I also grew up in the pre-comic book shop era, but about ten years into my four-color obsession I discovered Ed Summer’s Super-Snipe comic store on the upper east side of Manhattan in 1974. I would make a once a week trip from East New York, Brooklyn all the way uptown to get my fix. The store was so small you periodically had to stand outside, on line, before being allowed to enter. Needless to say, passersby would look a bit askew at teens and adults waiting to enter a store to purchase comic books(?). As the years progressed, I purchased my comics at The Village Comic Art Shop (just south of Union Square) and then Forbidden Planet on 12th and Broadway.
More time passed, I moved to to Nassau County NY in the late 80’s and started frequenting Mintcondition Comics in my town. The two owners were marvleous people who loved comics and baseball, lived in town and eventually became my friends. In 2004, I purchased the shop from the later owner and had a wonderful eight year run of fun and–more importantly–the opportunity to make more life-long friends. At regular intervals to celebrate special sales, industry events and birthdays we would play Mintcondition Jeopardy. It was always a hoot, especially when I would sneak in sports categories to the chagrin of most of my patrons. We once had a Nascar category where every “answer” was Jeff Gordon. It was almost a retail mutiny.
I gave up the business in 2012, never quite recovering from the “recession” of '08 and '09. But the memories are rich, fond and everlasting.
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