My Comic Book Journey, Errata

    As I mentioned last week, this week I will be doing updates for the entire 'journey.'  I think up my posts sometimes weeks in advance, so I occasionally leave out details by the time I actually write these things.  I also make a couple of mistakes. This post will add in a few last details so I can finally get back to regular posting.

• Leg 1, south/central Floyd:  I believe there was actually some sort of collectibles shop near the McDowell IGA for a little bit.  I never went in, and I can't even remember when it was there.  Probably the late 90s.  There was also a second drug store in the Martin area near the Dairy Queen.  It may be connected to the original one.  This was back in the 90s as well.  My mom stopped there after taking my grandmother to the dentist or doctor for something.  When she got back to the car, she mentioned that she saw comics inside.  I went in to take a look, but didn't buy anything. Not sure if the place is still open.
• Leg 2, north Floyd:  I recently realized that I had misspelled 'Save-a-Lot' throughout this series starting with this post.  I have corrected it in most, if not all, instances. A few notes about the comic book shop at Banner.  First, it really only had comics and maybe some sports/trading cards.  It didn't have much room for much else, especially the last location which was just a room in a trailer.  Also, in a strange coincidence, both the owners of here and Page 3 were named Todd. {I missed one other supermarket in Prestonsburg on the south end of town, an IGA.  I don't remember if it ever had comic books, as we didn't go there that often and it closed when I was still fairly young.  I think I blocked memories of it because it was right next to a cemetery.  It is currently home to a fitness center. Edited July 3, 2024.]
• Leg 3, northwest Pike:  There may have been another comic shop in the Coal Run area, although I might be confusing it with one elsewhere.  I only went into this place once, as I felt it was sort of sketchy.  I'm thinking mid-90s.  Didn't last long.  Also, I am all but positive that the original Coal Run Walmart did have comics for a time before moving.  The current one still has a small selection of magna.
• Leg 4, southwest Pike:  I skipped many places in Pikeville for the Addendum section, as it better fit my narrative flow.  Please check there for some offbeat stories about comics and toys.  For the past few years, Pikeville has been hosting a comic and toy show at the expo center. Usually, it takes place in the late summer, but this year it is being held this Saturday, June 1.  I have never been there, as I usually don't have the money, and I find it hard to take the time off work to drive there.  I am also not sure I would like it there, especially on my own.  I just don't always like being in unfamiliar territory like that on my own.
• Leg 5, Norton, etc.:  I forgot to mention the original Norton location of Walmart.  I went there at least once, and I do remember seeing comics there.  Can't remember if I bought any.  The space went vacant for some time after the current location opened, but a Magic Mart ultimately went in.  I can't remember what went in after it closed, as I haven't been to Norton in many years. Also, back in the 70s, I went with my mom to Pound on a beer run, back when pretty much all of eastern Kentucky was dry.  I remember having comics with me.  I may have picked them up at a local drug store, but I can't be sure.  However, if I didn't get them from Pound, where did I get them?
• Leg 6, Letcher, etc.:  Why, Letcher county of course.  If not from Fleming-Neon and the Dawahares, then maybe from the women's dress shop at the start of the hill going into Virginia.  It might have given those free comics out as well, but I can't be sure.  There was also another clothes shop in the area, but I don't think it was connected with this one.  It was the first place where I heard WIFX radio.  It's been on the car presets ever since, at number 2, right by WQHY 95.5 at 1.  I also remember having some comics with me the last time I went to a family reunion in either Knott or Letcher county, the family of my maternal grandfather I believe.  I think I brought them with me, but I could have picked them up elsewhere.  I just can't be sure.  We haven't been to one since, and this was the early 80s.
• Leg 7, Johnson, etc.:  A customer came into Booknotes and confirmed information about the Van Lear bookstore.  It was named Words-n-Stuff, and it closed sometime after in moved to a second location. Now, this goes way back.  In the 70s, we went to West Liberty for the Sorghum Festival, probably.  Somewhere on the way, back more so than going, we stopped at a Maloney's or somewhere that had comics.  It could have been in Prestonsburg, as we stopped there to eat on the way back, but I honestly can't remember more than that.
• Leg 8, Huntington Mall:  On a least one occasion, I have been at the Mall while a comic show was going on.  I never planned it that way.  It wasn't that much.  Basically, it was just a bunch of tables set up in around the central foyer rotunda for dealers to put their stuff on.  I didn't really look for anything, as most dealt with older comics as opposed to the newer material I like.  Someone from Page 3 even recognized me while I walked by, and they told me the next time I went in.
• Leg 9, Lexington:  Back in 1995, I was going to go to my first ever comic show.  I had to postpone my usual trip due to an unforeseen job that I was forced into, and I rescheduled the trip just to go to this show.  It was just going to be a short detour to a mall just west of downtown.  Don't remember the name.  However, just as we were leaving the Fayette Mall to go there, my mom said she had a headache and didn't want to go.  I reluctantly agreed, even though it was the main reason for the trip.  Strangely enough, she was well enough by the time we got back to Prestonsburg that she wanted to stop at Walmart, something we never do as it usually is kind of late.  I'm not saying she did this deliberately, but she has a history of such instances popping up so she can avoid things.
• Leg 10, Addendum:  I may have gotten promotional comics from other places than the ones I mentioned, such as magazines. (By the way, I always planned on mentioning mags in the 'Afterthoughts' post, not with Leg 10.)  I remember seeing offers, but I can't be sure I actually got anything from them.  Fast food restaurants also had such offers, but this is slightly less likely.  When I was a kid, I was a very picky eater.  If it wasn't Long John Silvers, I would only get fries and a drink.  I am positive the only thing LJS had was activity books, but I may be mistaken.  It was only when I was a teenager that I began to expand my eating options.  If so, then I was very much out of the recommended age range for any comics, if I even tried to get them.

