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One of the World's Oldest Comic Shops, Fantask, Saved From Closure

Published Sun, 17 Feb 2019 09:00:58 -0600

Two days ago, Bleeding Cool reported that one of the oldest comic stores in the world, Fantask of Denmark was closing, citing an ageing customer base as the main reason. Well, that customer base has suddenly got a lot more energized.

Marit Nim, the owner of Fantask in St. Peter's Strait, Copenhagen, has had the phone ringing off the hook after the news went viral. And Benjamin Herbst, a customer over many decades, and who owns the toy store Super Hero in the town, and sees Fantask as a seminal focus of cartooning culture in the country, is doing something about it, launching a fundraiser on GoFundMe, including a starter 10,000 kroner from himself and 10,000 from his company. He wrote about the store,

I mean what other business in the world can boast of having had Carl Barks, Stan Lee, Will Eisner not even talk about Denmark's super hero number 1, Jacob Stegelmann visiting.

His campaign has so far has raised 341,020 kroner, against a goal of 200,000 kr. That's the US equivalent of $51,000 against a $30,000 dollar goal. That's letting Nim instantly pay a VAT debt from last year.

As of now, that means Fantask survives. Their next payment is in March but that gives them a lot of breathing room.

The store may also, after 47 years, be moving location. But it's a brighter future for the store now than it was this time last week. Here's a look at the store over the decades…