Chicago comic bookstore owners trying to survive digital age

CHICAGO -- Popular publishers like Marvel, DC, and Image, as well as independent artists on display. Shelves filled with everything from huge omnibuses to small single issues, to graphic novels. Fresh-pages full of color with that brand new smell.

This is what a typical comic bookstore in Chicago looks like. But the business is not a fun version of retail. Running a comic bookstore isn’t for the faint of heart, and the owners in Chicago embrace this reality.

W. Dal Bush and his co-owner Patrick got their start just over 14 years ago because they felt the neighborhood of Bucktown was underrepresented in the comic business.

Being in Chicago, owners compete among other small stores. But the arts and culture aspect of a large city allows for great support to all the small businesses in Chicago neighborhoods.

“There’s a super motivated comics and art community in Chicago. People are enjoying a lot of different books, and we love hearing about it,” said Bush.

Anyone in the world with the right experience can run a comic bookstore just like any business, but the challenges remain the same.

Grant Schreiber, owner of Maximum Distractions for seven years said, “Sometimes it’s a good day. Sometimes it’s not.”

“I think people sometimes have this expectation that running a comic shop is like a comics hangout. Like you’re just gonna sit around and read comic books all day and talk to people about books and it’s like, I would love it if that were my job. It’s a very small fraction of my job,” said Bush.

Everyday life of running the store can be very hard with hundreds of comics to handle. Some stores ship to people while also ordering issues to arrive in time for their pull lists.

Despite all the challenges, the payoff can be a good one for those that have a passion for it. Some entrepreneurs know from the get-go that they have the motivation to survive the industry, while others need to live and learn.

“I’ve been interested in comic books since the moon landing and have been reading comic books since about 1966,” said Schreiber.

Mark Beatty, owner of Dark Tower Comics on Western Avenue, had no idea at first, he wanted to run a comic shop.

“When I hit about 20, I was a bouncer for ten years,” said Beatty. “This just kind of fell in my lap and I always liked comic books, so this worked out pretty well. And I know how to run a business.”

Comic bookstores are like any retail business, but they carry a different charm to them. One advantage of being a comic owner — just as with owning any small business — is there’s no boss breathing down your neck.

“Well, it’s just I’ve been working retail most of my life and I figured I never would make any money working for someone else,” said Schreiber. “Being my own boss was the big allure. It depends on what your passion is. That’s probably the best thing.”

“I bought a comic store because I like working for myself,” said Beatty.

While the passion and advantage of being your own boss is there for multiple owners in Chicago, the hardships of running a comic shop can’t be overlooked. In a constantly-fluctuating market, store owners have differing opinions on the future of the industry.

Mark Beatty, 18-year owner of Dark Tower Comics on Western Avenue, feels the love for physical books still exists despite an era where the world is going digital.

In response to if the digital age has affected the business, Beatty stated, “It hasn’t. In fact, digital comics have gone down in sales over the last few years. It’s the same kind of business it always has been. People still like to come into a physical store and buy physical books. That’s the biggest deal.”

Bush said, “It’s honestly bigger than ever. Last year was one of the biggest years for comics in America. That’s just not in comic specialty shops but for graphic novels everywhere.”

There’s also a lot of new comic-lovers being born. The digital age of movies and being able to try comics digitally has seemed to grow the physical book’s value even more.

“There’s a lot of folks that are discovering comics as a medium that have never really spent time with it before. Some of that is manga, some of that is kid’s graphic novels and some of that is the proliferation of superhero TV shows and movies getting people excited about those characters.”

However, the convenience and affordability for younger people to read digitally with subscriptions is still a great option. Schreiber of Maximum Distractions feels like his age demographic isn’t young enough at times, which is a worrisome thing for him.

“This is the type of business where you’re either interested in this stuff or you don’t give a damn,” said Schreiber. “To a certain extent it’s a dying breed. The people that are in their 50’s are my main customers on the back-issues. There’s not a lot of younger people buying comics because they are too expensive. Comics used to be a dollar for an issue and now they run for at least five dollars apiece.”

Schreiber worries that within two decades comic stores will have died off because of other forms of entertainment, but it seems as though the passion for physical books and comics is still growing around the Chicago area. The hope for stores is the opposite: an increased interest from a younger demographic due to external media.

Bush’s mindset was, “The digital market can at times act like a theater system for print comics. People will try something out digitally and then get really hooked on it and look for a store that can help them explore that character, that creator, or that publisher, to a greater degree. So, they end up going to the comic shop, end up looking at stuff and finding other books.”

In the end, the fate of the comic industry is out of the owner's control. Those in the Chicago area can only hope that comics do keep growing as a piece of entertainment, rather than fading away like half of their favorite heroes did on the big screen.