My Comic Book Journey, Letcher and Perry

    This week is the southern leg of the journey, as we go through Letcher and Perry counties.  Okay, technically we go through a little bit of Knott county, but I really don't remember going to many stores there.  The only one I truly remember going to is this little general store at the Knott end of Jack's Creek road.  It was run by either distant relatives, or friends thereof.  I think I remember seeing some superhero comic book covers, but not the actual books.  Then again, we are talking about a visit that last happened almost fifty years ago, so I may be mistaken.  Anyway, entries in black are for places where I saw/bought comics that are no longer in business, which will be all of this week's entries.  So, no red or blue for places in business that no longer sell/still sell comics respectively.  Checks mean I bought comics at the place. Let's get started with Letcher county first.

• Unnamed department store, Whitesburg:  This store was on a hillside overlooking the Long John Silvers on the west side of town.  It may have been a Gibson's, as the one in Pikeville was similar in shape.  I couldn't have been more than four or five. I remember seeing Fisher-Price Little People that one time we stopped there, as well as activity books and maybe some collector packs of comics, but I didn't get any.  We later joined some of the other people at the restaurant who went ahead, as it was very busy since the place had only opened recently.  While the LJS is still there, possibly still in the original location and building (I ate there on a trip back from Norton, Virginia on the way to the Adams store at Isom a few years ago.  The store used to carry a good selection of shoe brands I like, but no longer, as of my last trip a year or so ago.), the department store closed decades ago, and the building is being used as a garage of some sort.
• Unknown drug store/lunch counter, Whitesburg:  On a trip back from Norton in the mid-90s, we stopped by Whiteburg, which we frequently liked to do. The only place open that we went into was this combination drug store and lunch counter, with a bit of gift store mixed in.  I looked at their comic rack, and we left afterwards.  There may have been other places that had comics previously downtown, but I don't remember them.  The drug store was closed the last time I went to Whitesburg, and I couldn't even be sure where it had been. [During that same trip, I noticed a sort of gaming store at the end of a street.  Theoretically, it could have had other collectables, including comics.  However, it was not open, either because it was still early in the morning, or it had gone out of business.]
• Unknown hobby/comic store, Whitesburg:  This store was on the same road as the local Walmart.  This was in the late 90s, when I was focusing on filling my RPG collection.  I believe my mom found out about it, and we stopped in after going to Norton, again.  They had a few older comics, but not a big selection of recent ones, and no RPGs that I could see.  I don't think it is connected to the previous entry, as there is at least a twenty year difference between the two.  I couldn't exactly find it again, but I do believe it has closed. [Speaking of the Walmart.  It is very small.  I feel that I could run all around the outside of it in a little over a minute.  I remember almost buying a toy there the first time I visited, but was persuaded against it by my mom, saying that the wait would be too long due to it being so crowded.  I had to stop there on my last trip through Whitesburg so my mom could use the restroom.  The biggest section appeared to be hunting.  It could have the same collector packs as others, but I didn't really look.  There was also a supermarket at the same center, but I never went into it, so the possibility of comic or magazines before it closed was unknown.]
• A & P, Whitesburg:  We used to stop here frequently when I was young.  A great-aunt would always take a white grape, and she would try to encourage me to eat one too.  My mom frowned on that.  On at least one of the last occasions we stopped there, I think I saw a comic rack, but I either didn't get to look through it or I didn't find anything.  The store closed decades ago.  Other types of businesses would try to move in, but the place would wind up being vacant for a long time before finally being torn down a few years ago.
• Unknown supermarket, Neon:  For some reason, my mom and a few other relatives loved going to Fleming-Neon to browse and shop, especially at this one clothing store, which may have been a Dawahares. I was bored with nothing to do, until we went to Randall's grocery store.  I always felt it was too dark, and I don't remember ever seeing comics there.  Maybe magazines, but my memory is hazy on that.  I was surprised when a second supermarket opened up at the far end of town.  We stopped at the much brighter store, and I immediately jumped to the comic rack to look.  Unfortunately, my mom quickly ushered us out, as she said that she didn't like what she saw there, although she never adequately said why.  We wound up at Randall's again.  While that store ultimately closes, the other place is still open, but it is definitely an IGA now, even if it wasn't then. No comics though. [Near that supermarket was a department store.  Maloney's, I believe. I only remember going there once.  It is as if my mom deliberately chose not to go that way, even though it would have made the trip a lot more enjoyable to me.  I remember getting some Colorforms that day.  I might have seen comics, but I can't be sure.  I know I never bought any comics in Neon.  Probably.  The more I think about it, the more doubts I have. The store shell is being used as a construction garage, or one was put up there.]