FINIS

Afterthoughts on My Comic Book Journey

    Last week was the last leg of this blog series about every place where I could remember seeing and/or buying comic books.  That was a lot of places, especially when one considers all of the secondary places where I couldn't confirm if there were comics there or not.  Funnily enough, the initial idea for this series was to document every place where I saw deer on my way from home to work.  I soon realized that I would have to either be extremely vague about each location or be super exact to the point where anyone could find out where I lived.  I definitely didn't want that second option.  So, I chose to do comic books instead.  As I mentioned in the introductory post, I sometimes went over such locations as a means to help me fall asleep.  Now, I could have chosen many other options to go over, such as clothes.  However, I had found comics at many more places than I have clothes, at least seriously searching for them.  If you thought mentioning a dozen Walmarts was repetitive, clothes would have been much worse.  I mean, I would be mentioning about ten different Dawahares, including the rare one at the Huntington Mall that was one of the first to close before the store went out of business.  In fact, I could only come up with about ten different stores that only had a single location or that I have only been to one outlet in a chain, including Lad and Lassie of Prestonsburg where I got clothes when I was just a toddler and is still open to this day, albeit with new owners and a much more accessible location.   I had about two dozen separate spots for comics.  I could have also gone with such things as magazines, books, RPGs, or toys.  I wound up mentioning most of those places too, just as a secondary objective.  In fact, you may have noticed that I frequently mentioned magazines.  I did that for two main reasons.  First, many newsstands used to get their comic books from the same distributor as their magazines. Things changed in the early 2000s when comic book publishers started making exclusive deals.  Most newsstands and bookstores decided to stop carrying comic instead of going through multiple distributors just to get all of the most popular titles.  Nowadays, one is lucky to see an "Archie" digest in anyplace outside of a comic shop.  Secondly, back in the 90s, when the comic industry blew up, publishers started to send out preview issues to the many comic book magazines that sprung up.  Other pop culture themed mags, such as those for video games, sometimes got into the act.  These previews would be inserted into the polybag with other freebies. I can't remember exactly which preview I got with which mag, as well as where I bought each one.  However, by mentioning most of the places where I got mags, this source of comics would be covered. I planned out my itinerary well in advance to make sure I knew where everything would be mentioned.  As such, I frequently went back and added details before posting.  Osborne Elementary and the Floyd County Public Library were the last main entries I added, with the Morehead Walmart and the UK bookstore being the last secondary entries.  However, sometimes I forgot to include a detail or piece of trivia I wanted to add, or I remembered a location after I had already posted about its leg.  I also made some mistakes.  That's why I will be including an errata section next week.  It was supposed to cap off today's entry for the final post, but I started late today, and there were way too many things I needed to add.  So, tune in for one final week about my comic book journey.  I just can't keep away from this. 

My Comic Book Journey, Addendum

    Last week, I completed my comic journey by finishing up the last place I planned on covering.  However, I still haven't gone over every single comic book that I have ever got.  There are still some that I have yet to mention.  These final few sources (I can't call them 'places' as you'll see) didn't really fit into the overall narrative that I was plotting, so they all ended up here.  Entries in black are for those sources that I no longer can get comics from.  The red entries indicate sources that are still active, but they no longer have comics available, at least on a reliable basis.  Finally, blue entries are those sources that still can, theoretically, have comics available.  All entries have check marks, indicating that I got comics there.  Comments include other sources where I'm not as sure about, or I didn't feel that they warranted a main entry.  Warning:  Some will get weird.  Very weird.

