There was a death today. I heard about it by chance early this morning. Atomic Comics, a large chain of comic shops in the Phoenix area, was shutting down suddenly. I was reluctant to comment on this as soon as the news came out. Most of the information I got was from Twitter or comic book blogs. While I did see some creators comment or those who said they heard from the owner Michael Malve, the website was still up and even though I live a mile and a half from their shop in Mesa, Arizona, the thought of braving the heat to see if they were open didn't appeal to me. In fact, on one of the comics sites there was a comment from someone who said he lived 500 yards from the store but said he would check the next day to see if the store was open.

Looking at the comments from people on some of the sites has given me an insight into the relationship between the store and paying customers. Anyone living in the area and a comic buyer knows of Atomic Comics. They are like the Target of the comic stores in Arizona. Someone, who hasn't been in the store for a while, might wonder why the stores could have closed. Well, while I compared them to Target, K-Mart might be a more accurate business model. Just a few days ago I was talking to my local comic shop owner and I told him, and I have repeated many times to him, even though Atomic Comics is a little over a mile from me, I would rather travel the 30 miles to go to his shop. I find his shop friendlier and more personal than the few experiences I had at Atomic Comics. I thought I might be alone in this feeling but in looking at the comment pages of comic sites I saw others who had the same feelings. Now, I'm not saying they were evil or they had bad management, but if a business isn't careful they can become so focused on the bottom line they forget the little things. Sure, I know and heard of many comic book creators who had high regards for the store, which makes sense if when you come in you are greeted like a star, told about new product that has come out, and have people remember you. I never got that at Atomic Comic but I do get that treatment at the comic shop I go to. Not only that, the owner treats everyone that way. I have been in his shop when total strangers have come in the door and he welcomes them like lost friends. I have seen him help people who may be new to comics, or older people who might be buying comics for someone. His service is what makes someone like me travel 30 miles to buy from him.

If anyone walked into a Atomic Comics in the past few months they would have seen a large store, but an empty store. Not because of missing product but of people. A few months ago I was there and there was more staff than people in the store and I was in the store for an hour. I bought 2 comics and only because my comic shop didn't have the backstocked books. On the other hand, when I show up at my comic shop I spend easily $50 a shot, and that's on a slow buying day for me. While the store isn't crowded when I get there because of my schedule, there will at least be a few people in the store. I normally don't go at peak times because the times I have gone at that time the store has been busy, yet the owner always has a smile on his face and greets customers.

While it may sound like I'm blaming the store for a possible demise, I don't. A few months ago, just shy of Comic Con, a store that had been in San Diego for almost 30 years, a store I had frequented for 15 of those years, closed down. Comic Gallery had one of the better business models I had seen for a comic shop, diversifying in manga, statues and other products long before it became fashionable. Years ago, and this is so many years ago it's not funny, I saw the demise of Comic Kingdom.

The thing is, comic shops come and go. Comic Kingdom is gone but a new comic shop, On Comic Ground, is in it's same building in San Diego, just a lot smaller. Comic Gallery is gone but there are many comic shops that have taken it's place. I say come and go based on prior experiences.

There have been many rumors as to why Atomic Comics went under. As I have been writing this, an article appeared which reprinted the official announcement by Malve about the stores closing. So now I can say it is official about their doors being closed, but his letter kind of brings up a sense of deja vu for me. I mentioned about the demise of Comic Kingdom in San Diego. There were many contributing factors to that, but the biggest thing that spelled the end of the store was when a flood hit the storage area where Comic Kingdom kept it's back stock. Millions of dollars of product was destroyed. According to Malve, problems with Atomic Comics started in 2006 when a car slammed into it's Mesa store, busting a water main and caused the store to shut down for 5 months. They also lost millions of dollars in product. A store, especially a comic book store, will find it difficult to bounce back from something like that. Still, there were other stores in the Atomic Comics chain, but with the economy as it has been for the past few years, a bad hit can cause damage throughout.

That shock wave of damage is what has many comic industry people worried. Comics are a skin of the teeth industry and within a month the industry will arguably be going through it's biggest change with DC doing a relaunch of all it's titles and Marvel making changes. There have been estimates that Atomic Comics made up a huge percentage of sales in the region, so they would have ordered heavy for the new books. I have been out of the store end of the comics business since the Comic Kingdom days, so I'm not sure if the books have been paid for, if there is a return policy or what, but I'm sure a loss of that amount of books might be a detrimental impact on the industry as a whole. With any luck, people who frequented Atomic Comics will go to other comic shops in the region, which would hopefully allow them to thrive and pick up a lot of the Atomic Comic business, but only time will tell if that happens and the industry has been nervous and focused on the changes about to take place.

I hope the dire words I have seen on many comic websites doesn't come true. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said the comic book industry, not just the local stores, are in shock and worry. Because the store chain was so big, some fear it's loss, and the loss of revenue, may have repercussions for stores in the region. Only time will tell but for now I will mourn the loss of the stores and offer sympathy for the owner and the employees.