Monday, May 4, 2009

Free Comic Book Day!

As I mentioned in my previous post, last Saturday - Free Comic Book Day, Sam and I went to Chris' Comics in Marshfield. We have decide to share our thoughts not only on how the day went but also on the store itself.


A store of humble size, in my eyes Chris' is one of the best comic book shops in the area. While the store is small, the selection is endless. You could probably find almost anything and everything you are looking for. Long boxes fill the store with gems waiting to be unearthed and enjoyed. Interested in Silver Age What Ifs? They have that. Want to find old X-Men issues? They have a section devoted just to them. They even have the last 7 years of 100 bullets all organized for you.


Now, something I love about Chris' is something they do that I have never seen another store do. They will take all the issues in an entire story-arch, package it all together and sell it for anywhere from 5 to 15 dollars off the cover price. Remember that Superman: Secret Identity 1-4 review? Well, I got that for about 10 dollars off the cover.

One of the few complains I have about the store is a lack of newer issues from smaller comic publishers. Also, the store FEELS small. It IS small but when there are more than 3 people in there it FEELS small. Added to that is the fact that some parts of the store are cluttered, moving around becomes difficult.

Chris' is a great little shop, go to it, I'll come with you. We'll cry and laugh together. The man himself as more then generous when it came to the free comics and it was good to see some younger kids and girls in the store. It was a great day at a great store.

- Scott

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Chris's Comic Store was more of a surprise to me than anything else. I was introduced to Comic Book Stores that mainly dabbled in Graphic Novels, having small, if any, long-box sections. So I was pleasantly surprised when I entered that Saturday to find a plethora of Classic Comics I had only read about.


As Scott mentioned, Chris's boasts quite a selection. If you have a particular quirk, there is no doubt that you'll be able to find it. What was more impressive than the numbers of comics, was the sheer rarity of the comics. I was able to find "Power of the Atom" as well as several "What If" comics, amongst literally thousands of Silver, Bronze and Modern Age Comics. Not only can you find rare things, you can find them in their entirety. No more periless searches for that one lost issue. Also included are rare and old toys, baseball/trading card games, and tabletop games, catering to a wide variety of the Geek/Nerd Spectrum.

My main concerns lie also in the size. As skinny as I am, I still felt like a Mouse in a Maze, very crowded. It was nice to see a collection of customers though, ranging from younger nerdy kids to some geeky adults. The staff was very friendly and helpful but its the classic comic book store dilemma, If you're not in, you're out. I felt like no matter how much I knew about comics, it didn't matter, I couldn't have a great conversation with them. This isn't a big deal if you are just going for comics, but I like to establish a relationship with owners frequently and I felt Chris's a little hard to break into.

Overall, I am looking forward to going to Chris's Comics again. The prices were very fair, ranging from 1 to 5 dollars an issue and I certainly can see the quality of care they take with their products.

~Sam


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