    With this, we are done with Letcher county.  Now, onto Perry county.

• Unnamed drug store, Hazard, ✓:  One weekend afternoon, maybe even a Sunday, we went out to Hazard, probably looking for Christmas trees. I would've have been around seven or eight, possibly older.  One of the few places we stopped at was this drug store.  There, I found the last collector packs of Disney comics from the original run that started way back in the 1940s, just as it had ended.  I managed to get my mom to buy them, even though she thought they were too expensive.  Comics were still under a dollar at the time, so the packs couldn't have been too high in price.  I'm just glad I had one last chance at Disney, for a few years at least.  See next week.  Since I don't remember where the store was located or what its name was, I could never go back to it, even it was still open. So, I've listed it as closed, as it wouldn't have comics any more. [I only remember one store in downtown Hazard that might have had comics.  It was a two-floor department store, with its main street entrance on the higher level. (The street sloped down.) It could have been Hobb's. The upper floor was either a mezzanine or catwalk, with most of the products on the lower level.  I remember toys there, and maybe comics.  However, I only have hazy memories of this last time I went there in the early 80s, so I can't be sure.  Anyway, most of the old stores downtown have long since been closed.]
• Rose's department store/Winn-Dixie, Hazard, ✓:  It was the summer before either my sophomore or junior year of high school.  We were with some relatives on a shopping trip, and they suggested going out this way to a new shopping center.  My mom didn't like to travel to unfamiliar places, but I cajoled her to follow them here anyways.  I am pretty sure I saw comics at both stores, and that I bought at least one at one of them.  Probably Rose's.  We got a few things there, but I don't remember being in Winn-Dixie too long, but I remember really liking both stores.  We also went shopping at Goody's, but the only thing I found was one of those square-end ties that were all the rage back then.  I got one because at least one friend of mine were one, and I thought he was cool, so I bought one. (I ultimately had two, but I stopped wearing them in college.  I haven't worn any ties in decades.) While we went to Hazard a few more times, I could never get my mom to go out that way until the late 2000s or early 2010s.  We were thinking about moving the store to Hazard, and I talked her into checking out some spots at that center, as opposed to the unwieldy spot at Black Gold.  Unfortunately, both stores had long since closed.  The Winn-Dixie may have become a Save-a-lot, but I'm not sure.  I hate that I only got to go there that one time. [I had another reason to go out to that center.  I had found out that there was a new comic book shop in the area, and I thought it was out that way.  If it was, it had moved out by the time we went looking.  There is currently a comic book shop out at Jeff, but I don't think I would go that far away to look for it.]
• Kroger, Hazard, ✓:  In the early 90s, my mom was looking for a new car.  I went with her to Hazard to check some places out.  Possibly even the one where I got my current car.  Anyway, we went shopping at both the clothing stores at Black Gold, as well as this other center hidden away off the beaten path.  The center had a K-Mart.  We looked around in there, but I don't remember if we bought anything.  Don't think I saw any comics. The QRS gift shoppe had long since closed, but I don't remember even seeing comics there.  Just some picture books, maybe.  The Kroger was different.  It was maybe a little bigger than the one at Pikeville/Coal Run.  Its bakery was noticeably larger.  And, it had a comic rack, where I found a missing title.  I may have been transitioning to Page 3 at this point, and not all of my comics had started at being pulled.  The cashier or bagger even commented on missing this issue.  By the 2000s, both K-Mart and Kroger had closed, and the shopping center had pretty much died.  It was recently torn down and replaced by a housing development. [Currently, Hazard has a new Ollie's. While they usually have graphic novels and/or collector packs, they are subject to availability, and since I haven't visited it yet, it is not listed with a main entry.  The original Hazard Walmart may have had comics, but I never went there enough times to remember seeing any there.  While the original location was about the same size as the original Coal Run Walmart, the current location is about the same size as the Prestonsburg one.  I have been there, but I wasn't looking for comics, but I suspect it has the same variety as others.]

    Finally, I should mention that Hazard also has had a book store for the past few years.  I know its name, but I won't mention it as it is a direct rival.  From the numerous times it has been featured on WYMT, I can tell that it doesn't have magazines or comics, but it probably has graphic novels. (Seriously, we have been open for over twenty years, and they have only been over twice.  The even skipped a major book signing to cover the remodeling of Dorsey's dairy bar just down the road from us going on the same day.) Okay, it is called Read Spotted Newt.  Are you satisfied?  This concludes the southern leg of my journey.  Join me next week for the northern leg.

