Geek Life: Atlanta: Dave’s Comics
Dan recently posted an article here about DragonCON in Atlanta and the timing couldn’t have been better for me. A few weeks ago, I found myself attending a conference in that very same city for work. So being the good geek that I am, I decided to bust out the old road-hoe (that’s what we call the GPS) and find out what kind of geeky goodness I could unearth. There were a few shops not too far away, so I set out to fight Atlanta traffic for the sake of geeks everywhere.
Okay, it’s just a drive to look for a comic book/game store, but I have to build this up to epic status to make me feel like I might increase my geek cred and someday level up. The first shop I try has sadly closed down so I scroll down and find Dave’s Comics. It is about ten minutes away from the closed shop so I figure I’ll check out. I hit pay dirt!
Dave’s Comics and collectibles is on 107 Rainbow Way Fayetteville GA 30214. In case you are worried, Fayetteville is just another of what I like to call a sub-city in or around Atlanta. Rainbow Way is a decent sized road and of course I passed the shop on my first try. I made the next legal left turn and then turn left again to find my destination on the right. As I pulled in, I was a little worried. There was a decent sized U-Haul truck parked in front of the door and the back of the truck was a quarter full of Comic boxes. My first thought: Great, this shop is closing too!
I exit my Red Rental car to the rather angry voice of the road-hoe letting me know that I have arrived at my destination. Sometimes she gets testy. I walk into the shop and something isn’t right. To my left it looks like there is a kind of mini store and low and behold, it has bowling stuff. Wait…. A mini bowling shop co-located with a comic store? Rorschach was right when he said the end is nigh! I kind of shake my head and hope the world doesn’t end before I finish looking through the shop.
I move along the left wall of the comic shop to find action figures. No they are not dolls, they are ACTION FIGURES! And there are lots of them. The first group of action figures that draws me in is the GI Joes. Here are the figures of my youth, my beloved GI Joes: Snake eyes, Stalker, Grunt, Clutch, Duke, and all of the Cobra troops as well. There are few original (none are battle grip figures here) but these are the heart and soul of what GI Joe is. None of the figures inspired by that abortion they called a move. I spend way too long rehashing memories of the good ole’ days before I snap out of GI Joe bliss and move along.
The next group I stumble across is the Star Wars Figures. Luke, Leia, Wicket, Bobba Fett, and Jawas stare at me from their Blister packs. Holy Crap! An AT-AT still in the box! This place is amazing! Another ten minutes remembering the fun that retractable light sabers concealed in figures’ arms and how amazing it was that Yoda came with a cane, a snake, a coat, and a belt, and how hard he was to find. I work my way through five or six more rows of action figures and of all types. This side of the store alone could keep me busy for hours, but there is still the rest of the store to see.
I will confess, I am not a comic guy. I like comics, I have nothing but love for the people who read them, and I am interested in the storylines but I’m no expert. I can tell you that Dave’s seemed to have a good selection of comics and comic related stuff. When I say stuff, I include posters, T-Shirts, and figures to name a few. He had a lot of books form the 60s and 70s and some of it was better than others. However, he had a good selection.
Moving past the comics and Graphic novels I find his RPGs. I was a little disappointed in the amount of RPGS he had until I remember that this is a comic book store that has an awesome assortment of collectibles and a weird bowling shop attached to it. You can’t have everything after all! I finish up my tour de shop by looking at the cards that are under glass. There was a good selection from Magic cards to Hockey cards, cards for nerds and jock or even better, the rare hybrid known as the Nerdy Jock! I’ve looked through the shop but there are a few questions I have to ask. Who is Dave? Why is this amazing store closing and WTF is a bowling store doing in a place like this? So I grab the attention of a dark haired, 40ish year old guy who is moving boxes of comic books on a dolly into the truck outside. I ask “Is Dave here?” The man replies “That’s me sir, how can I help you?”
So this is Dave. One of my burning questions have been answered. Seeing the look of confusion on my face he apologizes for the mess and tells me he’s getting ready to head up to Wizard’s World in Chicago. Whew! The store isn’t closing; he is just headed for a Con. Another question answered. I introduce myself and explain that I write for the most awesome website ever, Geek-Life, and that I’d like to ask him a few questions. He says, “Sure, just let me load these books into the truck and we can talk.“ So here he is in the middle of getting ready for Wizard’s World and he is willing to let some bald fat guy from an online magazine ask him questions. He’s a better man than I would have been.
It turns out that Dave has owned the store for 14 years. He started with comics and moved into the action figures later on. He mentioned that the collectible sales have been down as people tend to have less money for collectibles in this economy. I nod my head thinking I wish I had about $500.00 bucks to spend in the store trying re-capturing my most cherished childhood memories!
I ask about Dave’s customer base and he tells me that most of them are in their 30s and 40s but he gets quite a few folks who are in their 20s. As he talks about his customers, I can see his face light up. Here is a guy who loves his customers and understands how important and symbiotic their relationship is. Dave doesn’t see customers as dollar signs, he sees them as friends and family. I proceed to ask Dave about his interests, favorite comics and geek interests in general and Dave says he loves older stuff. To Dave there is just “something” about the storylines on the 60s and 70s that brings the older books to the top of his list. He often introduces younger readers to books from the 60s and 70s so that they can understand the origins of some modern days favorites like Spiderman and Batman.
As a comic book outsider, I view Dave as one of the class acts comic book salesmen. You can see the love he has for comics and when I ask about his all time favorite comics, he kind of chuckled and told me (I kid you not!) Disney comics. He went on to explain that while his friends were going after the Supermans and Green Lanterns, he was getting twice as many books with great stories for a lot less money. I hadn’t looked at it that way before but coming from Dan, it makes sense! Mickey and Donald were two standouts for him. Other than Disney comics he enjoys Spiderman and the Walking Dead. He’s also a huge Godzilla fan and has a whole display case in the store dedicated to Godzilla figures he has collected.
Some of my final questions to Dave were about the business and health of Comic book shops. Dave explains that Atlanta has lost an estimated 30% to 40% of their shops over the last few years. He mentioned that he hoped that was a high number, but based on my short-time with the road-hoe I saw some of that first hand. Dave goes on to explain that he does some online business such as E-Bay but his focus is on the store and the customers. As Dave puts it, “IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CUSTOMERS!” and I can see that he in fact lives by his words. He is working on improving and resurrecting his website as well as rearranging his store.
My final question is about the bowling store. Dave tells me that he owns it and runs it as well. He sells bowling supplies as well as custom bowling balls. I can’t get Mystery Men out of my head! It turns out bowling is another interest of Dave’s. As I left the store another customer walked in and Dave greets him by name and apologizes that he hasn’t put the new books on the shelf as he is getting ready for the Con. He calls to his worker in the back and asks him to pull out the new books he knows the customer is there to buy. I walked out of the store with a new set of dice and a smile on my face.
In a world that is dominated by big box stores and online ordering, Dave is old school. Not just with his amazing store, but his love of comic books and his relationship with his customers. If you are headed to ATL, I encourage you to stop by Dave’s Comics on 107 Rainbow Way Fayetteville GA 30214. His phone number is 770-716-9171. The shop is definitely worth the 15 or 20 minutes it will take you to get there from the Airport. Enjoy the store and enjoy the stroll down memory lane that all of the collectibles will send you on. Support your local Comic book stores and always WRITE HARD!
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Laurie
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Stygian Jim
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