A guide to Long Beach’s comic-book stores—there’s more than you think

COMIC BOOK GUYS by ROSHEILA ROBLES

If you live in Long Beach and follow superhero comics, there are two main ways to get your fix: one is joining the mass exodus out of the city to San Diego’s Comic-Con, as thousands of people did last week. The other? Visit one of Long Beach’s many fine comic stores. (Tip: for once, you’ll have better luck parking here.)

The first time I visited Amazing Comics, I was carried in against my will, kicking and screaming the whole way (I should probably mention that I was six at the time). My grandmother still swears that after one look around at the walls lined with comics and toys, I shut right up . . . until I started begging her for a Daffy Duck comic 20 seconds later. Now nearly double the size it was then and with at least twice as much stock, Amazing maintains that breathtaking effect on first-time customers. The store is no longer just a comic store: it’s become a purveyor of all things Geek, from a wide selection of shirts and jackets (including a truly bitchen Spider-Man jacket that sells for hundreds of dollars) to role-playing game equipment (how many sides would you like with your dice?). They also sell every kind of trading card on Earth, from sports cards to Pokemon to comics collector sets and a stunning array of high-priced statues of all your favorite comics heroes.

This is the store that would look most familiar to people whose exposure to comics shops starts and ends with The Simpsons‘ Android Dungeon: dimly lit, every inch of space absolutely crammed with merchandise. When I was in elementary school, I used to wander the aisles and dream of winning a million dollars and buying everything in the store. It remains a great place to lose an hour or two (or six or seven) drooling over all the geekdom you never even knew existed (unless you knew you could buy Captain America and Hulk belt buckles) and you surely couldn’t hope to afford.

Like everyone else I knew, I stopped reading comics in middle school, when I realized that girls existed. It was nearly a decade before my soon-to-be-wife got me back into the habit, thanks to her burgeoning love for all things Batman. Shortly after we started reading comics regularly, a new store opened in Long Beach closer to where we lived: Pulp Fiction. This store was brighter, with the kind of shelving you found at a chain bookstore. As the owner told us on our first day there, they try to be a “bookstore that sells comics” instead of the dank pit most fans are accustomed to.

Pulp lacks the variety and selection that Amazing has, but they do offer a 20 percent discount on graphic novels, with a collection big enough to keep any fan happy. (I particularly recommend the author-specific shelves if you’re looking for an obscure Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman title.) They also garnered attention a few years back for their efforts to promote literacy through comics, whose built-in visual aids have proven especially useful to ESL students. Pulp Fiction is part of the growing national trend of stores that are shifting away from the old nerdy image, trying to create a clean, well-lit atmosphere any family man would be happy strolling into. Plus, nobody gawks at my fiancée there, which is always a bonus.

Lastly, the Comic Book Guys is the next step in the evolution of the comic store: an upscale, classy store located on Pine. On my first visit to scope it out, I noticed businessmen walking around with the same looks of recognition and reverie that I’d sported on my first trip into Pulp Fiction. The Comic Book Guys are young, so their selection isn’t stellar yet, but they do carry a ton of posters, including large poster versions of recent comics covers; and they hold a lot of promotions and sales, such as their recent Independence Day sale and their recurring free comics Saturdays.

But CBG isn’t a store you go to for the selection (not yet, anyway): this store is notable for its atmosphere, which has graduated to an almost boutique or art-gallery level, with its downtown location and swanky sign. It’s the perfect complement to Long Beach’s other stores: together they form an unstoppable Zord of comic book diversity, able to satisfy the tastes of any and all readers.

AMAZING COMICS 5555 STEARNS ST | SUITE 103 | LONG BEACH 90815 | 562.493.4427; PULP FICTION 4501 CARSON ST | 104 | LONG BEACH 90808 | 562.496.3343; THE COMIC BOOK GUYS 580 PINE AVE | LONG BEACH 90802
| 562.436.2528

Tags: amazing comics, comic book guys, comic books, Long Beach, pulp fiction