• Pic Pac (or some other supermarket), multiple possible locations, ✔ - probably:  Pic Pac was a supermarket chain that was fairly widespread.  Most became other stores, mostly IGAs.  One day, about the time I was transitioning to superhero books or soon after, my mom took me and a relative, probably a slightly older girl cousin, to somewhere.  We stopped at a store.  We left as I was still looking at the comics.  I complained back at the car, so my mom took me back in.  She bought me the comic, which was still under a dollar back then.  As to where this was, I can't remember.  I'm positive it wasn't around Prestonsburg.  I don't think it was in Pikeville.  Velocity Market almost feels similar, but the store I'm talking about was separate from a shopping center.  Also, Velocity never had comics, just a few magazines by the registers, and they stopped carrying those years ago.  The store was probably somewhere between Wheelwright and Whitesburg, then onto Hazard and back.  Or possibly on the old road between Pikeville and Williamson.  Or on the way to Jenkins and Pound.  I can't remember.  I either didn't imprint a proper memory or it wasn't significant enough to hold onto beyond this.  Anyway, I can't be sure how many other places I'm missing that this is standing in for.
• My mom, many spots, ✓:  Okay, let me explain.  As part of her state government job, my mom had to travel to many spots for training, sometimes for a whole week.  These places ranged from Owensboro to Louisville to Frankfort.  She would usually bring me something back, like a toy, book, magazine, or even a vinyl album once.  And of course comics.  I don't remember every place she mentioned she shopped, or even if she did mention every place.  At least one, Joseph-Beth, is still around, but most probably aren't.  I doubt we could even find the places again if we went there. Since she has been retired for over twenty years, this won't be happening any more.  I wouldn't trust here buying me comics anyway, even if I told her exactly what to get. [My mom has also bought me comics as part of Christmas stockings and Easter baskets, but they were probably bought locally.  She never got me comics for my birthday, although we did go for my regular weekly pick-ups.  Once, this happened on my only birthday party that could actually happen that didn't get postponed due to weather, flu outbreaks, or just being on a weekend during my entire time in school. Guests were already arriving.  By the time I got back, it was too late for me to regain control, and the party was just too wild to contain and petered out early.  Aside from some "Peanuts" comic strip collections in mass market books, which don't count, no one else have ever got me comics as a gift.]
• Action figures, various places, ✓:  Back in the early 80s, Kenner had a problem.  With the 'Star Wars' movies ending, they needed a new idea.  So, they teamed up with DC to produce the 'Super Power' line, promoted with comic books and the last few seasons of the Super-Friends cartoons.  The toys had a gimmick, as they had powers.  For example, if you squeezed the legs of the Superman figure together, his arms would 'punch.'  I got my first two figs at a Service Merchandise in Lexington, as part of my consolation trip for not going to King's Island.  We had just been to the store the day before, and I swear the toys weren't there.  I got Flash and Robin that day.  The figures had a collectable fact sheet on the back of the card, and a mini-comic inside.  I would get the rest of figures closer to home.  Many of them at Hobb's department store in Pikeville.  I would get a figure, or two, in the upstairs toy department, and then read the comic while eating a grilled cheese sandwich and maybe some fries at the lunch counter on the main floor.  I would get all twelve figures in the first wave, some of the vehicles, the 'Hall of Justice' playset, and the collector's case over the next year.  I was starting on the second wave of toys when the Transfromers  cartoon came out.  I had never liked toy cars before, but something about these changed my mind.  My first two toys were Gears and Windcharger (he's still one of my favs). Unfortunately, my mom would only allow me to get one toy line at a time, so 'Super Powers' lost out.  Transformers would become the last toys of my childhood. The final wave of figures would ditch the comics as a cost-saving measure.  Recently, another toy company put out a new wave of figures, using the same scale and palette schemes, as part of the anniversary of the line.  I don't think the toys have the gimmick, but I know they don't have mini-comics. [I remembering this, I recalled that Hobb's may have had comics.  I usually went in the Huffman street entrance, but I had to go in the Main street entrance one time due to construction.  In that section of the store, where I never went, I saw albums and magazines.  And maybe comics.  I may have even bought one, more than once.  Alas, Hobb's would wind up blocking off the section again, just before they closed.  I don't remember seeing comics there too many times. A bank now stands on the site.]
• Unnamed shoe store, Second street, Pikeville, ✓: Wait. What? When I was very young, my mom would drag me around downtown Pikeville to browse through the half a dozen dress shops before going to stores where I could actually look.  Fortunately, this shoe store would give out complimentary half-size comics as part of a promotion that allowed me to stay interested. Other stores in the region, such as the Dawahares at Neon, would do so too, just never as consistently as here.  I also didn't go those places as often.  There were a mix of funny animal and Marvel superheroes (which I never got).  I don't remember much Disney and definitely no DC.  Once, when leaving town, I realized that I had left my comics at a dress shop.  I wanted to go back to get them, but my mom said no.  To be honest, she or my grandmother would end up throwing most of them away, but still.  The shoe store stopped giving the comics out after a while, or I just aged out.  The store later switched over to boots and Western ware, before ultimately closing. [Some other Pikeville stores that I liked.  It was years before I realized that the downtown Pikeville Watson location had a basement with a toy department.  It had some activity books, and maybe a collector pack.  A few toys I got there didn't have the accessories with them, ruining at least one of the toys entirely. Murphy's wasn't I place we went to that often, but I did get a few toys there.  I think I saw magazines in one of the deeper rooms once, but I'm not sure about comics.  Gibson was just south of the main downtown area.  I remember getting cartoon character jigsaw puzzles there.  Maybe the occasional collector pack.  Possibly single issues.  Maybe even bought one, but the memory is super hazy here.  All three stores have been closed for decades, and the buildings torn down to be replaced by something else.]
• Osborne Elementary, Bevinsville, ✓:  What?!? First, a teacher let my borrow some special comic books to look at that included both DC and Marvel heroes.  How that could happen, I don't know, but I read them and returned them.  For actual buying though, there were book fairs.  I don't think I got anything there, as they started late in my school life, so most of the books were well below my reading level by the time.  However, some teachers were included in something else that let the students order books. One of these would be called a graphic novel in today's terms.  Not a picture book, but a bunch of comic strips telling a story. I'm pretty sure one section was taken from a comic book I had already had.  I'm counting it as a comic.  No school past elementary ever had comics for me to buy, not even college.  However, I would take a grad school course on comics if I ever had the opportunity. [Back when I still thought my mom would keep her promise to get me to UK on my terms, we went on a tour of the campus, that included the book store. While I wasn't in there too long, I think I saw comics there.  The book store ultimately was closed a few years ago.  I don't know where students get other supplies on campus any more.]
• Floyd County Public Library, Prestonsburg branch, ✓:  Huh? I admit to checking out graphic novels, and the occasional manga from here over the decades.  (I've had a library card since I was four or five.  And reading.)  Also, the library sometimes gives away older books.  I've never seen any graphic novels I would like.  They also have some comics as part of their periodical section.  However, they have also have gotten hold of some of the free comic books used as part of promotions for both 'Free Comic Book Day' in May as well as Halloween. Supposedly, only retailers are to get these, but the library also had them at times.  I've picked a few up.  One book for Halloween had a sample of an English translation in verse of an Italian comic interpretation of Dante's Inferno for kids using Disney characters.  Weird.  Anyway, I don't think they are involved with this promotion any more, as they definitely did not have any comics by the time I got to the library this year. [The current director used to work for the Pike County Public Library system.  Some of the libraries had the same free comics at times.  However, I don't think I picked any of them up.]
• Through the mail, address redacted to protect the privacy of the author, ✓:  I got comics through the mail in two different ways.  The first was by subscription.  This was actually common back then, but I don't know if physical subscriptions are still possible, only digital.  The first of these was in the mid to late 80s.  The cousin I mentioned in the first entry above was selling subscriptions for one of those senior things in high school that would be eliminated by the time I got there.  I got my first subscription to Games this way.  She also had comics, but only Marvel.  Yet, there was one comic that I could get, Transformers.  For the next few years, I would get an issue in the mail every month.  Sometimes multiple issues, as my mom would renew my subscription early, resulting in the problem.  This is a main reason why I stopped it, shortly before the title was canceled. I can't even remember getting all the last issues on newsstands.  Strangely enough, these comics survived the 2003 flood due to being kept at my store at the time. Next, in the early 90s, I ordered the update of DC's Who's Who in the DC Universe.  I didn't think I could get it through my regular shop at the time.  By ordering it, I got a free binder to organize the series.  Two actually, as a second one would up being needed.  This version wasn't in strict alphabetical order, and featured loose pages on could organize any way they wanted.  I kept mine in alphabetical order though. It lasted only sixteen issues, plus a follow up a year or so later that I was never able to get.  A few years ago, all of the various Who's Who series were collected into two huge omnibus collections.  I haven't gotten them yet, but there might be somewhere I could them a little cheaper than even what I could through my store.  This is where the final mail source comes in.  My mom has been getting a discount book catalog for decades.  Once, she ordered a hardcover collection of Carl Barks duck comics, Donald and Scrooge.  I knew about them, but she wanted me to get one.  I could've gotten them through Page 3 or my store, but she got me the first one through this catalog though.  The rest I got through the other ways.  She still cold get more this way, but it is easier the other ways. [More on Barks in a later post.]

