Comic Reviews by Walt

Comic Heaven goes back almost to the beginning for me, my experience with comic stores and the "direct market."

This was a store that I discovered due to being in a plaza with an arcade friends and I would go to on occasion.

Yeah.

An arcade.

Back when we’d go out to these places with all these video game machines, get change from the dollar-changer, and play the games. Before the home gaming systems completely took over.

But that’s neither here nor there, overall.

Comic Heaven didn’t seem like much at the time, to me. It was "another comic store" among the many in the area. They’ve pretty much always had a solid selection of new comics, a very respectable back issue stock, as well as carrying the various collectible cards and games as well as action figures, t-shirts, and so on.

My initial love of this particular comic store was that they carried Spellfire (the old collectible card game based on the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons). I still remember buying booster packs there, and some of the great cards pulled from those.

This shop’s never had a discount program that I’m aware of; nor have they ever been my "primary" or "home" comic shop. Yet, they are one of the greatest, most stable comic shops I’ve known.

Locationally, they’re very easily accessible when I’m heading in to visit or leaving from a visit to my parents and where I grew up–making them often a "backup" shop–and as almost all comic shops vary on what they carry and quantities stocked, they often will have that elusive issue that I missed elsewhere…or they’ll have something simply not stocked elsewhere.

They have a large back issue stock, though I hardly ever look through it. Probably my favorite part of the store is their collected-edition stock. They have a decent-sized (though recently drastically-reduced) manga collection; a sizeable collection of Marvel and DC stock, as well as stuff from most other well-known publishers; hardback and paperback.

There’s also a bargain section of the store with clearanced gaming supplies and books, several 50-cent/dollar bins, and a small selection of half-off collected editions.

Other than actual gaming stores, Comic Heaven has THE best selection of gaming miniatures I can think of. The collection is made up primarily of Warhammer (Fantasy & 40K), with a decent selection of Warmachine (though that seems almost halfhearted…but at least they carry it!), as well as Reaper/Dark Heaven minis, Battletech, and other misc. minis. They also carry quite a few of the Citadel paints.

There are a lotta memories I have associated with the shop. May not be my home/primary shop…but I’m extremely thankful to have them nearby and a fairly regular part of my comic-shopping routine.

NEXT WEEK: Ground Zero Comics.

Filed under: Favorites of Walt, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Comic Shops | Tagged: comic books, comic heaven, comic shops, comics, flcs, friendly local comic shop, LCS, local comic shop |