A Look at Graham Crackers Comics

I have to say I’ve loved comic books since I was a kid. I believe my earliest memories of buying comics was when we lived in the heart of Chicago (not far from Lawrence and Western Avenues) and my mom would take my older brother Greg and I to the nearby drug store where we’d get to buy one or two comics off the spindle rack. For the life of me I can’t recall what we ever bought but I’m sure it was a mix of Archie, DC, Marvel, or what have you. Ok… I’ll bet my brother was picking up Marvel but I can’t say for sure. I no doubt don’t remember because I was about five or six years old. Hell, maybe I was even younger than that.

Flash forward a few years and I’m probably nine or ten, and my parents had bought their first home. I know my high school friends will remember that old house on Kedvale Ave but during our first couple of years or so there was a pharmacy three blocks away we used to call “The Corner Store”. When I say this was an old school drug store, I’m not kidding as they had a soda fountain and still served sandwiches and the like. Greg and I didn’t care it was an old joint, no doubt been serving the neighborhood since the 1920s or that there was a skeleton of a mouse we could see in one of the now long unused windows we passed, we still made our weekly Saturday trek to “The Corner Store” because they had comics! Glorious four color adventures to fuel our flights of fancy! Every week they had the latest issues and we’d take our couple of bucks in allowance to blow on a few pieces of Bazooka and snag that week’s comics. By this point in time we were firmly in the Marvel camp and I’d always grab the Avengers or Captain America and you could bet money Greg would be paging through Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four as we made our way back home. I still remember picking up Star Wars issue #1 (before the movie had even premiered) and kicking myself the following week, when I forgot I already bought the comic and ended up buying another.

I wasn’t mad when I sold those very same issues a few years later though…

Now we’re into the second decade of the 21^st century and those well remembered drug stores, White Hen Pantries, or 7-11s that helped feed my comic book habit are long gone into the mists of nostalgia. Even the comic book stores I tagged along to, with my big brother, are only distant memories as they closed shop either before or during the industry collapse of the late 1980s/1990s. Today we find the business of comic books, and how we buy them, to be a much different animal than when I was a kid as you no longer find your favorite monthly adventures on a spindle rack in the local convenience store but more than likely have to set off to a specialty store to make your comic book purchase, which leads me to Graham Crackers Comics.

As visitors, and especially listeners, know I like to share my thoughts when I stop into a game store or any other location that may have any sort of “geek” appeal. Granted, my comic buying days are a bit in the rear view mirror as I had to come to a decision whether to pursue gaming or comics with my disposable income. No offense to comics, but gaming won out simply because I love the social interaction with gaming more than anything else. That said, I still follow the industry and do my best to check out what’s garnering a lot of buzz normally through the “Chicken Little” of comics: the dreaded trade paperback. So I’ve been in plenty of comic books stores in my life; some good, some bad, while the majority just came across as there and indifferent – sort of like the staff I’d find in them. The good ones normally stay around (as long as they have an owner who has at least a modicum of business savvy), the bad ones usually close their doors within a short period of time, and the mediocre shops just continue to linger around more than likely because there isn’t another place within a reasonable driving distance to buy comics.

Here in the Phoenix area there are two comic stores with which I have experience. One, Samurai Comics in Phoenix, I feel falls into the good category (friendly staff, good selection, nice store, fair prices) and the other that toes the border between mediocre and bad: Atomic Comics (lackluster staff, overpriced on just about everything in the place, seemly more concerned with gouging your wallet more than anything else). Interestingly enough, it’s Atomic that has a larger presence here in the Valley than Samurai. Go figure.

This is why I believe it’s important to point out places that are deserving of your patronage. Just as no one is going to become a multimillionaire operating a table top gaming store, the same can be said of comic shops. So if you find a place in your area you feel strongly about (regardless of what they sell) you really need to make sure that they get your business. You might be surprised to find traveling that extra five miles or spending an extra dollar or two each visit could be keeping the doors to that shop open.

So let’s take a look at why I, who people already know is a pretty tough sell as to where I chose to spend my hard earned ducats, throw my support wholeheartedly behind Graham Crackers Comics. Keep in mind I’ve mainly been to the flagship store in Naperville, Illinois but seeing all nine Chicagoland locations are under the same ownership I’ll wager you’ll receive the same treatment at any one of them.