My Comic Book Journey, Williamson and Norton

    It's time to go east to Williamson, West Virginia this week.  Okay, most of the places are actually still in Kentucky, but I used to go to them on the way to Williamson, so it is all just the same thing, right?  As always, entries in black means that the place is out of business.  Red and blue mean that the business is still open and either doesn't or still does have comic books respectively, although the former will not be used this week.  Checkmarks indicate that I actually bought comics there, instead of just looking at them.  Time to go.

• Magic Mart, Belfrey:  This store opened sometime after the one at Coal Run moved.  I think, if only because I don't remember seeing it there until the 90s or so.  It had about the same range of products as the other one, and that includes comics.  We never stopped there too often, as I preferred stopping on the way to Williamson, as a way to make sure everything else was open if we were too early, and my mom liked it on the way back, as she hated to make the left turn, even with traffic lights.  I hated trying to go afterwards, as it usually meant foregoing the stop.  So, we only went a few times, going to the one at Coal Run instead.  The store would later move to the Southside Mall.  More on that later. [Somewhere along this road, the older stretch of four-lane near Belfrey, is where the video store that would become Page-3 was located.  I may have seen the signs for it, but I never thought to stop until it showed up in downtown Pikeville.]
• Unknown newsstand/tobacco shop, Williamson, WV, ✓:  Whenever we went to Williamson, we always had a set pattern.  We would park in the municipal lot at the south end of town.  Then, we would walk up the left side of the street, where my mom would look into the various dress shops.  We would then cross the street, and look at the dress and shoe shops on the right.  Occasionally, I would get to look to go into a shop for me, such as Penny's or a men's store a street or so over.  Finally, when my patience was at its end, we would go to the newsstand for me where I could look at the comics and magazines.  The store had a slightly larger selection of magazines than most place in Pikeville back then, the early 80s when we first started going there.  Then, the dress shops started closing, and I had less time to have to wait.  On what would be the last regular trip to downtown, the newsstand had closed, and the last of mom's dress shops said that they would be closing soon as well.  While I hated the smell of tobacco, I still liked stopping here. After that, we just went straight to the mall instead, ignoring downtown. [The only other store that may have had comics would have been the department store (Murphy's ?) at the end of the street.  We rarely tried to go there, as it was such a long walk down.  I know they had toys, but I can't be sure about the comics.  In fact, there might have been a second department store, but it may have closed just before or soon after we started making these regular trips.  Either way, they were among the first stores to close downtown, and we barely shopped there.]
• Unnamed bookstore, Southside Mall, South Williamson:  I was quite surprised when I found out a small bookstore had opened up in the mall.  It had a small selection of comic books and magazines, but I don't believe they interested me, so I don't remember buying any.  I did buy an "Encyclopedia Brown" book.  In hindsight, it was probably well beneath my reading level at the time, but it had a contest that I was too old to enter, if just barely, when I double-checked.  Still, the nostalgia factor was high.  The store didn't last that long, and it was gone by the next trip, I think.  [In the late 2000s, there was a bookstore in downtown Williamson that contacted us at Booknotes about buying some of their stock, as they were going out of business.  We stopped by after work one day.  The store didn't have comics or magazines.  We ultimately decided not to purchase any of their stock.  I don't think it was connected to the store at the mall.]
• K-Mart, Southside Mall, South Williamson, ✓:  For the longest time, I didn't know that this K-Mart even had a magazine section, or even comics.  When I was young, we pretty much just went to the toy section, and maybe school supplies.  My mom said I was too young to search around by myself in such a crowded place, especially since we had so many other stores to go to.  However, by the mid-90s, there weren't as many stops to make.  I was in my 20s, so I was old enough to search, especially since I wasn't looking for toys.  I finally found the magazines and comics in the far left rear corner of the store. Whether it was always there, I don't know.  I do know I bought at least one comic there, as I remember walking along the corridors of the mall taking quick looks at one, and K-Mart was the only place I could have bought it at the time.  Unfortunately, this was one of the first stores to close.  I must admit, the store was quite empty when I finally found the magazines, so it made sense.  [The space was finally taken over by Magic Mart, but this was after we stopped making regular trips.  The one time we did stop, it no longer had a magazine section or comics, or that many customers.  The store closed with all the others in the 2010s.  The mall is still open, but without any real anchors.  I don't know how long it can last.]
• Kroger/unnamed drug store, South Williamson, ✓:  I know both of the these stores had comics; I just can't remember if I got comics at both, or just one of them.  Technically, these stores weren't part of the actual mall, but they were built right beside it.  You just couldn't go to them unless you left the inside of the mall first.  I don't remember what the drug store was, but I doubt it was a Rite-Aid.  It was just too big.  I remember getting Easter candy there, as well as a pasta cookbook.  I didn't fix any recipe beyond the first chapter or so, but I still loved it.  I'm pretty sure there were comic books, at one point.  They may have stopped before the store closed in the mid-to-late 90s.I somewhat more certain of Kroger.  It was slightly larger than the one at Coal Run, with a better bakery, according to my mom.  I am positive I bought a magazine here, and maybe a comic book as well.  It had a few products that the one in Coal Run never had.  This location closed a year or so before that one.  Its closure pretty much marked the end of regular trips to the mall and Williamson in the late 90s, or early 2000s just before my store opened.
• Economy Drug, South Williamson, ✓:  As stores in the mall closed, I convinced my mom to stop at other places nearby to make up for not shopping elsewhere.  Economy Drug was at the bottom of the hill where the Southside Mall is.  I can remember stopping there once, maybe twice, near the end of our regular trips.  I actually picked up a comic or two that I had forgot were coming out and hadn't bother to pre-order at my regular comic shops. I have listed the place as closed instead of red because I am not sure if it is still there.  Last year, the Food City next store began a major expansion that may have taken over the drug store's old location.  (I never looked for comics the one or two times I remember stopping there, but it might have had them at the time.  It wouldn't have them now.) Even if it was still open, it wouldn't have comics, and maybe not magazines either.  Since I am not planning on going to Williamson any time soon, I am marking it as closed until I am sure otherwise. {Weird side note;  I believe this Food City may have been the one featured in an episode of How the States Got Their Shapes.}

