Comic Shop Review: Green Shift Music & Comics Seminole Heights, Tampa, FL

Strip Malls 

Green Shift Music and Comics is old school. I can think of no better way to describe it. It's been a long time since I visited so I can't recall if the music or comics came first, but at some point back
in the day the combination of these two great tastes that taste great together was made, finding their home here along Nebraska Ave in Tampa, Fla.


The first thing to notice about the low slung, and at this point classic Florida sprawl style building is the custom paintings of musicians that line the building. Morrissey, Roy Orbison (replaced by Johnny Cash?), Hendrix (twice), and right next to the front door Frank Zappa.

The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced

Approaching the building can be a bit intimidating. The lone trailer on the lot is interesting but the lack of windows is somewhat uninviting. Adding to this is the rather extensive rules list posted on the door. So large is it that it obscures most of your view into the shop. Lost perhaps is the irony that Zappa would have walked in shirtless and barefoot, smoking, talking on his cellphone, and asking to pawn something after he used their bathroom if for no other reason than because he was told not to. Personally I don't mind these weird rules lists, because I don't give a crap about them, but they definitely set a tone.

Long Box Graveyard

Inside Green Shift is kind of dark, though not gloomy. There is a good selection of recent comics on the shelves. Packed in and neatly aligned they carry extra copies of most of the more popular comics of the month. There is a nice room of back issues with a fairly sizable collection. It seems they have a regular sale on older books which is nice. They are well stocked on trades, tchotchkes, and tees, but sadly no store tee.


The staff is ok, not particularly exemplary, but not offensive either . On my visit the man behind the counter was nice enough. He answered my questions about the shop, although I can't recall some of his answers. He did mention that the small new comic rack was the original 1980's comic rack. Otherwise, I don't recall him greeting me or making much small talk, this is neither good nor bad just middling in the impression area.

Blurry Racks of Things and Hidden Comics

Overall I can't give Green Shift a great rating. While it is fairly well-stocked in the new comic dept. it isn't fantastic. There are back issues, but they was not a great selection overall. The store is kind of claustrophobic, I was glad to be the lone shopper as more than a couple of people would have made the store hard to navigate. The plus-side is Green Shift represents the great merging of music and comics. This is a link that is not given enough credit, and often combo shops of this type allow one or the other to suffer neglect. Green Shift does an excellent job balancing their music and comics inventory. All of the comics come bagged and boarded which is nice in one sense, but shopping as I do I like to peak inside to see if 1. I already bought the issue and 2. I take a lot of flyers on stuff so a look at the interior art and writing helps me make decisions.

My Comic Shop Review Rating: 6 of 10  (Bumped up one for Zappa).

I never set out to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird