Where Have All the Comic Books Gone

    Last week, I mentioned a recent trip to the Huntington Mall.  I commented about how many stores in that mall had gone out of business, particularly those that sold comic books.  I used comics for a few reasons, such as that was a product that had been found in the highest number of stores.  Well, I started going over every place that I had ever bought, or at least could have bought, a comic book throughout my entire life.  I stopped counting when I hit seventy.  The more I thought about it, the more places I remembered.  For comparison sake, I have only tried on and bought clothes in about forty spots.  That is about the same number I places I actually bought comics, as opposed to just saw them.  I will say that I've been buying clothes at the same few stores for the past decade or so.  I found my style and stuck to it.  I might need to change something up soon. I'm making a big deal about this because comics have had such a huge influence in my life. For instance, I learned how to read mostly from comic books when I was four.  Although the memory is hazy, I was trying to read an Eric Carle book to some students on the day I signed up for kindergarten.  This became a major part of my academic career.  My teachers thought I was gifted, but part of it was kind of fake due to comic books.  Therefore, I am going to be posting a list of every single place that has had comic books.  I had originally thought it would only take a week or two.  That is well before I realized how complicated this was going to turn out.  I could probably get the list done in about five weeks, if I didn't have a time limit on how long I take to write these posts or if I didn't care about how long they get.  Instead, I will probably take ten weeks or so to complete everything.  Stores that have gone out of business will be listed in standard black. Stores that are still open, but do not currently carry comic books, will be in red. Stores that still have comics will be in blue.  After so many years, I don't remember the names of many of these stores.  You try to remember the name of a store you only went to once forty years ago and has since closed.  I will try to give as much information as possible for people to try and identify these places, but I don't know if it will help.  I will be placing checks by stores where I know I bought at least one comic.  I will also comment on my history with the store, and what has happened to those stores that have closed.  I will mention other locations where I may have see and/or bought comics but I'm not as certain of in my commentary.  I will be doing so in a rough geographic circle, so that stores in the same area will be featured together.  If not for two floods, I would have probably well over ten thousand comics.  Instead, I'm only now reaching totals near what I have since just before the 2003 flood. I tried to finally organize my comics last January during the time the store was closed for snow.  Unfortunately, I had waited too long to do so.  I just didn't have the room to go through so many comics after twenty years of ignoring them.  I was only able to go through only a few dozen, and I just barely reorganized a few boxes to get rid of a torn one.  I hope everyone will follow me on this journey for the next few months.  There will be a few strange turns along the way, as well as some surprises.  Be prepared for almost anything.