Everyone Needs Heroes

As part of a Boys’ Night Out, me and The Boy headed stopped by Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find in Elizabeth. It had been years since I had been to a comic book shop. When I was younger I amassed a collection of Avengers, X-Men, Spider Man and a host of other titles that still sit in a chest in my bonus room today. I’ve picked up a few trades from time to time since, but I haven’t been a regular comic collector in years. Still, I have a lot of fond memories of looking forward to each pending issue of a title that had completely captured my attentions and look forward to passing that down to my own kids.

Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find is on E. 7th Street across the street from Showmars. The store is one of the largest that I had ever been in. Immediately to the right inside the door is a section of comics for kids of all ages. I set The Boy in front of the shelves in this section for him to peruse the likes of Spider Ham, Archie and Super Dinosaur. I then set out to see what the rest of the store had to offer.

Heading deeper into the store, it was really quite simple to make my way around- to the left were the comics and on the right the graphic novels. The selection appeared to be fairly extensive. I had no idea the number of titles currently being published, but a quick glance at the wall running the length of the store and it was readily apparent how long I had been away from (and how clueless I had become of) the comics industry.

In the middle of the store, towards the back, were the older comics. I immediately thought of my own collection and was tempted to ask the clerk on hand about the potential of bringing them in for sale. Another customer beat me to it and I overheard as the clerk stated that they were not big on buying individual issues. It’s just as well, as I’d probably get a bigger kick out of passing them down to The Boy.

The store happens to be the coordinator of Charlotte’s largest comic book convention, HeroesCon. This year it will be June 22-24 at the Charlotte Convention Center and will be celebrating its 30th anniversary.