Date: 27 Aug 1997 15:41:10 -0400 From: "Nevins Mark" <[Nevins Mark] at [bah.com]> Subject: Manhattan Comics Shops To: [c--m--x] at [world.std.com] >PS Anyone have a comics store to recommend in Manhattan? (Mark?) Sorry to be unresponsive, Tom--I'm a little stressed right now and I figured that since I've posted this info so many times now one of my disciples might recite the mantra. :-) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (clip and save) - - - - - - - - - - - - In the humble opinion of the MOKF there are only 4 stops you need to make if you're comics shopping in Manhattan: 1. St. Mark's Comics, East Village--not the place it once was (sic transit gloria Marci), but still probably the best indie-friendly shop in NYC. Special bonuses are other fun things to do in the East Village (esp. food and drink) and the fact that several of St. Mark's employees are young women with fascinating displays of body piercings and hair color. Back issue selection is spotty but it's more than made up for with a *tremendous* (perhaps unparallelled) in-stock selection of old and new TPBs and GNs. Probably *the* shop to hit if you can only hit one. 2. Jim Hanley's Universe, in the shadow of the Empire State Building--a large shop, generally well-organized with a lot of good stuff; slightly more "mainstream" than St. Mark's, but wins points for pretty good taste, volume, and good organization. I usually find a thing or two when I go here. It's the favorite shop of many Manhattanites, I just find it a little too vanilla. But it's a fine shop, yes, a fine shop. 3. Roger's Comics--upstairs on 6th Ave between 13th and 14th Streets, but when I was there a few months ago he was threatening to move. Roger is one of the nicest guys in the world, period--utterly loveable, and it's worth it to go there just to meet him, especially if you like to talk baseball. He is the king of super-hero stuff, so if you want older issues of this sort of thing (Kamandi, MOKF, Where Monsters Dwell--who doesn't love this stuff? :-), Roger's the guy to visit. Not necessarily an indie-friendly shop, but he has so much stuff crammed in there you never know what you might find. I like to spend rainy afternoons at Roger's--you can poke around his boxes for hours. 4. CosmicComics--23rd Street, upstairs, a little east of the Flatiron Building. Not an obvious choice for the MOKF given its relentless mainstream mentality, but the place is so well-organized that my taxonomy fetish is satisfied. Mostly mainstream/superhero, but you can often find some good indie stuff (probably because most of this shop's customers aren't in the least bit interested in it). 5. ANTI-RECOMMENDATION: Village Comics--the shop closest to MOKF's house, which he nonetheless steadfastly boycotts. Before they moved around the corner I used to visit, but since the move they seem to have cut way back on their back issues and Silver Age stuff, so I'm less interested. If you have a strong interest in porn or cheesy recent superhero stuff, this is the place for you. They seem to have a requirement that all employees must be ignorant *and* obnoxious, which is one further reason I wouldn't be bummed if this place burned to the ground and they put in a Gray's Papaya over its ashes. NOTE: In spite of the fact that it's the greatest city in the world, NYC does not have a world-class comics shop. Several of the shops above are Quite Good by most standards, but none makes my Top 3 Comics Shops in North America: The Million Year Picnic, Cambridge, MA Chicago Comics, Chicago, IL Comic Relief, Berkeley, CA (Information courtesy of the Acting President, Acting Chairman, Prime Minister Sinister and Master of Kung Fu of the Downtown Comics Club.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (clip and save) - - - - - - - - - - - - Happy shopping, Tom; let me know when you're planning to be in town and maybe we can grab a beer (if I'm here, which is never likely). Mark Nevins Live from New York City _________________________________________________________________ To leave this mailing list, send mail to [m--r--o] at [world.std.com] with the message UNSUBSCRIBE COMIX