    With this, I return to where I started my comic book journey.  Tune in next week as I talk about how I came up with doing this series and where I go from here.
 

My Comic Book Journey, Lexington

    For some reason, my mom never liked  going to Lexington that much when I was very young.  The first trip that I can remember, my mom got lost trying to find a new mall (probably the Fayette Mall, but I can't be sure), and we wound up having to ask someone at a general store for directions.  I'm thinking we had actually entered another county, most likely Jessamine. Anyway, I got Dr. Seuss's The Sleep Book at a bookstore that had actual wooden shelves, but I don't think they had comics. It was my only Dr. Seuss I ever had.  When I went back to the Fayette Mall much later, it did not match my earlier memory, so I can't be entirely sure where we went that first time. Anyway, I should warn everyone that some of these entries are much vaguer than previous ones, as I was so young and not paying too much attention where I was going.  Even now, I am still unfamiliar with some areas, and that is with going to Lexington at least twice a year.  I just don't visit some parts of the city frequently enough.  Entries in black are for places that are, most likely, no longer in business.  Blue entries are for places that still sell comics, of some type.  Although not really relevant again this week, red would be for places that no longer have any sort of comics, but are still open.  Checks indicate that I actually bought comics there, as opposed to just seeing them.  Comments includes secondary entries that I am unsure about or that I feel are not important enough for a main listing.  Let us begin.

