Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

My Comic Shop History

Published Sat, 18 Apr 2015 15:00:22 -0500

By Anthony Desiato (@DesiWestside)

Not everyone can identify specific moments in their lives as turning points, but I can think of two, both comic shop-related.

In the winter of 1992, I was 5 years old and visiting the Galleria Mall (White Plains, New York) with my parents when we walked past Heroes World. The store had staged its window display with a Superman action figure in a tiny coffin (alas, I never found out what kind of box it actually was) to advertise "The Death of Superman." My young eyes took in the scene before me, and in that one moment, comic books grabbed my attention and never let go.

From then on, Heroes World was my go-to place. I recently heard it described as "small," but to my childhood self it may as well have been as cavernous as the Fortress of Solitude.

Heroes World wasn't the only store I patronized. Like any good collector, I checked out most of the other shops in Westchester: Dragon's Den; One If By Cards, Two If By Comics; Comix-Plus; and Comic Book Heaven—all places that no longer exist.

And then, one day, my mother and I arrived to find an empty store in the space Heroes World had occupied just two weeks prior. There hadn't been any indication that the store was closing during my last visit. Surely it just moved to another spot in the mall, I thought, but that hope was quickly dashed after some brief detective work at the adjacent shoe store.

The discovery that Heroes World had closed so abruptly was incredibly jarring, especially as a child, and I suspect other fans have had similar experiences. Fortunately, when one store closes . . .

In addition to "The Death of Superman" and my entry into the hobby, 1992 also marked the opening of Alternate Realities in Scarsdale, a mere two towns over from Heroes Word. Not long after Heroes World abandoned me, I was a regular at AR. My association with the store would go on to become one of the most meaningful and defining experiences of my life, and it all started with a simple question.

"Hey, kid. How's your alphabet?" There's turning point #2.

I was in high school at the time and picking up my weekly stack at AR when the owner asked—in his way—if I wanted a summer job organizing back issues. To everyone who's ever thought that it'd be a lot of fun to work in a comic book shop, let me tell you: it is. It really is.

Being surrounded by comics, scoring a discount, and getting my hands on the newest issues before anyone else were certainly perks, but most of all it was the never-ending conversation that kept it from feeling like work. None of my friends at school read comics, and online forums were in their infancy, so this was the first opportunity I really had to explain why the Spider-Man Clone Saga got a bum rap.

Of course, the initial thrill did eventually wear off, and the old Clerks adage that "this job would be great if it weren't for the customers" proved true often enough. (My favorite was when a customer would ask for a title, I'd explain that the wall was organized alphabetically, and the customer would just stare back blankly.) Still, it was the best part-time job I could have ever asked for.

I've spent more time at "The Store" than I could ever measure. It was the first place I drove to after I passed my road test and my first stop whenever I got done with school exams. I was at AR when I read my law school acceptance letter and when I found out I passed the New York Bar Exam. I practically lived at the store after Hurricane Sandy rendered my neighborhood powerless for two weeks. To call it a second home is an understatement.

In time, I would take on a new role at the store: chronicler. I found an endless source of inspiration in owner Steve Oto's complicated relationship with the store (he'd often be engaged in friendly conversation with one customer and then berate another for calling on a Wednesday or not picking up their books) and in his "Otoisms" (a series of sayings he spouts, often referring to himself in the third person, that capture his oddball wisdom).

Beyond Steve, the store has attracted a colorful community of customers and employees. One such customer, Jeff, regaled us with tall tales for years. An employee at T.G.I. Friday's, Jeff claimed to moonlight as a member of an elite SWAT team, to have two separate girlfriends with the same name and same tattoos (who didn't know about each other, mind you), and to win the lottery so often that he had to be the luckiest person alive.

A couple of years back, I channeled this inspiration into My Comic Shop DocumentARy.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/103065319[/vimeo]

A feature-length doc about the store and the people there. My follow-up short, By Spoon! The Jay Meisel Story,

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/99381486[/vimeo]

Documented a curmudgeonly flea market vendor who was forced to box up his comic booth when the market folded. Both documentaries are now available to rent on Vimeo On Demand.

And then, on February 1^st of this year, came Steve's announcement that Alternate Realities would close in June, mere days after its 23^rd anniversary. To see some of Steve's friends bring the scathing closing announcement to life…

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/122948779.[/vimeo]

I may have had more notice this time, but the loss of another LCS still stings. To work through it, I'm launching a podcast, My Comic Shop History, which will examine the store's rise and fall and discuss comic shop culture generally. It will be the culmination of the odyssey that began when I stared excitedly into that Heroes World storefront so many years ago.

The first episode is available here (http://flatsquirrelproductions.podomatic.com/), and the pod will be on iTunes shortly. Tune in, and feel free to share your comic shop history on the show's Facebook page!

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