When I was young, there used to be comic book stores in real life that you could visit similar to Comic book guy's store in The Simpsons. I'm sure that many similar businesses have gone to online sales only. But, perhaps in some bigger cities some brick and mortar stores still exist. If you know of any, or visited any, please share your experiences. Thanks in advance.

I suppose I have always lived in a "Bigger city," but even when I didn't, I was still able to find my local brick-and-mortar shop and build my community there. Right now, I live in Chicago, and there are probably 3-4 comic shops within walking distance, my favorite being Alley Cat Comics in Andersonville. While they may not have the best selection compared to their competitors, the staff and vibe are amazing, and I love them. I also used to live in Houston, frequently visited Bedrock City Comics, and worked for Midtown Comics in NYC. But even when I lived in small towns, I was still able to find shops

I still visit my local comic book store regularly. It's a nice way to support small businesses while getting comics, and you also get to meet new people who are as passionate about comics as you.

They still exist!

On 5/3/2026 at 8:13 PM, skyewalker said:

I suppose I have always lived in a "Bigger city," but even when I didn't, I was still able to find my local brick-and-mortar shop and build my community there. Right now, I live in Chicago, and there are probably 3-4 comic shops within walking distance, my favorite being Alley Cat Comics in Andersonville. While they may not have the best selection compared to their competitors, the staff and vibe are amazing, and I love them. I also used to live in Houston, frequently visited Bedrock City Comics, and worked for Midtown Comics in NYC. But even when I lived in small towns, I was still able to find shops

I'm from Houston and used to visit Bedrock City all the time! Loved that store

There aren't as many as there used to be, but there are still plenty of local comic stores around. Here in Indiana, I really like Comic Carnival and Downtown Comics, and just found a store named Retro Comics that's cool as well. I used to live in Nashville and frequent Rick's Comic City as well. I have three rules when I move to a new place, and that's to find a game store, a comic store, and a Chinese buffet. Can't go wrong when you find all three in the same city haha.

I live in a small town and we have always had a comic book store. Sometimes up to 3 in our area or more.

Right now there are 2.

Been nice to have that as a mainstay here.

I am lucky enough that a comic book store opened in my small town about 9 years ago. I wasn't collecting much (only wonder woman sub for my daughter) but I immediately started collecting again and used the store to support them. They definitely do a lot more with magic and D&D and tournaments but it is nice to have a store to go to. Plus I have 2 boys that are autistic and they love wandering around the store and looking at comics, pops etc and the owner is so patient and never cares about them touching anything. It has been a great experience having one again.

I am old so when i was a kid I actually used to get my comic books at a magazine store in the Bronx. It was basically my mom's bribery to bring me shopping - stop at the store get some comics, plop me down at the pizzeria to eat lunch and read while she shopped up and down the block. Different era :)

We have a lot of them here in Oklahoma. We went to one closest to us on Free Comic Book Day, a store in NW OKC called All-Star Comics. There is a newer one, a few miles from that one, called Super Comic Bros, and shockingly, there is also the same comic book store I visited as a kid in the 1980s, called New World Comics, that is still open and operating.

There is another I have never been to called Vintage Sanctuary Comics, within driving distance. The only one in my actual town (Edmond, Oklahoma) shut down during the lockdown in 2020.

I also have a friend from college who opened a comic book store in the 1990s, and his is still open and operating in Norman, Oklahoma, called Speeding Bullet Comics. Finally, there is one I see advertising for in Moore, Oklahoma (a town between Norman and OKC) called DZ Comics and Gaming.

I guess I'm lucky to have 6 notable comic book stores (and a few I don't know much about, like Cosmic Collectibles, Amazing Action Comics, Wizard's Asylum, and the Vintage Stock stores that carry comics) around me to choose from.

Edited Tuesday at 10:27 PM3 days by Shawn Lealos
forgot to add a couple of things

Around 1976 I worked at a Comic Book store in the Olde Towne Mall in Torrance, Ca. We were the busiest store in the mall. It was called the Comic Vendor, owned by Nick Scotto. I was going to college at the time and the mall hours worked out well for me. A few comic professionals would make their way to the store and introduced themselves. I started collecting golden age comics because they were right there in stock. At that time we were ordering around 1,000 copies of X-Men and Spider-man each month.

On 5/3/2026 at 6:35 PM, Hueff said:

When I was young, there used to be comic book stores in real life that you could visit similar to Comic book guy's store in The Simpsons. I'm sure that many similar businesses have gone to online sales only. But, perhaps in some bigger cities some brick and mortar stores still exist. If you know of any, or visited any, please share your experiences. Thanks in advance.

I've had a brick and morter comic shop in every town or city I've ever lived in -- including a really tiny town! They exist and they rock and if you have the chance you absolutely should go patronize one (and many are cool and have online options for folks who can't get to a store!)

I drive about an hour and a half to get to my local shop, but it's worth it! It's the highlight of my week! I went years without having a comic shop to go to, but thankfully found one that I absolutely love.