    With this, we take our leave of Williamson and go so to Virginia. Specifically, Norton.  Possibly Pound and Wise as well.  I get confused of exactly which is where.  We've been to some combination of these, but I will list it as Norton to keep it simple.  We used to go there a few times in the 80s, a few more times in the 90s, and a few times a year in the 2010s.  A few places have had comics that I can remember.

• Roses department store, Norton, VA:  I'm not even sure that this was the name. The current Roses is more of a discount store, but before its restructuring it could have been as big as this store was.  I remember getting some Transformers here, as well as a puzzle magazine a separate time, in the 80s.  By the time we went back in the early 90s, the store was gone.  I think I saw comics here, but I never bough them here.
• K-Mart, Norton, VA:  This was the first ever K-Mart where I saw comics, leading to search for them in Williamson's the next time we went there.  I didn't buy any here at the time.  The store closed with all the others before I started going back.  [Other stores that may have had comics include a Food Lyon.  I am not sure I saw comics the only time I stopped in, but it did have the 'Oriental' variety of Hamburger Helper, the only place I ever saw it.  It is now a Save-a-Lot.  There was also an Ingall's.  It may have had comics back in the 80s, but I can't remember.  It did have a small selection of magazines in the 2010s.  It had closed the last time I was in Norton.]
• Cavalier Comics, Norton and Pound:  Back in the 90s, I was searching for the RPGs I had gotten interested in.  I found out about this store, the closest one nearby that I didn't already know about.  Sadly, I couldn't find any reason to get to go there until I had an accident at Page 3.  I had ordered a one-shot, but I had forgotten about it by the time it came out.  I didn't buy it, only to discover what it was after it sold out.  Since we were already planning a trip to Norton anyway, I convinced my mom to let me go out of our way to check out the store.  It didn't have my missing comic either, nor did it have as great a selection of RPGs as the online listing suggested.  I didn't go back to the Pound location.  However, it either move or opened a second location a the Norton shopping centers.  I stopped a few times and looked around, but I never bought anything, as I felt that would be a betrayal of Page 3.  By this time, my RPGs were not really sold at retail anymore. [There are two other locations I've been to at Norton that 'have' comics.  The first is Ollie's Bargain Bin. It took over part of the place where K-Mart, or the Food City bestie it used to be.  They frequently have either graphic novels or collector packs, but it doesn't get a main entry, as the selection can vary.  I have bought some discounted books here, for my own and not the store.  I prefer Big Lots as they have a better selection of food. {Food City may have had comics when it was here, but I can't even find magazines at its newer, bigger separate location.}. The other location would be Walmart.  Or should I say Super Walmart, as it is huge.  It had a slightly better selection of groceries than the one at Pikeville.  It probably has comics, at least some manga and collector pack, but I wasn't looking for them the last time I was there, so this is entirely conjecture.]