• Unnamed supermarket, Lexington:  Back in the early 80s, we were going to Lexington to visit a cousin of mine (whose father would later become my second dentist in Paintsville, {see, everything is connected}), and then we were going to King's Island the following day.  On that first day, we had pizza at a place with games and animatronic animals preforming.  We then went to a department store where The Making of Micheal Jackson's 'Thriller' was on television.  We also stopped at this huge supermarket, bigger than any I had ever been in, on the northeast side of town.  While I don't remember seeing comics that first time, when I went again years later, they did have some, right by their magazines.  Unfortunately, the last time we went, a guest cousin convinced my mom that we should leave, before I could even look around.  She did the same thing when we tried to go to the mall attached to the supermarket, probably Turfland Mall.  The store, and even the entire mall, would close.  I think it was bought out by a megachurch, but I'm not sure. 
• Random 7-eleven, Lexington:  Driving around town used up a lot of fuel.  So, we stopped at this 7-eleven somewhere.  My cousin and I went inside to wait, while the adults got the gas.  There was a magazine stand with a few comics mixed in, including an annual for Legion of Superheroes.  I knew of the team from other comics, and I almost got this one.  I didn't though, and it would be years later when a new volume of the comic started before I began collecting the series.  However, I have pretty much bought every iteration of the team since.  We would later reach Fayette Mall so my mom could buy a vacuum cleaner.  Whatever.  Even if they still had comics, there is absolutely no way I could ever find this 7-eleven ever again.  It might not even be open any more, and that is why it is listed as closed.
• Unknown book store, Lexington, ✓ (maybe, read on):  Well, still that same trip to Lexington as the previous two entries, my mom reneged on the King's Island trip, saying I would be too hot, although I have a feeling there ulterior motives.  As consolation, we did some more shopping around the city before going back home, including at one of the stops from the previous day (I'll come back to this later).  One stop we made was to a bookstore somehow connected to a bunch of other stores withing Rupp Arena, although I might be wrong on that.  There, I found comics.  However, I can't remember buying one that day.  On the one hand, my mom wanted us to hurry to get out of town, and I already had 'store loyalty' to Osborne drug store.  On the other hand, I really wanted a comic book.  Anyway, we left town before I realized it, and I still had one of my cousin's toys with me.  It would be weeks, if not months before he came back to eastern Kentucky so I could return it to him.  I believe all the store's connected to Rupp closed, if this was one of them.  Regardless, I doubt I could ever find it again, even if it managed to stay open and keep comics.
• Hobbytown USA, Regency Center, Lexington:  Back in the late 90s, when I started back with making regular trips to town, I wanted to explore the city.  One such instance was in my love of RPGs.  I wanted to get as many supplements as I could to fill up my collection.  I had limited computer access then, but I found out about some places that sold them online.  This place was the easiest one to get to.  While they did have some books, the selection wasn't that great, with the best one being a book that wasn't that highly rated.  I almost wish I had gotten now.  The store also had a small comic section.  While I know I looked at it, I can't be sure that I bought anything, as I am all but certain I was getting almost everything through Page 3 by this point.  I would've have gone back, but that location was closing, either moving or merging with another Hobbytown USA in town.  I have yet to look for it again. [The main anchor of this center is Kroger.  It is fairly large, although the rather narrow aisles make it feel cramped and smaller.  It really needs a remodel to compete with the newer, larger Krogers in the city.  I think it my have had comics, at least 'Archie' digests, back in the 90s.  As of my last visit, it still had a small magazine section, but no comics.]
• Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Mall at Lexington Green, Lexington, ✓:  My mom had been here on her way back from business training.  She had warned me that it was big when we finally visited in the early 90s.  I was overwhelmed.  It was so huge.  There was a magazine rack much longer than anything I had ever seen, filled with so many things that I was all but lost.  I barely found the comic books mixed in.  I had to limit myself to just a few other sections, or I would have been lost in there. Also, I had limited time to search.  Then, the store expanded to the next unit over for a new children's section.  They later moved to their current location in the center of the mall, replacing a number of smaller shops.  We visited some of those shops when we arrived to mall early, and mom had to use the restroom before Joseph-Beth opened.  I would wind up buying many magazines, books, RPGs, and comics here.  By the 2010s, the store would stop carrying regular comics, although they still have graphic novels and manga.  There still might be comics of a sort in the downstairs kids' section, but I rarely go down to check.  Things have changed there so much.  The magazine selection for my favorite categories have shrunk faster than others.  Sections keep moving, making it hard to find things I could get at my store.  The last time I went, last fall, was the only time I didn't buy a single thing there.  I just hope it manages to stay afloat. [Between this mall and the Fayette Mall is a Target.  While they currently might have a selection of manga, maybe even the occasional 'Archie' digest, I really wouldn't call this place as having ever had comic books, at least since I started going here regularly in the 2000s.  I may be wrong.]
• Waldenbooks, Fayette Mall, Lexington, ✓:  Even after the overwhelming selection over at Joseph-Beth, I would still find products here.  Once, in the mid-90s, I even bought a selection of magazines and books connected to a trading card game I like that the other store didn't have, or I couldn't find in all of the 'largeness' of the place.  In fact, the was a stretch of visits where I seemed to get a comic that Page 3 had overlooked or an RPG each time.  Things improved for me a little after Waldenbooks moved next to the Apple store, although I was still to intimidated to actually go in.  There was even a Walden Software store that had computer and video game software and magazines.  Unfortunately, things would change after 2004, and the store closed.  It happened between my visits to the mall, so I never got the chance to buy one last item.  Currently, the only places left in the mall that have comic-related materials are few.  First, the fye/ For Your Entertainment.  They have had pop culture related magazines, and possibly some manga as well.  I wouldn't call this enough to warrant it a comics place, especially with the downgrading with some of its merchandise over the past few years.  Second, there are two outlets of CK Gaming.  They have a selection of both video games and more traditional ones (board games, card games, RPGs, etc.).  I have seen some graphic novels based on some of these games, but, again, it is not enough to call either location a comics place, although still interesting on their own. [There have been a few other places that may have had comics at the Mall.  First, there was once a Roses department store.  I only went once or twice before it closed, but it may have had comics.  I just never really looked there for them. The spot is now a J C Penny.  Next, there was once a kiosk that had trading cards.  I don't think it had comics, but it could have had a few at one time or another.  Something else has taken it place, probably many times over.   Next, there was a video game store that may have had a small selection of comics.  I only went in there a few times, so I can't fully remember it.  It was in the newer section of the mall.  I think it closed by the early 2000s.  Finally, there may have been an actual comic book shop here for a visit, or I might be confusing it with the Huntington Mall.  Either way, it focused more on older collections rather than new stuff.  I was deeply tied to Page 3 by then, so I didn't look to closely.  It wasn't there long.  It didn't even do much remodeling from the store that was there before it, and I felt it was a little shabby compared to the decor of the rest of the Mall.]
• Unknown supermarket, Lexington:  This store was south of the Fayette Mall.  I don't know where I found out about it.  We went there just once.  We took a very brief look around, as there was someone left in the car who didn't want to go in. They had comics, I think, but I didn't really give them much of a look.  Probably late 90s.  Only time there.  I think they were bought out by Kroger, but it may be something else entirely different now.  Maybe even the new high-end shopping district where Apple moved to.  Just not sure, as I haven't been there yet. [Two last places I visited in the 90s before they closed were K-Mart and Toys-R-Us.  The former was just for a few minutes, so I can't remember any comics.  I think there were comics at the latter, but I was in my early twenties, and I didn't want to look too creepy by checking out the comics.  I was just there for the video games and game magazines.  It was the only time I ever went into one of the stores.]

    I know for a fact that there are other comic books shops and bookstores in Lexington.  I used to have lists of all them, in case I could ever convince my mom to explore outside of her comfort zone and not care about time.  I have not been able to visit any of them, and I haven't updated my lists in many years.  I still try to keep them though, in case I can ever visit Lexington on my own terms, or if I move there.  Still, I feel like have missed out on so many opportunities by not venturing further out.  

