Comic Shop Review: Velocity Comics Richmond, VA

Travelling to Richmond for work I had the privilege to stop in at Velocity Comics on W Broad St in Richmond. Close to VCU campus this well stocked shop was a pleasure to visit. 

A clean, well lighted place.

Clean and  well lit the Velocity Comics is an easy store to shop in. The new comics are well ordered and there are a good number of recent back issues still on the wall if you are missing a title here and there. The ordering is a little confusing. There is the usual Marvel, DC, & "Independents" division of books, but the idie publishers are also divided, or at least Image is, but Dark Horse and some others aren't. Finding books from those sections took a little extra time, but that is just more time for me to look at usually missed indy books so that is ok with me.

New comics also have their own place on the back wall, but that was a little oddly stocked too. Some new books like say, Secret Wars main title had all of the current issues out there, but others like, Batman had only the most recent while the previous months were in order with the other DC recent back issues.  I'm used to comic shops having their own ordering system, and lord knows publishers relaunching multiple #1's of similarly titled books have not made things easier, but a comics neophyte or causal shopper may be confused by this.

One thing not confusing at Velocity is the number of trades available, and not the standard fare of Marvel & DC reprints, but legit original content graphic novels. I'm not a big OGN buyer, but I have my likes, Charles Burns stuff, Matt Kindt's books usually catch my attention, and the recent Hip Hop Family Tree books have made it to my shelves.

Velocity had this stuff and more, lots more. Good books, ones that this capes and tights comic fan is sometimes embarrassed that he doesn't know more about. I was struck by the variety of books on display and just scanning them lots of titles caught my eye. If my wallet was bigger I would have lugged many more books home that day.

 Also if I hadn't gotten into conversation with the affable store owner, Patrick, I would have browsed around even more. Despite being in the middle of Tuesday's new comic sorting, Patrick and his partner took the time to help me find things, and entertained my sometimes odd questions about the shop and business. Good customer service is very much appreciated. As a matter of fact I got not only good customer service, I got a couple of really good favors.

First, I have been looking for a first print of Secret Wars 2 for a while, but I don't want to pay more than $10. Patrick told me he had a copy, if I came back the next day he'd have it. Later that night while checking my purchases against my pull list I found I had doubled up on a couple of titles. The next day when I went back by Velocity, not only did Patrick have a first print of Secret Wars #2 which he sold to me at cover, despite being a variant, he also let me swap out my three doubles for the correct issues!!! All that for a non-regular customer.

Velocity is a great store. Clean, well lit, & very well run. The focus is on comics, and the variety is very good. Not a huge back issue stock, but there were dollar bins, which is always good. The new books are well treated and the shelves are well stocked. You can tell Patrick not only likes comics, but likes running a comic book store. I'll be back again next time I'm in Richmond.

Comic Shop Review: Nostalgia Plus Richmond, VA

Hard to miss it from the outside

I had the pleasure of travelling to Richmond, Va recently and visiting Nostalgia Plus was one of the highlights of my trip. This is my kind of comic book store. Full to the brim with one thing, comics.

The brightly lit shop is chock full of books. The new books are well stocked so if you haven't been to the shops in a few Wednesday's chances are you won't miss an issue. The recent back issues bins are great too, Alphabetized and organized by the publishers. There were also a good deal of older back issues.


The next most important thing I look for in a comic shop is the quality of service, and I found that to be very good as well. I was greeted upon entering, and despite it being a Tuesday afternoon, when the new books for Wednesday are being sorted out, I was readily helped out. The shop owners, Martha & Marvin, were both on hand to point me in the direction of anything I was looking for. Martin in particular offered a wealth of knowledge on comics, and was ready to engage in friendly conversation.

Martha sorts out the new books for subscribers.

 In talking with Marvin I learned the store had been opened for 37 years. Making it one of the older stores in the country and probably the oldest in Virginia. It is probably the longest running store I have visited. Martha is the shop owner, who inherited it from her brother when he, "moved on to other things." Starting as a comics and cards store they phased the cards portion out and let comics take their full attention. Their passion for the product still shows. Even on a busy work day they had time to talk shop with a loud, nosy tourist.

