I often wonder how new readers come across comic books. I wonder if new readers come across comic books.

Back in those thrilling days of yesteryear, my main supplier was a drug store about an eighth of a mile from my place. I already was into the stuff due to my sister’s persuasion, but this drug store also was an eighth of a mile from my grammar school and I was there plowing through the racks each and every Thursday by 4:00 PM. There were two other such drug stores within a half mile radius.

Damn near every Saturday my pals and I would bop on down Chicago’s Devon Avenue, hanging out, goofing off, lagging baseball cards, and stopping at seven different comic book racks during our half-mile trek — six independent drug stores and, of all things, a bicycle shop that for some reason (read: enforced inducement) was our major source of Charlton Comics. They received them en masse, in bulk, and infrequently. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo #039: The Great Devon Avenue Comics Hunt” →