in Syracuse, where my roommate and I would go after classes on Fridays, starting in '77. Can't find a picture of the store, but here's the owner, reading a copy of a book I bought there.
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Post by tonebone on Jan 13, 2021 9:02:27 GMT -5
I grew up in a small town in rural North Carolina, and never saw an actual "comic book shop" until I was in college. It was a dingy, underlit hole in the wall that you had to access through an alleyway, in the worst part of town. I only went there a couple of times, and rarely bought anything. This was about 1987. Before college, I bought my comics, like many have responded, at whatever corner store or drug store that carried them. I had a whole route of regular stops... Whitley's grocery carried all the good DC comics (this was in the small town I lived in... pop. 207... as far as I know, I was the only one buying them). The Fast Fare "in town" carried all Marvel. Kerr Drugs carried Mad and Cracked, and the assorted special or treasury. There was a used book store, packed with paperbacks, that had a "back issue" pile. Good times. I agree the death of comics began with the elimination of the impulse buy.
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Post by mrbrklyn on Jan 16, 2021 10:33:26 GMT -5
I felt like I grew up at ground zero of the Comics business as a child and it was one of the small blessing that we had, grewing up on the roving streets of Brooklyn in the 1970's. I hustled newspapers, the Canarsie Courier, in the early morning, as rush hour pushed through on weekday morning, rain or snow. With my pittance, I went across the street, at Rockaway Parkway, and found my first comics on a spinning comicbook rack, and loaded up in 1975 my first issues. It was not long after that when I find my first comicbook shop, down past the firehouse on Rockaway Parkway that we informally called Jerry's. He had a pin up board displaying prize catches like Avengers #1 and Showcase #4. Even first rate golden age books were available at the time at affordable prices. The major recollection, more than anything else, was olfactory senses. The smell of old news print drew in comic fans like the order of fresh baked donuts and coffee does for commuters. You just couldn't resist it and within a short period of time, one ends up with there feet up on the wall in a corner, knee deep in comics that you are reading. That was the great thing about Jerry. He not only let me purchase, but it is was a reading room and a library as well. He was a very generous man and an asset to the entire comic book reading community in those day. And there is nothing like it today. I wrote an Ode to Jerry a couple of years ago when I wrote about American Flagg! . One can read it here www.mrbrklyn.com/american_flagg.html
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