Selection and pricing – For comic buyers this is a key, as what’s the point of going somewhere if it’s more than likely you aren’t going to find what you’re looking for? Sure just about any store can order something for you but you can do the same thing yourself online. With Graham Crackers, if you want something that they don’t have in that location but in stock at another GC they’ll have it brought over to the store most convenient rather than tell you to “drive on over, they’re holding it for you.” That’s good service and it saves you money because you don’t have to waste gas heading somewhere else. Plus, like everyone else, they’ll order it for you if it’s out of stock or normally not carried.

I have to say looking around at the back issues the pricing seems about right. Now, it’s been a couple of years since I cracked open an issue of The Comics Buyer’s Guide but none of the graded Golden or Silver Age comics I peeked at seemed unreasonably priced. I can’t tell you how many places I’ve been and seen back issues on the walls tagged with nowhere near realistic values. “You want $100 for issue eighty-one of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos? Seriously? Do you think I’m howling mad enough to pay that?” Yes, I know that particular comic isn’t considered Silver Age but you get my drift.

One of my biggest gripes with Atomic Comics was the fact if an issue was older than three or four months it was automatically two or three bucks higher than the cover price. It didn’t matter what title it was, just slap on a few extra bucks. I’m happy to say Graham Crackers doesn’t operate that way as many of the recent back issues I peeked at were still cover priced or maybe something like twenty-five cents more. Speaking of quarters, start saving yours because GC also has plenty of back issues priced fifty cents and a buck. There’s plenty of comic goodness to be had for the price of a pack of gum and, in my opinion, one of the quickest ways to see if your comic book store is a price gouger is to look to see what they have in their bargain bins and how many of them they have. I’ve even been to some stores that don’t have a bargain bin and that was always a good indication that I wouldn’t be finding any deals in that place.

You’ll also find loads of statues, figures, t-shirts, posters and more at Graham Crackers; once again all very fairly priced or, in the case of the posters, what I thought were downright steals. As you can see in the photos, there are plenty of different posters throughout the shop. Just about all of them I saw were priced $8.99 or $9.99. Do you want a plastic frame with that? Five bucks. These are the same kinds of posters I’ve seen in other stores for twenty or twenty-five bucks!

Obviously, I can’t say the prices at Graham Crackers are the lowest in town – mainly because I no longer live in town – but I can honestly say everything came across as fairly priced and nothing jumped out as being an obvious rip off.

Gaming – I was very pleasantly surprised on my most recent visit that the amount of games and gaming material at Graham Crackers had increased about threefold. Not only are there the traditional comic book store fare like Magic the Gathering and HeroClix but also Settlers of Catan, Star Trek Fleet Captains, Lords of Waterdeep, Locke & Key, as well as lighter card games like Fluxx. They even carry D&D, Pathfinder, and various other RPG supplements.

Also they have weekly M:TG tourneys and, since they’re part of the WotC Play program they have all the preview events for Magic as well. Thursday is Heroclix night – which is when I was at GC – and they had a crowd of about twenty players or more – including my nephew Cameron. In fact, this week brings the launch of the D&D Encounters series to Graham Crackers so players can get into the mix with that as well.

Keep in mind these are only the events at the Naperville store so you might want to check with the nearest store to see what they might have cooking.

People – Lastly, this is probably the most important aspect of any store I frequent and I can happily say the folks at Graham Crackers have always been nothing less than pleasant. Sure, I’ve always popped in with my brother and he’s normally there on a weekly basis so they know him but I’ve always found the conversation entertaining and free flowing. Something to mention is the fact even if the staff is in the midst of a conversation they’re always right on top of things greeting customers and answering any questions. Listeners to the TGG podcast already know one of my pet peeves is being in a store where the staff wants to have nothing to do with you until it’s time to ring up your purchase. I certainly don’t expect a red carpet to be rolled out for me whenever I stroll through the door and I surely don’t want someone dogging my every step either but if I politely interrupt a conversation someone might be having with a regular you best not exasperatedly roll your eyes at me before you answer my question. That is a recipe for me to walk out, within about three minutes, without dropping a dime. Who knows, I may have been coming in the door with a thousand bucks burning a hole in my pocket but now that staff will never know. If you treat me right and respect my buying dollar I just may become one of those regulars with whom the staff chats it up.