    And now it is time to leave Virginia and go back to Kentucky.  Specifically, Letcher county, like I frequently did when I went to Norton.  Next week I start the southern trek of my journey. Be there with me.

My Comic Book Journey, Southwestern Pike

    It's week four, and this time I will be finishing my tour of western Pike County.  I hope it will not be too long, but there is a lot to go through.  Black is for businesses that have closed.  Red is for active businesses that no longer have comic books.  Blue is for active businesses that still have comic books, even if they aren't the sort I would buy.  Checkmarks indicate I actually got comic books there.  Additional places that I cannot be sure of are in the comments following main entries. Time to go. 

• Page 3's Game Zone, two locations downtown, currently near high school, Pikeville, ✓:  It was summer vacation after my third year of college.  I went to shop in Pikeville, and I noticed this new store on the corner of Hoffman and Second.  It was a comic book shop, along with certain other collectables. Since I already got all of my comics at my regular store, I wasn't looking too closely, although I did by the first issue of a new mini-series, and maybe a few packs of trading cards. Soon after on my regular pick-up, I found out my regular store had closed, again, but without any signs of it opening back up.  I started getting my comics at Page 3 (which is the name for the first page of story in a comic, with the front cover, front and back being the first two pages), and I have been getting my comics there ever since.  Over thirty years.  I'm not sure if that is an accomplishment or pathetic that I still live in the same area.  I sometimes hung out there after school some days.  It was close enough that I could walk if I had to.  I helped out on occasion.  I started collecting Magic:  The Gathering, although I never actually felt confident enough to ever play in public there.  They moved to a larger space just down the street, where there could expand their collection of toys and video games.  They even had a basic newsstand with magazines for a short time in the late 90s.  I got my first RPGs at that time as well.  In the early 2000s, they moved to their current location just down the road from the high school.  It is way bigger, with enough room to host some tournaments as well as a larger collection of back issues.  I currently average between three or four comics per week, although I sometimes got up to seven or more in my heydays.  Hundreds, if not thousands by now if they all still existed. By far the most common publisher has been DC, with around 80 to 85%.  The remaining four or five, along with the random one-off, fill out the rest.  I have never bough a Marvel comic there; just the promotional ones with Free Comic Book Day on the first Saturday in May and such.  This is forecast to change in June, but that is a post for another day.  I've also gotten magazines about comic books and other nerdy subjects, but not currently.  Frankly, I'm amazed about just how much this place has meant to me for so long. [There are other places in downtown I will revisit in a later post.]
• Economy Drug, three locations at Town and Country Shopping Center, Pikeville, ✓:   This was once my go-to place for comics in Pikeville.  Sure, I got many other things there as well--such as candy, toys, and magazines--but it is the comics that stand out.  It was here at one of its older locations that I got my first comic on a Sunday.  (Just don't ask me what I was doing there on a Sunday.)  Even after they moved to their current location and I was getting most of my comics elsewhere, I would still pick up the occasional one not on my pull list here.  I would stop by every Monday when I was in school here to check things out.  Even after I opened my store, I would close early and stop by some Wednesdays.  In the early 2000s or so, they stopped getting comics, when the newsstand market faded.  By the late 2010s, they stopped carrying magazines as well, and they had some of the largest, and most varied selection in town.  Currently, I only go up there once every few months, as the only thing I would really look for would be seasonal candy, and I try to eat as little of that as possible.  [There was another drug store just down the road from the center.  I know I picked up a magazine that was missing from everywhere once, but I don't remember ever seeing comics there.  I could be wrong.  It might also be closed now.]