    With this, I have finished my comic book journey.  However, I still have many comic books unaccounted for.  Where did they come from?  Find out next week for the thrilling conclusion of this series!

My Comic Book Journey, Huntington Mall

    In honor of "Free Comic Book Day," I am writing this bonus post in my continuing series.  Today, I will be exploring the Huntington Mall and nearby locations.  The Mall was the first mall I went to that I was old enough to fully appreciate.  It is misnamed thought, as it is miles east of most of Huntington, and it may or may not be withing Barboursville city limits.  As such, I will just limit the location of these stores as "Huntington Mall."  Entries in black are for stores that have gone out of business. Blue is for stores that still sell comics, of some kind.  Although there are none mentioned again this week, red would indicate stores that are still open, but do not currently sell comics.  Checks indicate that I actually bought at least one comic there, which is all the main entries.  Comments include places that may have/still have comics, but they do not merit a full entry.  As each store is in pretty much the same place, I will be listing them roughly in the order they closed.

• Coles, Huntington Mall, ✓:  This was one of the two bookstores at the Mall when it first opened in the early 80s.  (See below for the entry on the other one, Waldenbooks.) For some reason, I always seemed to switch up which of the stores I would buy comics at each trip, although I preferred Coles as it was more brightly decorated.  To be honest, I was much more likely to buy comic digests here than actual comic books, for some reason.  In fact, I can't be sure which of these stores I bought more at, but I will list them both as having bought there.  I also bought books on occasion and maybe a magazine here.  One trip, when I was still going just once-a-year, I heard a clerk say that they were going to get merchandise from the other store.  Apparently, Coles and Waldenbooks were now under the same corporate umbrella.  I guess this is why Coles was closed by my next trip.  I can't remember where it was exactly, but it was on the northwestern side of the mall.
• Phar-mor, Huntington Mall, ✓:  My mom would make us go early to reach the mall in time to get maximum shopping potential.  This meant getting there before most of the stores were open. When Phar-mor became the fifth 'anchor' store in the early 90s, we finally had somewhere to go until the other shops opened.  As the name suggests, the store was more than just a pharmacy.  It had clothing, electronics, groceries, toys, and, of course, magazines and comics. I know I got a few mags there.  I know I saw comics there.  I am fairly certain I got at least one comic here that I wasn't getting through my regular comic store.  Things were going great, even if it meant carrying bags around before the true shopping began, until Phar-mor faced some major financial problems.  The chain closed, with Dick's Sporting Goods ultimately taking over the spot.  Dick's even expanded into the Mall proper, taking over some of the units on the mall side of the store.
• Unknown collectible/comic kiosk, Huntington Mall, ✓:  There may have been more than one of these, and I am accidentally combining them.  However, I am pretty sure there were no more than one open at any given time.  I would wind up getting some trading-game cards here, as well as the occasion comic.  Once, in the early 90s, I would pick up about seven comics here.  Combined with my regular two (or three week) haul from my regular comic book store, and maybe an additional one or two from elsewhere in the mall, I had over twenty comics in one day.  Still a record.  The comic craze died down, and the kiosk closed.  In fact, the mall has gotten rid of many of their kiosks, especially after the last remodel that added carpeting to the main corridors. 
• Unnamed hobby/comic store, Huntington Mall, ✓:  This was one of the opening stores at the Mall.  I only remember going in once in the 80s.  A great-aunt had given my some old money, and I was looking for a way to clean it.  We got two types of cleanser here, but I never used it.  Whenever I tried, my mom said it wouldn't be the right time. We ultimately had to get rid of it, mostly never used, and definitely not on those coins.  However, I would see a poster promoting comic books here in the early 90s.  I started going in there again, and I picked up a few issues here and there.  Unfortunately, this was one of a grouping of stores that closed about the same time, so a new store could take up all of their places.  The hobby store closed before I started getting into RPGs, so I don't remember if they had them there.  About five or six stores were combined into a new big store, which I'll come back to.
• Waldenbooks, Huntington Mall, ✓: After Coles closed, this was the main place where I would find things to read while my mom went around trying on clothes. I can't really remember buying comic books here in the 90s and 2000s, but I am sure I bought at least one during that time.  I did seem to buy comic book magazines here though, quite often.  What got me is that they never seem to be available around home, even at Page 3.  They even had some RPG supplements, but I never bought any here.  Even when they were having their closing sale in the 2000s, I was talked out of buying anything by my mom, saying it would take to long to check out.  So, what was I going to do for a distraction now?
• Borders, Huntington Mall, ✓:  Remember that new big store I mentioned awhile back.  Turns out it was Borders, another books store.  One could almost call it a sixth anchor, due to its size and outside entrance.  It was definitely larger than the other non-anchor stores with their own outside door.  I had been in major bookstores before (see the next regular post), so I wasn't overwhelmed. It was still big.  I picked up a few comics that had slipped by Page 3, as well as magazines, RPGs, and the occasional book.  They also had CDs, but I don't think I ever got any here, preferring the music shops instead, until they closed.  I was seriously thinking about joining their membership program in the early 2000s, even though I had my own bookstore by then and I only visited a Borders two or three times a year.  The chain went into bankruptcy before I could join, and the store closed. One of the next times at the Mall was the worse visit ever.  We didn't buy a single thing, save for maybe some candy.  At least I picked up some stuff in Barboursbille and at Prestonsburg on the way home that time, but what about the next time?  What would I do? [A few other stores may have had comics.  At least one of the toy stores, Kay-Bee I'm thinking, may have had a small comic rack. Children's Palace may have had some comics too, after it moved to an outer building on the complex.  I just stayed in my favorite aisle, as the place was too big to search around in. It was the store where I bought my last toy as a kid,  okay young adult around 20 or so. Don't judge.  A Micheal's went into part of the space.  That's how big it was.  Suncoast may have had manga to go with the anime DVDs, but I rarely checked out that part of the store. It could have had actual comics for a time as well, but I can't remember.]
• BAM (Books-a-Million), Huntington Mall, ✓:  BAM would go into Borders' old spot soon after.  They even reused some of the fixtures.  At first, BAM was much the same.  Some comics, magazines, books, and RPGs, although the latter would soon run out as the company went to online distribution only.  Soon, comic books would change distributors as well, leaving just graphic novels and manga, and maybe an "Archie" digest or two.  BAM would stop selling CDs, going to just vinyl.  They would expand their board game selection, but cut back on magazines by about 25%.  Whether that is due to fewer mags or space is unknown, although many of my favorites have gone out of print. They keep moving sections around so you can't tell where anything is.  They have mostly closed the mall entrance registers, in favor of the outside entrance ones.  They no longer provide free bags, only selling reusable ones.  I am really starting to hate this place, but as it now has a monopoly on such products, I need something to keep me occupied, even when my mom barely looks for clothes any more. [Of current stores, only Gamestop may have once sold comics.  I remember buying a trading-card magazine in the 90s, so they may have had some comics, particularly game-based manga.  I haven't had a gaming console for a long time, so I haven't been in recently, so I don't know current status.  There is an Ollie's in a out-building on the complex, but I have never been in it.  Usually, they have graphic novels and maybe collector packs, but are subject to availability. Finally, there is a Walmart just off of the complex.  It is a little on the small side.  I went there once to look for missing exclusive comics.  They didn't have what I was looking for, but they did have comics then, and they still could have something.]

