Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Alter Ego, Jason Pierce Christy Blanch, mark waid, retailer, thrillbent

Mark Waid Buys A Comic Shop

Published Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:56:36 -0500

Last updated Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:56:40 -0500

Comic Writer Mark Waid announced today that he has bought a comic store in Indiana. Announced on his website that he and Christy Branch will be partnering with Jason Pierce to grow Alter Ego Comics.

Here is some of what he wrote:

"I bought a comics store."

"Why? So you can burn it down?"

As some of you know, I've been living in the Muncie, Indiana area for a while now. Good people here. One of the best is my friend Jason Pierce, whose shop Alter Ego Comics has been my store of choice for some time. Alter Ego's been pretty much a one-man operation forever; Jason's been aching to expand, to move the storefront, to grow the store's market and its community outreach…but while it's always been a worthwhile enterprise, Jason could never stretch his time and resources enough to both run the store and evolve it.

Meanwhile, I–having to, on a daily basis, explain to most of the industry that championing digital comics with Thrillbent isn't the same as "hating print"–had been thinking long and hard about what I've been preaching for a while, that print and digital can not only co-exist but feed one another for the overall health of the comics business. It sounds good to say, and I believe it–but with Thrillbent, I had the tools to actually prove only half that equation.

So I've put my money where my mouth is. Effective immediately, you can trust me when I say I want comics retailers to thrive, because now I am one. I said, I AM ONE. (I had to raise my voice there a little to drown out the screams of rage from anti-Thrillbent retailers like Phil Boyle. Hi, Phil!) Along with my partner in life and now in business, Christy Blanch, I'm logging inventory on Tuesdays and running the register on weekends and navigating the ordering process at our brand new location. This isn't a vanity purchase, a symbolic gesture, or a silent partnership; Christy, Jason and I are each equal shareholders in Alter Ego Comics. I have skin in the game, and I'm eager to see what there is to learn about the only side of the industry I've never involved myself with.