I remember the first time I went to a real comic book store. That was years ago and I say a real comic book store, I mean a real comic book store. Not like the ones over here where I grew up. Nope. The ones I went to here were shops opened by news paper vendors who decided to add a few magazines, a few books and for some laughs a few comics every once in a while. To say that some of these stores didn't really try is an understatement. You had newspapers up front, stationery, magazines and calendars and all that other stuff. If you're lucky after you passed the section containing the self help book, the romance novels and what not, you'll find a small section of comics. The conditions of the comics was always a gamble. Sometimes you'd find comics in great condition but not every time, often times they handled the comics like crap. So growing up, I didn't know what a real comic book store looked like.
Until Singapore. I found out where they were and I went to the closest one, I saw the sign and I went in, there it was my mother ship calling out to me. Wall to wall comics, pristine condition, perfectly displayed with backing board and bag. Not placed in a dark corner out of sight, out of mind but displayed proudly for all to see and most importantly to me, no price tags on the covers. I hate price tags on any comic book. That has always been and I think will continue to be my pet peeve those awful sticky price tags.
It didn't take me long to browse thru the store, I went from display to display, looking at first, touching and taking after I was sure that's what I wanted. I carried as many as I could. That's when the store owner called out to me: "You can put those here on the counter and then look some more, you know?" Yeah I was in my own little world. Comics that I had only seen in ads were right before my eyes. The latest issues were on display and I could have them all. Just as long as I had the cash. I wasn't a kid in a candy store at that time. Nope food, sweets or any other food item were not on my mind at that time, it was comics. I was a Kid In A Comic Book Store and I'll never forget that feeling. It was exhilarating and exciting all wrapped in one. I loved it and recently I had a chance to have that Kid In A Comic Book Store feeling again. I didn't ever think I would but I did.
I went a vacation recently. It had been a while since I took a real vacation, get away from work and clients and so on. My last posting was on Friday, November 13th, three days later I was on a plane to Melbourne, Australia. I had never been to Melbourne before so I figured why not? I heard so much about the city. Marvelous Melbourne. The city with the 4 seasons in one day, the weather in Melbourne was something else, the food. Oh the food was wonderful, so many varieties to choose from and all within the city. Oh the food......ummm, okay excuse me, had a food flashback there. Oh and you have to try a drink called Lemon Lime Bitters. It is just so tasty, I love it. I'm not supposed to have these drinks but I figured hey I'm on vacation, so why not??
So apart from all the tourist things I did, I knew I wanted to check out the comic book stores in Melbourne. I googled it and found more than just a few stores. With that in hand, I decided to try and find the stores and I found my first store a few days later. As a matter of fact, I was being such a tourist in Melbourne that I missed the store twice, I walked past the sign, luckily I found it.
Welcome to your Pop Culture Specialists in Melbourne. The store is called Minotaur. Cool huh? I then realized how I missed seeing this place twice, the store in located in the basement of the building. Now when I say basement, I'm not talking about some small place, no. I am talking a huge basement of a building. Let me say this again, the place is huge. When I went down the staircase, I saw sections and sections of displays. They are Pop Culture Specialists and they have just about everything and when I say everything I mean everything, comics, manga, more toys, comics, DVD's, action figures, T Shirts and just a whole lot more. They even had one section dedicated to The Big Bang Theory TV show with Sheldon Cooper T Shirts and memorabilia. Now the reason why I didn't take any shots of the store or a whole lot of picture of Minotaur was because my camera was low on batteries and I only took two shots here. Yeah, yeah I know I'm an idiot for not having a spare battery.
This was the guy I met at the check out counter after I spent a lotta time in the store. I just went back and forth looking at all the comics they had, the latest comics, the trade paper backs, they were all there. I made my choice and walked up to the check out counter. Suddenly I had that feeling I had as a kid visiting my first ever comic book store again. It was great. Okay here's what I bought.
Invincible Iron Man # 1, I know I reviewed this issue about a month ago (I think) and I already read the digital copy but it looked so beautiful on the shelf and when i went to pick it up, I realized the cover is a wrap around cover and it was printed on a heavy card stock cover (or something like that) and it was just so beautiful, I grabbed it and just made up my mind to buy it. Then I saw this issue:
It was the first issue of Justice League Of America by Bryan Hitch. Now I know I said that I have given up on DC Comics, well most of DC Comics but I still read Batman....and then there's.....err....Yeah I read Batman. Justice League Of America (JLA) is the other I started following. Why? Bryan Hitch. I grabbed this one and then I saw these.
And just when I thought I had all the comics I wanted, I saw this.
Amazing Spider Man # 1 with the Alex Ross cover. Wow. I grabbed this one as well and decided that's it, I had to leave or I might end up buying more than I could afford. I still needed money for well food and stuff. I took my haul to the counter and struck up a conversation. I told the guy behind the counter that it was a great feeling for me to see the store cause back home, all the stores closed down and well, there was just nowhere else to go for comics. He said: "That's sad, we started in the 1980's and just kept growing ever since." and then he said since I came such a long way, he gave me a little discount. I walked out of that store feeling really happy. It was a long walk back to my hotel but I didn't mind, I had what I wanted, I found Minotaur and I was feeling like a kid again.
You guys in Melbourne are really lucky you have so many different comic book stores in your city. so if you're ever in Melbourne, Australia, visit Minotaur, your Pop Culture Specialists. So is that the end of my little adventure in Melbourne, not quite.
Two days later I found myself without a lot to do, I figured I would just wander around in the city and see the sights. Well Lo and behold I found another Comic Book Store.
This store was a little easier to find as it was located on the first floor of a mall. I raced up the stairs, eager to check this place out. I found out later that this store Comics R Us is a city branch as in it's located right smack in the heart of Melbourne.
When I opened the door to Comics R us, this was what I saw. It's a lot smaller than Minotaur but it had so many many comics, trade paper backs, T Shirts and toys and just so much more.
Look at all the stuff they had on display. I was so very tempted to get so many things but I controlled myself and bought just a few items. Like this one, Invincible Iron Man # 2 Variant Cover. Ain't it pretty?
Oh and they offered me this issue, a variant edition of Secret Wars # 1 by Esad Ribic. Wow, needless to say I grabbed it. I was really happy with my purchase at Comics R Us. The guys behind the counter were really friendly and helpful. They even asked if I had been to any other store, if I didn't I should check them out.
Look!! Discount Trade Paperbacks, just look at all the stuff they had. In all the excitement getting the comics, taking the random shots of the store, I completely forgot to take a shot of the guys behind the counter or even have a shot with them. I'm a dunce, I know. Again if ever you're in Melbourne, pay these guys a visit as well. They're right in the city and you can google their location, easy to find. Better yet, here's their website
www.comicsrus.com.au
Vacations can be a gamble, sometimes it's a great getaway and sometimes not so much but this one was great, Melbourne is a great place to visit and I'm especially happy with this trip as I got to be that Kid again who walked into a comic book store and went nuts. I'm a little older now, well a lot older and I can still feel like a kid again, that's something I will cherish.
I was for a few minutes a Kid In A Comic Book Store again recently, it was great. Hope you'll have an experience like that as well. Thanks for dropping by for the 61st Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, I appreciate you taking the time to read this broadcast of mine and I hope to see you again soon, until next time, take care.
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