    After all the decades going to the Mall, I have never been into actual Huntington.  I know they have at least one comic store, based on the scenes every May for today's event, and some bookstores.  I even contacted one just before my store opened for advice, as that store was closing.  I've been to a few stores in Barboursville though, but I have no knowledge of any bookstores or comic stores in the city.  The Target there had some 'Archie' digests, and probably manga, but I never looked to closely for comics here.  It recently made news as part of it fell off due to a landslide.  The Barboursville Kroger was already fairly big when I first went there, and it is now comparable to some smaller Walmart after it expanded.  It may have had some comics mixed in with its large magazine section when I first started going in the late 90s or early 2000s, but not anymore.  In fact, the store has backslid a little since the expansion. The bakery has cut back on many options.  The promotes more store-brands now over name-brands.  The magazine section was moved and cut back to one rack, before being removed altogether.  The one great thing about it is the frozen food section, boasting a large selection including many varieties I have never seen locally.  However, going 120 miles for frozen food, even with freezer bags in the middle of winter isn't practical, although I have done it.  The other two stores in town that I have visited, Walgreens and Food Fair, have never had comics, with the latter never having mags either.

    That's it for this special bonus post.  Tune in this coming Wednesday for my regularly scheduled post.  The next stop on my journey, Lexington.
 

My Comic Book Journey, Magoffin and Johnson, plus Lawrence

    We are up to what I'm calling the northern leg of this trip.  I must admit, this part was going to be a little shorter than previous installments, but I found a way to make it about the same length.  This week, I'll be starting out in Magoffin county, before heading to Johnson county.  Finally, I make a quick stop in Lawrence county.  I'll also mention one last destination at the end.  As always, entries in black are for places that are now closed, while blue is for places that are still open and selling comics.  I would be using red for places that are still open but not longer selling comics, but none are main entries this week.  Check marks are used to designate locations where I actually bought, as opposed to just see, comics.  Let's start in Salyersville.

• Unknown drug store, Salyersville, ✓:  What was I in Salyersville for?  Well, back when I was much younger, I had a doctor who moved around a lot.  I went to see him at Wheelwright, Mud Creek, Pikeville, and at a clinic near Salyersville.  I needed a prescription that day, so we had it filled at this place downtown on a hill.  There was a problem, so we had to go back to the clinic to resolve it before actually getting it filled.  We sat in the waiting room for a long time, but that was also where the magazines and comics were.  I managed to pick up two of my regular titles and looked at quite a few more before we left for home.  Technically, the pharmacy might still exist, but since I'm not planning on ever going back to downtown Salyersville, and they wouldn't have comics anyway, I'm calling this place closed.

    Now, onto Johnson county.

