Universe of Superheroes

When did you first get into comics? What was the first comic store you went to?

Well, actually, when I was a kid they didn’t have any comic stores. It was like 1973 I think, in Hollywood, FL. I think I was my neighbor’s mom drove me to the airport one day to pick somebody up and she bought me a Daredevil comic, it had that man thing on it, and it was just cool. All it was was spindles, like going to a newsstand today. They didn’t have the actual deluxe comic shops, or specialty shops.



What was the first shop that you found? How old were you?

   When I lived in South Florida I was into comics, then in 1980 or ‘81 we moved to Alaska. It was pretty isolated there as far as that goes, and I got out of comics and more into reading books like Conan, Tarzan, shit like that. Then it wasn’t until I moved back here again until I got back into it. It was the store I own now that got me back into it to be honest with you.

   Billy Marsh, my old roommates came to him and he had Maxx, and Pitt, and he had Spawn. I checked his books out and I was like, ‘Dude, where did you get these? These are awesome.’ It was nothing like I remember. Comics were Captain America, Spiderman, Daredevil. It was nothing like that, this was unbelievable, the artwork, the color the slick pages. Yeah, holy shit. I was like, ‘This is awesome.’ He was like, ‘There’s a comic shop right down the street.’
   I walked in, got hooked on a Venom miniseries, it was the Maximum Carnage crossover that got me. That Venom character looked cool, I picked up the comic and it was like 1 of 14. I was like what’s this shit all about, I didn’t know anything about that either, the crossovers I had when I was a kid was like to be continued next issue. This you had to get like three different other titles and everything. It was cool, but it took a whole lot of work. But it was fun, because you’re back into the hobby. So after that, it was over. I was hooked again. I was like, ‘Oh man, this is killer.’ The upgrade in the artwork and the storytelling and then everything else. The whole product was killer.



Did you know then that you wanted to open up a store?

   I just got into collecting, I was working at the Milk Bar and just buying lots of comics. I was going to all the shops in town, checking everything out. Just getting into it.

   Part of it, it’s all weird how it ended up happening, part of it was that I didn’t like the way I was getting treated. I had long hair and I had tattoos and I worked at a bar, so I spent a lot of dollar bills, and I asked a lot of questions about the stuff that I was interested in, and it just seemed like a lot of the clerks were less than cooperative, it seemed like I was bothering them. I didn’t get it, because I was into my new hobby and I was at this specialty shop and it’s supposed to be what it’s all about and they’re looking at me like they’d rather read their comic and not pay any attention to me. So I kind of got a little disgruntled but it didn’t matter because there was so much cool stuff out there. With the horror comics that I was starting to get into, and all the death metal, and it sort of brought all of that together. And it was all there, it was cool.

   So I’d just get a Previews and take it home and read it. And Zach was so cool, at the store that I now own, that it was cool, I ended up just going there exclusively, pretty much. Unless I was looking for a back issue or something like that. But it took a while before I finally got into it. And I didn’t really decide to buy the store until Zach, the former owner, told me he was going to sell out. I asked him who was going to buy it and he said it didn’t really matter, that it was going to be just like any other place. And I liked the discounts, and I liked the free bags and boards, and I liked the personal service, and I thought that for Riverside especially that that made a really good point. It made me want to go there. It made for more of a neighborhood feel.
  


  So a large part of what made you want to continue it was the quality of service?

  Well, I liked it so much. And I was managing the Milk Bar at that point and I wanted to do something. I had some cash burning a hole, so I figured, I don’t know, for the first time I sat down and seriously thought about something. Larry was offering me part of the Milk Bar, but they wanted me to at least buy the liquor license to get it to where they could have full liquor. And I thought about doing that but, because of getting an inheritance every body I knew or didn’t know, liked or didn’t like came out of the woodwork, and it was evil. And I said to myself, you know, I need to take care of myself with this. You know, it wasn’t a whole lot that I could live the rest of my life comfortably, and I had already pissed a good amount of it away. You know, bought a stereo, bought a car… partied hard. Of coarse, I was 24 years old, I was still partying. But I sat down one nigh and thought about it. Am I going to buy half of the Milk Bar and do I want to live that lifestyle for the rest of my life? I’d been there for a couple of years, it was fun, I figured I’d be the man, get lots of women, it would be all good. And then I thought, the comic book shop, I could offer that guy the same price. I got the idea because I was into that hobby so much I was like, ‘Maybe I could offer Zach the same amount that other dude was offering. And I’ll snatch it out from underneath him.’ I don’t know, I guess I slept on it and I thought about it, and I woke up and went over to Zach and I said, ‘Dude, why don’t you sell the store to me instead.” He said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘I’ll write you a check right now.’ So he took me over to European Street, we sat there and had a little business lunch and talked about everything. He said, ‘What makes you want to do this?’ I said, ‘Man, the guy who’s going to buy this is going to change everything and he’s going to absolutely ruin it.The name of your store is great. I loved it, it was awesome, it just made me want to collect and you know. I just decided to do it. And he said, ‘Tell you what, I’m going to do it.’ So I just went for it. I didn’t want to piss all of my money away. I didn’t have any skills what-so-ever, no college, nothing. But I just figured the money that I spent buying the business was about the same that I would spend putting myself through college at the time, but not enough to do both, so I took the chance and just jumped into it headlong.
  

Yeah, because what are you going to do at the end of college?

Right, because you have qualifications but no job. I have a friend that have a masters degree, but can’t find a job to save his life. It’s so sad. I’d be working at Burger King, but it would suck. He won’t work because his pride.

It’s because we’re taught that if you go through college you will get a better job.

Right the implication is that there is some sort of placement. Like there is guaranteed a job for me.

Well that’s good, so you kind of kept the flow and mystique of what they had started.

Yeah, I liked it so much and thought that it had potential. I didn’t know anything about the big comic book boom with the death of Superman and the fact that it was declining, and I just wanted to do something. I didn’t want to be partners with anybody at the Milk Bar because I figured that if they fuck up I fuck up. I wanted this to be all me, I wanted it to be my choice. So I did that and it just, I loved the way he ran the store so I used that as my guideline. He was real helpful he took me downtown and helped me get the business license and all that, he was really cool about it. His employee, who we both fired on the spot, I rehired immediately thereafter so that I could sponge the knowledge that he had to know how to run the computer program. That was the one big thing that I needed because that’s what keeps it all together. The computer keeps the information of all of customers and stuff. The rest, I’m a salesman, I’m a good bullshiter. So the rest of it I just sort of played by ear. I had worked fast food for a long time so I was really good at customer service. Again, I know how to bullshit with people. It seems like, with the way it’s worked out, even without having a whole lot of product knowledge I know what I’m in to, I’m into my hobby, I know how to talk with people about it. I’m not trying to talk them into it, I’m trying to talk to them about it. We’re on the same wavelength so I know how to make the customer feel good about what they’re doing.
   Back in my day it wasn’t cool to collect anymore if you were over 18. Now it’s all different, it’s totally cool now. It’s just not for kids anymore. It certainly isn’t. Not a truer word spoken.
   I’m still running the business. I’ve had ten increasingly successful years. It seems like every month I’m busier. And that’s been ongoing for ten years. It’s just awesome the way it’s been going. For the first time in my life I can say that I’m proud of something I did. I think I made the right choice.

So what’s the future of Universe Of Superheroes?

Well, everything’s weird with the distributors and the industry. It seems like it’s in turmoil kind of in my opinion. It’s a little bit sketchy, but there’s always going to be a crowd of people, there’s always going to be alternative stuff. It’s literary. As long as there is stuff to read there will be interest.