This type of shop may not be for everyone. It is first and foremost a comic BOOK store. It is not a comic TOY store, it is not a GRAPHIC NOVEL store. They have trades, and some toys, and will order stuff for you, but mostly they have lots and lots and lots of comic books. You will find your self sorting through things, and maybe moving things to find books you want. I'm not sure what the limits are on rummaging, but the long boxes are stacked three high and run 21 long! There are tons of back issues here.

This leads to on of the problems in the store. The new comics wall is a a little too full. Having so many books in their metal framed holders made them a little hard to get out. Sadly when those same holders are more empty the books may sag over them and the bend a little. I don't know anyone who thinks they are getting a CGC 9.9 off the wall of their local shop, but still I do want my books mostly free of cover damage. I hate to dog the store on this, but it was a noticeable negative.

This store is a real gem. I found all the comics I was looking for, and few I didn't know I was looking for too. The owners were great, helpful and chatty. Reading some reviews on line I found some negative comments about customer service, but they are answered by the owner, which in itself tells you that they care about taking care of their store. I didn't find them to be disinterested or mean, quite the opposite actually.  After 37 years in business Martha and Marvin know their stuff. I will definitely be back and am telling my friends to visit too.

Murders at Rue Morgue by Bernie Wrightson

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Even Superheroes Sleep

My wife and I are parents. Both of us believe in the importance of reading so we have compiled a pretty nice library for our little bundle of joy. I believe in the importance of reading comics so I have been compiling the baby's first comic library.

Despite being a Marvel zombie, I have to admit, DC is winning when it comes to baby books. Marvel puts out is Superhero Squad version of MCU characters. These are stylized versions of the regular charters. These big headed heroes may be more kid friendly, but they feel like a gimmicky money grab. They are an added step before the normal heroes are introduced. Versions that will be grown out of and need to be replaced. DC, on the other hand, offers their full size versions right from the start.

This isn't to say that DC's board books don't have issues. They are great, but they make a few missteps. Take, Even Superheroes Sleep, a great nighttime read for your little tyke. Except the first pages of sleepytime super-folk is this,

Now you will go to sleep, or I will put you to sleep.

Now there is no original art in these books that I can tell. DC is just pulling from their catalog of art for these books. This is the best they could come up with for a children's book? You can't even see Bat's face! I mean really! They got a nice Denny O'Neil or Jim Aparo Batman for the cover. Then boom page one is Mike Mignola nightmare fuel!

It gets better as it goes on. DC includes a the trinity, Bats, Supes & Wonder Woman. The scan is pretty poor of WW, but I really like this page. Good robot fighting action.

Also included with their own page are Hawkman & Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Flash, Supergirl, and Plastic Man. Plas, makes appearances in other books too. Kids no doubt like him, but he is not very prominent in the DCU. Maybe they'll bring back the Plastic-Man Comedy Adventure Show.

Maybe not

One other miscue is the lack of minorities in the book. I know folks love Hal, but John Stewart, no relation, will be the GL in the DCU movies, so why not drop him in there or Steel or Vibe or Black Lightning, or Katana or anyone. Ok Cyborg gets dropped in there on the big montage plash in the back.

What do you mean small?

This is just another missed opportunity though. "Super Heroes big and small.." should definitely featured the Atom and Apache Chief.

Ok I know I pointed out the failings a bit heavily, but I really like this book and the series of DC board books. We have 4 now and I want to get the Villians, Wonder Woman, & Busy Bodies books too. 

Deadpool Movie

I've never been a big Deadpool fan. I liked the tail end of the Deadpool vol. 1, which was written by the fabulous Gail Simone and with art by the incredible Udon. Unfortunately this series led to the weird Agent X series which kind of sucked. Strangely because it wasn't Deadpool. I also liked Deadpool as the comic relief portion of the Uncanny X-Force series by Rick Remender and some fantastic Esad Ribic covers.

What drove me away from Deadpool is the fandom. Mostly they seem to be immature goofs and jag offs. People who pretty much embody the worst aspects of comic book culture. That said I think Fox nailed Deadpool with the casting of Ryan Reynolds as the lead in their new movie.

This preview looks like it shows everything you want from a Deadpool big screen show. Including a very nice Colossus appearance. I would actually see this.

My only complaint is that it is another origin movie. I really don't think Deadpool needs it. I think it isn't necessary, but the studios can't make a comic movie without an origin in it.