Blog: Some Cliches Are Cliches Because They're True

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Today, as I wended my way through downtown uptown Leytonstone, I thought I might pop into my local comic shop, to see what it's like.

I've always done pretty well with comic shops. In my YOUTH I shopped at "The House On The Borderland" in Peterborough which was (and indeed still is) EXACTLY what a comic should be, even smelling vaguely of POT. LAWKS! After that I shopped at "Final Frontier" in Leicester, which was fairly GROOVY, but then I gave up for ten years (and didn't, apparently, miss much). When I came BACK I shopped at... well, The Android's Dungeon really. It wasn't that bad to be honest, people were a Different, yes, there WERE waistcoats in evidence, and one of the people there apparently HAD named one of his children after WOLVERINE (though I wonder if he called him Logan or James or ... shit.) but at least it was friendly, and clean, and you could get IN.

None of these things can be said for My Local Shop. From the outside, it was FILTHY - knackered old hand made posters falling off the inside of windows, where, inside, were displayed months old yellowing copies of 2000AD. Once through the door you were HEMMED IN by racks of festering cardboard boxes, full of FILTHY dusty comics (and I'm not the most FASTIDIOUS type, or I try not to be, but these were DISGUSTING) that no-one in their right MIND would ever want. At the end was a SCARY looking man who MIGHT have been a Lord Of The Rings BODY DOUBLE, and on the wall were about 12 randomly selected comics from the past few months, with a charming sign above saying "We don't mind you reading the comics AS LONG AS YOU PAY FOR THEM FIRST".

The scary man said "What are you after?" and I, politely, said "Oh, have you got Promethea Volume 2?" "Never heard of it." he said, and turned his back on me, so I, dear read, left. ASTONISHED. Have I had a sheltered life or something? I'd thought "Forbidden Planet", with it's horrific "Days Of Future Past Wolverine STATUETTE" section, was as GRIM as Comics Shopping gets these days, I never expected THAT. I very VERY nearly went back in and said "It's by Alan Moore ACTUALLY, have you ACTUALLY heard of him ACTUALLY? Eh? ACTUALLY?" But didn't.

Then, as noted, I came home and had an INTERIOR D
posted 25/1/2003 by MJ Hibbett

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Comments:

What's an INTERIOR D? I think this got cut off.
posted 12/4/2024 by I'm from the future, man

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