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The comic book industry isn’t the same place today that it was a decade ago — or even five years ago, before the COVID pandemic changed things in multiple ways for almost everyone involved in the business. Talking during a recent industry event, publishing executives looked at how things have changed in that time.

“Even as late as coming to Boom! [Studios] in 2012, when I look at the revenue streams that Boom! had at the time, it was like 80% [specialty comic book stores],” remembered former Boom! Studios president (and now co-founder of an as-yet-unnamed new publisher) Filip Sablik, speaking during ComicsPRO’s Online Open House panel Navigating Change: Publishers panel.

“I think, if we cut to now — and the pandemic acted as a catalyst and an accelerator for this as so many other things — you have a bunch of different marketplaces and customers and I think, as a publisher, you have to meet customers where they are. When I think about the [comic store] direct market, the thing that strikes me is that it is, it is our Third Place. Comic shops are the community centers of our industry. Most, if not all, of the product you find in comic shops you can find elsewhere, and oftentimes, you might be able to find it cheaper, you might be able to find it easier; there's a lower barrier to entry. But comic shops provide something that these other channels do not, which is a place that you can go to, if you identify as a comic book fan, and find community.”

That idea — which reflects what comic store owners were saying in their own panel just a day earlier at the same event — was picked up by DSTLRY co-founder Chip Mosher.

“Whenever you read about Starbucks, what they're trying to do is be the third place,” he agreed. “But you know, the community at the comic shop — being able to talk to the to the person behind the counter, get recommendations — it's super important. Iif we are to assume that there's 2500 stores, comic shops, in North America, [then] there's about as many comic shops as there are independent bookstores and mass market bookstores. So if you think about all these centers of pop culture dotted across [the United States of] America and Canada. I mean, it's, it's pretty phenomenal to think about.”

To be fair, imagining somewhere around 2,500 such centers of nerd community across the continent, waiting to invite newcomers in… it’s somewhat comforting. It’s the kind of thing that makes it feel like a good idea to link the Comic Shop Locator here, just in case anyone feels the need to discover such a location in their own backyard, really…

Get into the vibrant world of comics with our guide to buying digital comics, how to make the most out of comic shops, our comprehensive guide to the upcoming comics, manga, and graphic novels you should be looking for, and everything you need to know about Free Comic Book Day and Local Comic Shop Day.