• Sundry Store, Paintsville, ✓:  This store was a few doors down from my dentist's office.  I won't mention his name, but he is a relative and his son was on a high school, state championship basketball team.  I would stop by after my appointments and look at the comics.  At least once, I got to pick them up beforehand, and I read them while waiting on my mom to finish with hers.  I even think I was allowed to go a little early on my own, when I was a little older.  I don't remember looking at much of the rest of the store, but it was definitely more than what I did at the Prestonsburg location.  The store closed about the same time that my dentist retired.  I would soon get another dentist, who was also a relative, whose office was a few streets over. (More on him in a later post.) I think I remember going out to the car to get some comics to read while waiting on my mom just before he retired as well, but I can't remember where I got them.  It was at his second office, the summer after my first year of college when I was preparing to get some of my wisdom teeth pulled, so it could have been anywhere.  Just not at the Sundry Store. [The only other place downtown that might have had comics would have been Murphy's, but I don't remember seeing any there. I got toys a few times, and I think I remember magazines, but not comics.]
• Ames/unknown supermarket, Paintsville, ✓:   These stores were located at the shopping center south of Johnson Central High School.  The Ames may have been a Murphy's first.  We rarely went to this center, preferring the larger one nearby. (See next entry.) The Ames was very long and narrow, with only a few aisles.  I remember seeing toys, and possibly comics, but I don't remember buying anything there.  Maybe.  The supermarket was similarly narrow.  As such, the aisles weren't perpendicular to the facade like in most stores.  They were parallel, with a wide corridor in the middle.  I quickly came up with the best way to check every aisle, ending up right next to the registers.  And the comics next to them.  I'm pretty sure I bought one that day, the only time I remember ever going here.  Just wish I could remember the name.  The store is now, you guessed it, a Save-a-lot.  I think.  I so rarely go by this center any more that I can't be sure.  I don't know what went into the Ames spot.
• Kroger/unknown department store, Paintsville:  I know I saw comic books at both places, but I don't actually remember buying any at either spot.  They were located at the shopping center north of the high school, a much larger space with more stores and restaurants around.  The department store had a name made up of three letters, like TGY or something.  They a had a little bit of everything, sort of like Walmart, which is strange since the original location for the Paintsville Walmart was right next to where the store was.  I remember getting toys and magazines here, but I don't think I bought any of the comics I saw.  The same goes for Kroger.  It was maybe a little bigger than the one at Coal Run.  It was known for carrying brands not found any further east or south.  For instance, it was the first local store to carry the TastyKakes brand years before anyone else.  My mom would just love stopping here to pick something at the bakery in the mornings for her to eat on our way to the Huntington Mall.  We would then stop on the way back to pick up some more groceries.  It had a fairly good magazine stand, but I'm not too sure about comics. The department store closed in the 80s, and then split up into smaller units.  Kroger closed in the mid-2000s, the last one in the region to do so.  It was split into a Goodwill and a discount grocery.  I made the mistake of going in there soon after the change.  It almost broke my heart. [On a hill across the road, there is another shopping center.  The Food City there may have had comics, but they had their magazine stand moved to beside the entrance, making it hard to look there.  It probably had them, but I don't remember it.  The Kmart was much better.  It was bigger than some Walmarts at the time.  I only went to the original Painstville location once, where I may have gotten a toy yet no comics, but it probably could have fit into the latter location.  It had a good magazine selection, where I got some issues that weren't available in Huntington for some reason.  I bought my mom her best Christmas present ever there.  And it may have had a few comics in with the toy department.  I was too old for toys when I looked that time, but it may have been there.  Unfortunately, the place was too big and never really had the customers.  It closed along with the others, quite early on.  The place is still empty.]
• Read-a-lot bookstore, Paintsville, ✓:  This was the first bookstore I knew of in the area.  The first time there, my mom may have bought a book, but I don't remember her buying any others.  The had a trade-in shelf.  They had the usual magazines.  And they had comic books.  In fact, they may have had some direct market editions, although they could've been just collectibles instead of new. I would stop here after many of my dental appointments for comics.  I would also stop here on my way back from Huntington, as they were highly likely to have titles that weren't at the Mall yet.  Once, in the late 80s, I discovered the first revival of Disney comics, and I promptly got all four titles.  I also got my favorite RPG core rule book here in the late 90s.  I would sometimes sneak off to here to look at some of the other supplements, but never buying them.  I could never seem to want them enough.  I wound buying one at Page 3 in the early 2000s, used.  I would later find out that Read-a-lot had gone out of business.  Was the book I bought the same one I saw there over the years?  No idea. [There was a once a bookstore at Van Lear, not connected to this one.  We went there once when we entertained the idea of moving the store.  He mostly dealt in trades, although he had a good selection of new books, as well as some magazines the only time we went.  I didn't see comics though. The owner said he had barns full of used books that he wanted to get rid of.  I believe the store is now closed, but I just can't remember the name.]
• Walmart, current location, Paintsville:  I had been at the original location a few times, but not as many times as the ones in Prestonsburg and Pikeville.  I even went to all three in one day once.  The current location is huge, rivaling the one in Norton as the biggest one in the region.  I would give the honor to Norton, if only because I prefer the grocery section being on the right, and not the left as it is here.  As to comics, I don't remember the original place having them.  Didn't go enough times to know.  As to here... Remember the exclusive DC comics from a few posts ago?  Well, sometimes the P-burg and Pikeville locations either sold out or never got them in.  So, I stopped by here on my way back from Huntington to see if they had the missing issues.  They didn't, but they had other comics.  I believe they would still carry some collector pack and manga like the other Walmarts.

    Now, on quick stop in Lawrence county.

• Walmart, current location, Louisa:  I never went to the original Walmart at Louisa, but I passed by it once having to take a detour on the way to Huntington Mall one year.  I visited the current location soon after it opened.  I first thought it was a larger one, but subsequent trips suggest it is merely regular sized.  As to comics, see the above entry, just replace "coming back" with "going to" the Mall.  They didn't have the missing issues either that day.

    With this, the northern leg is technically done.  I will add one last place that kind of fits in here, but doesn't.  When I was a senior in high school, I was part of a group that went to Morehead State University for an event.  Afterwards, we stopped at a shopping center.  I bought two cassette singles at a record store, before going on to the Walmart.  I could've bought the cassettes for less there.  I probably looked for comics there, but I don't remember actually seeing any, although I might have had.  Didn't buy any though, that's for sure.  This doubt is why it doesn't get a main entry, or even a place in the regular comments.  Morehead might have a newer Walmart by now, but I might not ever go there again. There might have been a book store or comic store in the town at the time, but the bus was only at this one shopping center, so I never got a chance to find out.

    I have mentioned the Huntington Mall a few times this week.  Well, it just so happens that the Mall is our next destination.  Tune in this Saturday for a special "Free Comic Book Day" edition of the blogcast to find out where the comics are at the Mall.