WARNING:  BLATANT SELF-PROMOTION COMING UP

• Booknotes, Town and Country Shopping Center, Pikeville, ✓:  Confession.  Back when I opened, I got a number of Disney comic digests through my store that either weren't available from Page 3, or I was too embarrassed to order them through there. I have also bought some trade paperback graphic novel collections including comics that Page 3 missed somehow, as well as some hardcover collections of comics that came out a long time before Page 3 opened.  I just get a much bigger discount that way.  I've also bought the occasional magna, but that isn't a big thing for me.  I've ordered graphic novels and magna for other customers who didn't want to go through other venues as well.  And, yes, I did order some deluxe, higher-end comics for a customer who explicitly didn't want to go through Page 3.  I didn't even know I could do that.  I would never get my regular pull through my store though, even if it was possible.  I wouldn't betray Page 3 like that.  I currently do not stock graphic novels regularly for that very reason.  This is as far as I would go.  I will remind readers that one reason for opening a book store was to get my RPGs on a regular basis, back when I could.  They don't currently are sold through my distributor that way, but that was what did happen.  [There were once other book stores in the area in the 90s, but I never went into them.  I probably should have.  To the best of my knowledge, done had comics or magazines.]
• Unknown collectables store, Town and Country Shopping Center, Pikeville:  A collectables store opened at the Center in the late 90s.  I went there once.  It focused mostly on sports cards.  The few comics they had were old, and my primary aim was on new titles.  The store didn't last long.  It may have been in the spot known for having many problems with it that is do longer being rented.
• Food City, original location, Pikeville, ✓:  Like Economy Drug, the Food City at the Center had comics.  I probably even bought one or more there in the 80s and/or early 90s, but I can't remember what.  I would look at the comics there just like at Economy just to make sure I was keeping up with books I didn't collect.  After I opened my store, I would shop there about twice a week.  However, management decided to take over the old Winn-Dixie spot which was a little larger.  While they had probably given up on comics by then, they were able to expand their magazine section.  At least they did until they expanded the store to be able to install a liquor department.  Suddenly, the magazine section decreased by half and got hidden at the rear of an aisle. I shop there once, twice a week, even though it is very far away now. [As to the other supermarkets of the area.  The Piggly Wiggly that Food City replaced may have had comics that I bought, but I was so young and went there so infrequently that I can't be sure.  Same goes for the A & P that closed and burned down.  I was just too young to be sure, but I don't think I got any comics there if they had them.  While other markets had magazines, I don't remember any others selling comics.]
• Unknown comic shop, Chloe Creek Road, technically Shelbiana: In the late 90s, there were ads for this new comic shop on Chloe Road.  The first few times I tried to go there, I couldn't find it.  Turns out, it was almost at the very end near the Shelbiana side.  However, the store was closed.  I would finally go there after a few more tries.  It took up half of an old grocery store, based on the pressure plate door openers.  They had a selections of comics and cards similar to Page 3, but not the RPGs that were most on my mind.  Didn't ever try to go back.  They closed soon after.  While I've been down that road many times since, I can't seem to ever find the place.  Either it had been torn down or so totally remodeled that I can't recognize it.
• Book Nook, Shelbiana, ✓:  Right at where Route 122 became US 23 was Book Nook, a newsstand/book store connected to a small grocery store.  I would frequently stop there on the way back home from going to Pikeville after eating at Long John Silver's.  They had two racks of comic, usually in order of titles.  There was a selections of children's books and rows of paperbacks, which I never looked at.  There was also magazine racks that included Games Magazine.  It was my first "grown-up" puzzle magazine.  (Literally, as it was originally published by Playboy, which I may have mentioned before.) I couldn't do all of the puzzles, but I've been getting it, save a few issues here and there as well as a brief time when it was cancelled, ever since.  We didn't get too many groceries there, but they were the last to stock my all-time favorite chocolate-covered marshmallow Easter eggs, Luden's I think.  I'ver been looking for them online, but I can never seem to find out what happened to them.  Maybe the wrong name.  Once, we caught the clerk taking a nap on a cot in the back.  Soon after, the place closed, and became a Worldwide Equipment. The building was torn down years later to make room for the new Food City, or possibly the liquor store beside it.  [At most, this Food City only had some Archie comic digests, but they have stopped even carrying those.  After the last remodel, even their magazine section dropped to one rack, moved to the rear end of an aisle.  Still shop there on the way home at least once a week.]
• IGA, Virgie, ✓:  We didn't stop here too often back then, but one day we did and I picked up what would be my second ever superhero comic, Justice League of America.  That issue included a preview of what would become my third superhero comic, and my first #1, All-Star Squadron.  I would wind up picking up a few more comics the next year or two before they may have stopped getting them, or I just was able to pick them up elsewhere. They still had magazines for a while, and I remember getting one with song lyrics in them.  By the late 80s, we stopped going there as often. In the 2000s, I started going there again, but they had stopped carrying magazines.  They still had rarer varieties of some of my favorite brands though.  A few years ago, the store was remodeled and became a Save-a-Lot.  Although it was cleaner and brighter, it no longer sold those special brands, and I haven't gone in since I checked out the new design. [There are a few other stores on the old way from Shelbiana to Virgie, but I don't remember any of them selling comics.  Just magazines.  The most likely would be Quality Foods at Robinson Creek, but if they sold any, it would've been in the late 80s or so.  By the early 2000s, they stopped carrying even magazines. Still open though.]

