Goods and Services Winners
Best Comic Book Store
Comics Kingdom
3998 Roland Avenue (410) 889-6005
Photo credit: Michael Northrup
What with big-budget movies every other week and normal adult people talking about graphic novels as an art form, it's easy to forget that comic books used to be all about the costumed superheroes kicking the bad guys' butts. You can get all that new stuff at Comics Kingdom, but they haven't forgotten the old spandex and cleavage standbys that got you through those difficult teen years. They've branched out a bit since opening in 1991 as well, stocking a complete line of belly-dancing gear. It's tempting to wonder how much the clientele mingle, and whether they stock slave-girl Princess Leia outfits.
Goods and Services Winners
Best Comic Book Store
Comics Kingdom
3998 Roland Avenue (410) 889-6005
We here at Baltimore’s Most Unneighborly Alternative Weekly are suspicious when businesses—you know, those entities that suck up all our cash—start to make claims about “community” and, well, even “friendliness.” But then we shop at Comics Kingdom and all our cynicism gets blasted away (probably by some sort of laser eye ray). Just check out that new web site; co-owners Sheldon and Driana Pearlman’s smiles and the painfully sincere copy will melt even the coldest hearts, and open their wallets. That said, being nice doesn’t win you Best Ofs year after year. In Comics Kingdom’s case, it’s the store’s huge selection of comic books, graphic novels, and toys (and belly-dance apparel!), convenient location, great customer service, and, yeah, the feeling of community.
Goods and Services Winners
Best Comic Book Store
Comics Kingdom
3998 Roland Avenue (410) 889-6005
Tucked neatly between Roland Park and Hampden, Comics Kingdom has been hawking its wares at the corner of Roland Avenue and 41st Street for nearly a decade. And throughout the years and an ownership change, the basic operation has hardly changed. It is and has always been a well-stocked store run by friendly folks. The center of the store is filled with box after box of back issues from Archie, DC, Image, Marvel, and beyond, and its walls are lined with more recent releases, ranging from the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man and ever-hotter manga trade paperbacks to graphic novels like Art Spiegelman’s Maus and $50 hardcovers filled with Golden Age classics. Plenty of other useless, but irresistible stuff can be had, too, like action figures and collectibles from every conceivable comic book, movie, and TV show. (Bonus points for CK’s completely bizarre second line of business: belly-dancing wear and accessories.)
Goods and Services Winners
Best Comic Book Store
Comics Kingdom
3998 Roland Avenue (410) 889-6005
Photo credit: Michael Northrup
Mash-ups may be a relatively new phenomenon in the music world, but retailers have been mixing things up for, well, ever (think general stores). We find it particularly amusing, though, when, like mash-up songs, two completely different lines of items are found in the same store. While we were confused at the time (in high school), we fondly remember buying our records at a pet shop and our comic books at an animal-feed store. And who can forget those months when Atomic Books and the fetish-gear store Object shared a space on North Charles?
Comics Kingdom, a fine comic-book store in its own right, continued this tradition when it added belly-dancing gear to its line of merchandise (the belly-dancing store-within-a-store has been dubbed Oasis). Yup, you can now pick up a pair of harem pants and a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man at the same time, or a coin belt and a Sandman trade paperback, or some zills and some manga. The possibilities are endless, making it easy to award Comics Kingdom this year.
Wear your AMAZING SPIRAL tee shirt to take advantage
of upcoming announced and unannounced sales!
|
|
