Comic Book Store Guy

I posted a version of this at Facebook, but wanted to post this tribute here for posterity as well.

Thanks to longtime buddy and award-winning audiobook narrator extraordinaire Scott Brick (whose photos grace this post), I learned that my local comic-book shop, Comics Ink, in Culver City, California, was closing next week, prompting me to stop by and offer my own thanks and congratulations on the owner's retirement...

I've been going to Comics Ink (in its various iterations) since the mid '80s (or so). In those early years, on most Saturdays or Sundays, it was the last leg of the day for my buddies and me (which included Scott and several others college friends), when we met for baseball in the morning at a park in West L.A. or Santa Monica, which was followed by a relaxing late breakfast or lunch at the same diner where we were usually served by the same waitress (who's still there by the way), ending with a visit to Comics Ink to get our weekly fix. That ritual changed then eventually ended with the advent of marriages, children, and the realities of adulthood, but Comics Ink remained our source for comics and, yes, a touchstone to our younger days.

In any case, I was glad to know Comics Ink's owner is retiring on his own terms and comfortably. I'm not sure everyone in his line of business can say that, but this and the fact that he's remained in business through the endless cycle of boom and busts of the comics industry says much about the man and his business sense!

Thanks, Steve, and to the Comics Ink staff for their great work over the years!

Scott Brick (second from left) with Comics Ink's owner (second from right) and his staff.