And with that, I come to the end of week four.  Tune in next week as I go east into other states.  Oh, another cliffhanger 

My Comic Book Journey, Northwestern Pike

    This is probably going to be the longest post in this series, so let's get down to business.  This post covers the northern portion of west Pike county. Basically, I'm going down US 23 from the Floy county line to the north end of Pikeville this week.  Black = closed. Red = open, no comics.  Blue = open with comics. Check = actually bought at least one comic there once. Comments include additional locations that I'm unsure of.  Here is this week's list. 

• Food City, Coal Run, ✓:  We would alternate this Food City with the one actually in Pikeville, but sometimes we would go to both the same trip.  It was a little further out, but it was a little bigger and with a slightly larger selection of products, although its bakery was not as great.  As such, I didn't get too many magazines here.  The only times I remember getting comics there was when my regular store was having one of its many disruptions.  Even after I opened my store in the same center as the Pikeville location, I would still travel to this one every few weeks, as it frequently got in new products before the other one.  Unfortunately, the company felt that this site wasn't getting as many customers as it should, and they closed this site and built a new, smaller one at Shelbiana. I shop at it about twice a week, but it just isn't the same. (I'll talk more about that one next week.) The site is now a Big Sandy Superstore. I got a my current television there.
• Rite-Aid (currently Walgreens), Coal Run, ✓:  I didn't really stop in this store that often.  However, this was one of the places I would stop at in the early 90s when I was having problems finding comics as my usual store.  It stopped having comics many years before it became a Walgreens.  I haven't been in there since the conversion, so I have no idea if it even has magazines any more.  As I was creating this list, I think I confused/conflated this store with another one somewhere else, one where I saw comics, but didn't purchase any.  I'm thinking Letcher county or Virginia, but I honestly can't be entirely sure.  I decided to mention it anyway. [Next to the Rite-Aid was a Kroger.  I know that they had a descent magazine section, but I don't remember if they had comics.  Maybe for a brief period in the late 70s or early 80s, right when I was transitioning to superheroes. Not much of a bakery section, but it did have some unique products otherwise.  After it closed, part of it became a Save-a-Lot. Also, there was a department store nearby.  When it was a Murphy Mart (?), I know I got toys and activity books, but I can't remember comics.  After in became Ames, I still got toys, maybe a magazine, but I don't remember comics.  To be honest, I only remember it being Ames after I saw an online article about how the store is trying to make a comeback with over 500 possible locations.  After it closed, the space became a JCPenny and, after another store closed, an Ace Hardware.]
• Watson's, Coal Run, ✓:  I had a lot of firsts here.  I got my first ever record, "Rubber Ducky," while the store still had a music section.  I got my first bag of Jelly Belly jelly-beans here, back when they still had a small confectionary section. I also got plenty of toys here, including my first deluxe comic books, decades before they were more common.  While Watson's toy section never really had comics, maybe some collector packs, they did have a few activity books and such.  Once, I discovered these high end Disney comics with card-stock covers, brighter colors, and a slightly higher page count than normal. Whitman, at what would be the tail-end of its publishing prime, was experimenting with these newer printing techniques, as a means of attracting customers.  I got all six of the first wave, and three of the second wave of comics. (My mom didn't want to spend so much on titles she didn't like.) Whitman would soon stop publishing comics entirely, but I was able to have this last big hurrah with Disney comics. (While higher page counts never caught on, almost all comics now use this full-color printing style, and many titles use card-stock covers as either standard or as a special incentive, adding a dollar to the price.) When the store became Peeble's, the toy section disappeared, but I was old enough to not get toys anymore, so that.  The clothing selection also changed, and I didn't go there as much.  I stopped going when in became Goody's, and then Gordman's.  The store chain finally went out of business.  The site had been going renovation for much of the time since. [There is a gaming/comics/collectible store in the center, but I have never been there, even though I know the owner.  The store's hours are later than mine, so it is hard for me to go out there.  However, I wanted to be thorough, as I have seen comics on their Facebook posts that I sometimes get.]
• Readmore Book Store, Coal Run, ✓:  By the time this location opened, I was already getting most of my comics through my regular comic store.  I still got a few here, mostly those titles not on my pull list.  I also got way more books and magazines here than I did at the Prestonsburg site, including my first ever tarot deck kit.  By the early 2000s, I think that they had stopped selling comics.  The last time I went, in the fall/winter of 2003/4 or so, I stopped by on my way to Prestonsburg and picked up the anniversary issue of a 'magazine' that I got on occasion. (I haven't gotten an issue of it since, due to the difficulty of finding and purchasing it.) The store closed soon after.
