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I used to think comic book fans were all about the big two, but a trip to a small shop in Toledo changed that. | Comic Book Fans - Opinions Matter

robert246•7mo ago

I used to think comic book fans were all about the big two, but a trip to a small shop in Toledo changed that.

Honestly, I went into this little store called The Paneled Page last Tuesday just to kill time. The owner, this older guy named Carl, saw me looking at the Marvel section and asked if I'd ever read 'The Nice House on the Lake'. He handed me the first trade, and I read the whole thing right there in a beat-up chair. It's a DC Black Label book, but it's nothing like the superhero stuff I usually go for. That one afternoon completely shifted my view on what the hobby can be. Has anyone else had a single book from a small shop totally rewire their tastes?

3 comments

3 Comments

samthompson7mo ago

Come on, that's just a story about a good sales pitch. The guy probably gets a better cut on the indie books. My tastes were set by the stuff I loved as a kid, and no single book from some random shop is going to change that. It sounds more like you were just bored with your usual picks. A real shift in what you like takes years, not one afternoon in a chair.

averywright7mo ago

My cousin got handed a copy of Station Eleven in a Denver bookstore five years ago, and now he only reads post-apocalyptic fiction. Samthompson, I get that tastes are built over time, but a single great book can absolutely punch a hole in your usual routine. It shows you a door you didn't know was there. That bookseller wasn't just making a sale, he was connecting a person with a story that actually fit them. Sometimes you just need the right push at the right time to see what you've been missing.

janac516mo ago

Yeah, but that's the thing, it's not just a sales pitch. Carl at my shop gave me that book for free to read in the chair, no strings. He wasn't making a cut. It's more like what averywright said, a person connecting you with a story. That one book didn't erase my old tastes, but it definitely added a whole new shelf in my brain for different kinds of stories. It can happen fast when something just clicks.