RIP Comic Relief

Last Wednesday a part of me died. It was only a matter of time Comic Relief would follow its deceased owner. It's truly a sad day. What set this shop apart from others was not only did it dabble in all aspects of geekdom, like games, toys, pop, counter and subculture literature, it was a place for the independents. One had the choice to pick from books and zines from someone's desk made from their hands and a copy machine. An outlet for creativity for the non professional and someone who just wanted to do it for fun. Making comics that is... a 5 year old, a struggling up and comer or an unknown wanting to take a crack at self publishing can make their own mark. It was a place where stars were born like Brubaker or Tomine. It was a place where professionals shopped. I would see Art Adams or Eric Larsen in the shop once in a while. A place where one can get lost in their imagination just by picking up a book. The former owner, Rory Root was a proponent of the 'graphic novel' format and made it possible for comic readers like me to just 'by the book' instead of the monthly. Comic Relief was there for me for my growing up tastes, when I graduated from superheroe to the 'rest of the stuff out there', but allowed to me revert back to a kid when I wanted to check out an issue of Uncanny or Detective Comics.

Maybe if CR reverted to its former size, there wouldn't be any need for the 'extra crap' and believe me, there was a lot. But the point was that it was there if someone wanted it. And if you couldn't find it, chances are, CR did. Maybe it was bad for business, maybe the new management ran it into the ground. We'll never know. With an incredible legacy CR has, maybe it will reemerge and go back to its basics. True its an bad economy and we're entering a digital age, but nothing beats going into a comic shop and picking up your monthlies on a Wednesday or thumping through back issue bins. I thought the good shops would weather through times like this, but maybe comic shops may be going the way of the dinosaurs. I can only think of a 2 or 3 decent shops now. Comic Relief was my escape from reality. Dr. Comics and Mr. Games, it's up to you guys now. I'll be visiting you soon.