• Magic Mart, Coal Run (final location), ✓:  I rarely went to Magic Mart when it was at its original location. It was just so hard to get to.  I know I got a toy or two there.  Maybe it had comics, at least collector packs.  I can't remember.  However, it definitely did went it moved.  I do believe I got at least one there before the comic book store opened.  I also got a bunch of magazine, but with two other stores nearby, that wasn't as frequent.  I also started my love of school supplies, specifically mechanical pencils, here, shopping every year for new ones.  After I finished school, I didn't shop here as often, although I got the table and chairs for my store here.  By then, they had stopped selling comics, I think.  Maybe they still had some Archie digests.  Anyway, I did try to stop a few times per year.  On the last time I went, they had gotten rid of the magazine section.  The school supplies seemed boring, as did most of the other sections that I used to like the most.  The chain closed a few years later.  In a strange coincidence, Big Lots took over the site, just like they did with Magic Mart's original location.
• Unnamed Hobby/Comic store #2, near Magic Mart, Coal Run, ✓:  Why is this number two?  Because this is either the second such store to open in the area, or it is the second location for the next entry. Since I couldn't remember the names of either spot, I am giving them separate entries, as they also had different vibes.  I stopped in during the difficult period when I was changing comic book store.  I only stopped once, but I got on one of my first comic book catalogs here, allowing me to know what was coming out three months in advance. I think it closed after a few months or so.
• Unnamed Hobby/Comic store #1, near K-Mart, Coal Run, ✓:  See above.  This location had a smaller comic book section compared to this earlier section, but it was neater overall, and less parking.  Both stores focused more on hobbies than comics.  Don't know what happened to either one after I finally had a permanent comic source. [K-Mart was not a frequent stop when I was a kid.  I know I got an activity book, one of those word find series that was everywhere back then.  Maybe some toys.  Maybe they had collector packs, can't be sure.  I am almost positive that they didn't have individual issues, but I could be wrong.  I remember getting magazines there in the mid 90s, but by the 2010s they were down to just a few around the registers.  I still stopped there a few times a year to pick up products I couldn't find elsewhere.  It was the oldest, but last of the local K-Marts to close, even though it still was getting a lot of business.  I still have trouble finding replacements for all of the products I can no longer find. A Rural King went into the spot.  I haven't been in it, but my mom has.  It was near Easter, and she was scared off by the chick display.  She hasn't been in since.]
• Walmart, current location, Pikeville, ✓:  While I remember getting magazines at the original Coal Run location of Walmart, I don't recall comic books.  I may be wrong, but this entry focuses on the current location. As I mentioned last week with the P-burg location, DC and Walmart partnered on some exclusive giant comic books.  While I got the first ones there, I got the majority of them here.  When the original giants stopped in 2020, the partnership continued with some collector packs with exclusive mini-posters.  Mostly, the titles were DC overprints that they had committed to before the lockdowns started, and DC needed a way to get of them.  Once they were sold, the deals ended.  Walmart already had collector packs of comic books, and they still have some today.  Mostly Marvels, which I wouldn't have, but Walmart still has comics.  They even had a display with this weird independent title for a while.  This Walmart used to have a large magazine section, but it has steadily shrank from six racks, to four, to the current two after the last major remodel.  About a quarter of the titles are special editions, known as bookazines.  The mags are crowded into a small corner of the book section in the back, and they could have been spread out much better.
• Winn-Dixie, Pikeville, ✓:  I always liked Winn-Dixie.  Many of the interior aisles had gaps in the middle so one could move without having to go up and down so much.  They had products that other stores didn't have.  They also had a small magazine section with some comics.  I don't think I got many here, but I think I got at least one here.  I also got my first body-building mag here, although it wasn't exactly that good and I never got that one again.  I was sad when the store closed in the late 90s or so.  I couldn't go in the last time, as I didn't want to see the emptying shelves.  The Pikeville Food City would later move in, and I will mention more about it next week.

        I will stop here this week, as this post is getting way too long.  Tune in next week, as I will finally answer the question, "Where do I get my comic books now?".