Retro Review

I am quite serious when I say that the back-issue bins feed my habit: I really enjoy searching through the boxes and trying to patch holes in my collection or discover series I missed or never tried. So, when I’m traveling, I keep an eye out for comic book stores, and, as you know if you read Rolling Traveler, I travel a lot. Of course, there are cities with no comic book stores, and I’ve been increasingly finding that stores don’t stock back issues to the extent they used to. However, there are still plenty of places to keep an eye out for. I’d like to take you on a tour of the comic book stores I’ve visited, one every Friday.

 Our first stop on this geekish tour of the cities I’ve vistied is Comix in Hannover. I drop in there every time I visit Hannover, if for no other reason than to say hi to the very friendly and helpful owners, who are as far removed from the stereotype Comic Book Guy as can be. Even on a delivery day, they’ll have time for a chat, and most of them do speak English. They are camera-shy, but were good enough to let me take a few shots, as you can see below. I’ve already gone through all of their back-issue bins, so I know that I’m unlikely to find anything new there, but they have a great collection of small-press trade paperbacks, and I’ve found a few gems. I also get a great kick out of seeing who’s been in to do a signing, and what kind of picture or sketch they’ve left.

Getting there: To get to Comix in Hannover, you leave Hannover Main Station by the front exit, hang a left, and go straight along Kurt-Schumacher Strasse to the Goseriede. If you’d rather take the more scenic route, go straight out of the Station till you come to Georgstrasse, which is closed to traffic, and then go left as far as the Goseriede. You’ll know you’ve reached Comix when you see the beaming smile on their sign; they’re beside a Subway and opposite a small park with a ruined church in it.

Back issues: Comix has a relatively small stock of English-language back issues - about 7 short boxes’ worth. They do not buy back issues, so their stock is dwindling, although there’s a steady trickle of new additions from standing orders that weren’t picked up and comics bought for the store that didn’t sell within 3 months. It’s still worth taking the time to leaf through. The issues are mostly from the last 6 years, but there are some slightly older ones too. Thanks to the store policy of ordering a few extra copies of some small-press titles, they have some good indie back issues, particularly Dark Horse. The issues are usually bagged, unless they are marked down to clear, and the prices are reasonable - cover price after the conversion to Euro. As always, when buying comic books in Europe, make sure you’ve picked up an issue that’s actually in English - many of the translated comics have almost identical covers to the originals.

 New Comics in English: Comix, like many smaller comic book stores in Europe, no longer orders copies of the monthly books for the shelves. With the exception of a very few titles, if you want new comic books in English from Comix, you have to have a standing order with them. What’s great is that the titles they do order for the shelves are indies and books like Hellboy. They don’t order any of the big Marvel or DC books unless people request them.
They have a broad stock of trade paperbacks, and as mentioned, there are many smaller press titles, including the complete run of Andy Runton’s Owly and all of Scott McCloud’s Comics trade paperbacks, both of which I rarely see. They even have a very small selection of manga in English. Prices are again the cover price after the dollar-to-Euro conversion, which does mean they vary from month to month.

European Comics: The selection of Franco-Belgian and Spanish comics is good, but they are all in German.

 New Comics in German: Comix of course orders most of the monthlies and trades that are translated into German for the shelves, both American and Japanese titles. They have a huge manga section, but note that they don’t stock manga in Japanese, only in German with the odd English title thrown in for good measure.

 Other stock: The anime section is large, with some obsure titles. Remember to check that you have a copy that will run in your region (the US is Region 1, but Europe is Region 2), and check the languages, as some of the releases are exclusively for the German market with no English subtitles.

 Comix also sells some toys (mainly Japanese and Japanese-influenced toys) and games, and has a small sci-fi/fantasy novel section, although all in German.

 Other notes: Comix is fully wheelchair accessible, with good shelf positioning, so only one part of the store was a tight squeeze for my manual chair. A powerchair might have trouble, depending on the size.

 Free copies of Previews are available to customers so they can place their orders for regular titles. The store offers a postal service for new and old comics within Germany.

 They have regular signings, with Don Rosa (Donald Duck), Howard Chaykin (Bite Club, American Flagg), Greg Horn (various Marvel and Virgin projects), David Silverman and Bill Morrison (The Simpsons) and Melanie Schober (Personal Paradise, Raccoon) all scheduled for the second half of October.

 Summing up: Comix is a great comic book store to visit and spend a while browsing in, and you’re almost certain to find something good that you don’t have, but it’s not the treasure trove of back issues that we comic collectors all hope for when we see a store we’ve never been in. The staff are friendly, the atmosphere is great, and everyone there actually reads comics: what more could you ask for?

 Comix, Goseriede 10. Hannover. Their web site is in German, but is well designed, with signing news on the first page, and a good contact us page.

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