The Spirit of Comics Retailing

Earth-2 of Sherman Oaks, CA, wins 2007 Award!

Each year, Comic-Con honors retailers from around the globe with the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award, named after the visionary creator of The Spirit. Will wanted to acknowledge the important role that comic book retailers play in the comics industry and how they nurture the relationship between the creators and their readers.

The award is given to retailers who have done an outstanding job of supporting the comic medium in both the industry at large and their local community and nurturing that special relationship between comic book creators and their readers.

The 2007 recipient is Earth-2 Comics of Sherman Oaks, CA. Nominations for the 2008 Award are now open. The nomination ballot form contains the complete list of criteria for the award so you can nominate your choice for 2008.

Nominations must be received by April 18, 2008.

» Get the 2008 Nominations Ballot
» View the list of previous recipients

The nominees for the award are selected by a group of industry professionals and facilitated by retailer Joe Ferrara (Atlantis Fantasyworld, Santa Cruz, CA), a past recipient of the award. This year's committee included The award was given out at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards on Friday, July 27, 2007.

Earth-2 Comics was established in 2003 by entertainment industry veterans Carr D'Angelo and Jud Meyers. Both were lifelong comic book fans and named the store Earth-2 after the home planet of the legendary Golden Age heroes from DC Comics.

CCI: What does winning the Eisner Award mean to you as retailers?

Jud: Comic book retail stores represent a small, but growing part of the worldwide retail environment. To be recognized and placed in the company of some of the best comic stores in the world is a great honor for us. We have a great passion for our product, our store, our employees and our customers. What a thrilling feeling to be singled out for it. We have a responsibility to uphold the qualities that Will Eisner hoped to recognize with this award.

Carr: Five years ago, we built a comic book store from scratch with some very specific ideas on how to sell comics. It was an honor to have that vision validated.

CCI: How did you get into comics retailing?

Jud: I've been working in the comic retail environment since I was 12 years old (my first job!). Seven stores in two countries. I started my own website (Krypton Collectibles) in 1997, and joined forces with Carr and his expertise in 2003.

Carr: I blame Warren Ellis first, Jud Meyers second. There used to be the Warren Ellis Forum (online) and a lot of the readers there were interested in trade paperbacks but their local comics shops didn't seem to be keeping up with demand. I started thinking about a comic books shop that was more like a bookstore, but it wasn't until Jud and I started talking that the dream became a reality.

Every time I thought about giving up reading comics, some new book came along that made me feel like comic books were growing up with me: Watchmen, Sandman, Eightball, Optic Nerve, Fables, Planetary. We wanted our store to appeal to those kinds of readers who were looking for something new and exciting.

CCI: Part of the Eisner Award involves community service. How is Earth-2 involved in your local community?

Jud: We don't view community service work as just local outreach. Comics are a worldwide pop culture experience. Our belief and hope is that our local activities can inspire others to service their own communities. Like the larger retailing companies in the world (GAP, Apple, The Ford Foundation), there's no reason why we can't use our industry strength to bring aid to everyone within walking distance of any comic store in the world.

We work with teachers at local high schools, helping them put comics into the curriculum for their special education readers. We've even connected teachers from all of our local schools, literally giving them phone numbers and email addresses to introduce them to one another. Their communications led them to use similar ideas in all of their individual class work.

We've helped our local Community Colleges by tying Kingdom Come into their classes on mythology and Midnight Nation and Watchmen into ethics classes. We give "textbook" discounts to teachers and students who use graphic novels as tools for their class projects. We've given thousands of dollars worth of product to our local children's hospitals, helping sick kids to revitalize themselves through the joy of comics.

Currently, we're helping to build a library for the Penny Lane Youth Foundation Orphanage. We've raised thousands of dollars for the project (which is nearly built) and plan to keep the shelves fully stocked with comics, graphic novels and young adult books. Recently, we held an event with Harlan Ellison. He came to the store and did a private reading. We charged for tickets and sold loads of books. Every penny went to the Penny Lane project, showing that our customers want to join us in our efforts to enhance the lives of kids who really need it. Using comics as a way to promote literacy and life skills.

CCI: Someone walks into your store who has never read comics and is interested in getting started. What do you recommend?

Carr: The question might be, what got them interested? If they watch Heroes, we might show them one of the great Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale books like Spider-Man: Blue or Batman: The Long Halloween, great stories that don't require you to know decades of continuity. If they've been reading about graphic novels in the New York Times Book Review, then we might suggest American Born Chinese or Fun Home or Persepolis. We work hard to match the book to the customer because we want them to enjoy the experience and come back for more.

Jud: I generally start with questions like "What movies do you like?" or "What books do you like to read?" or even "What music do you listen to?", then tie my recommendations into another of their pop culture favorites. Like action movies? How about Ultimates? Like indie movies and music? How about Blankets or something by Adrian Tomine? Like 50's noir novels? How about Criminal?

CCI: What do you recommend to any hardcore comics fans looking to expand their horizons?

Carr: I love turning people on to Pride of Baghdad. It's a beautiful story about the devastating effects of war that is unique to the comic book art form, an amazing blend of words and pictures. The fact that it is written by the guy who writes Y the Last Man and Runaways makes it accessible to hardcore fans but ultimately, it's a book like no other. It works whichever side of the political spectrum you're on.

Jud: We love to mix our indie titles (mainstream and otherwise) right in with our classic super-hero material. Avid hardcore Marvel/DC fans sometimes stumble upon something interesting they've never seen before and we end up seeing them at the register. How great is it to see a hardcore superhero fan bring up the latest Justice League book with Love and Rockets and say, "this looks kind of cool"? While hand selling and customer service are essential, you also have to display your product in a way that takes the average fan by surprise and makes it appealing for them to try something new.