Yes, I know people have bad days and unless my visit is extremely disastrous I’m always willing to give a place a second chance while, at the same time, I don’t go coo coo for Cocoa Puffs based on a positive first experience.

Also, in my visits to Graham Crackers, I’ve never run across what I would term “comic snobbery”. I’m sure people know what I mean as you can run across that a lot. Maybe my girlfriend can’t get enough of Wendy the Good Witch, my son digs Transformers, and I love Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise so I’m buying the first three TPBs to give as a gift. I don’t need any snide remarks from the Peanut Gallery regarding what I’m spending my money on in your store. On a quick side note, the girlfriend and son are figments of my imagination but I really do love Terry Moore’s work and SiP especially. Anyway, regardless of what I’m buying I still expect to be treated just like any other customer and hopefully you’re going to try and go the extra mile for me. I don’t believe you’ll get any snobbery or snide remarks at Graham Crackers.

Speaking of the extra mile though, I’ll relate something that took place during my visit last week. Greg (who – if you hadn’t noticed – provides much of our budding comic book coverage) and I were with my nephew Cameron for the Thursday night HeroClix event. So Cam’s off playing while my brother and I are chatting with Mike Wall, the Naperville GC manager, and another staff member  – my apologies here – whose name I don’t recall. Early in the conversation Mike had already mentioned he was dragging tail and pretty beat. Yet, everyone who walked in the shop or stepped up to that counter was politely greeted or immediately assisted. There was no wait for a pause in the conversation to address the person or a continuation of the discussion while that person’s question was answered or purchase completed; every customer had Mike’s complete attention regardless if they were a regular or someone who may have been making their first visit to Graham Crackers.

There was even a young man who had stopped in for the HeroClix tournament who mentioned he normally didn’t shop at the Naperville location but was simply there for the gaming. Yet there were some items this guy found that normally weren’t in his usual GC of choice in Plainview. Maybe the Plainview store was out of stock or something, who knows. This customer pointed out to Mike he hadn’t brought any cash with, because he was only there with his friend, but wanted to know if Mike would send the items over to the other store and he would buy them there. Mike told him that would be fine and every few minutes or so this customer was back at the register with something else he was excited about running across and asking to add it to the pile. What struck me about the whole thing is I can just about guarantee almost any other comic shop, with multiple locations, would have had someone at the counter explain to this customer they’d be happy to hold the items for a few days if that person wanted to come back and buy them there. I don’t believe Mike knew the customer as the person had explained they went to the Plainview store all the time. I thought to myself, this is good service and a real customer first attitude. We don’t see enough of this anywhere we shop these days!

I suppose many folks are reading this and thinking to themselves, “Well, that’s great Jeff. I’m so happy the Chicago area has a nice chain of comic stores. That doesn’t help me a whole lot in Washington State…” For those people I’m going to make a recommendation. Graham Crackers is online so, if you’re a comic fan, why not place a small order with them and see how they treat you? Or if you’re attending one of the big comic conventions this Summer see if GC is in the dealers’ area and give them a go – they’re at a lot of the big shows. Or shoot them an email, if you have some questions, and see how quickly they respond and how well they answer your inquiries.

And if you do live in the Chicago area, swing by one of their nine locations to see what kind of service they provide. Who knows, maybe you’ll find them to be a better fit than you’re usual comic book hang out and want to come back. Or maybe it’s been years since you’ve picked up a comic and would like to see what’s new and exciting. Head on over and don’t forget to tell them Jeff at The Gaming Gang sent you! I’m sure you’ll more than likely receive a quizzical look in response while they ask “What in the world is The Gaming Game?” (an inside joke for TGG listeners) but I truly believe, whether you tell them I sent you or not, the folks at Graham Crackers Comics will treat you right!

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Jeff McAleer

Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media, Jeff tackles any and all sorts of games but has a special fondness for strategy, conflict sims, and roleplaying games. Plus, he's certainly never at a loss for an opinion...

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