Besides the shop in Santa Barbara (3 hours south of here), there's been only one comic book shop in my native San Luis Obispo area for the past 15 years or so, since their only competitor closed in the late 90's.
That one shop was great, but now they sell video game platforms, video games, lps, recasted statues (they have no idea what a "recast" is
.. tried to tell them), cds, action figures, blu-rays, you name it... the guys behind the counter don't know jack about comics. I go in there once a month to "support my local shop" and I buy a comic or two (or a tpb) so that I'm doing my part to keeping that industry alive...
But now, as of a year ago, another shop opened. No statues, just comics, a few board games, and some tpbs. I go in there more than the other store, since it's more on the beaten path while the other is on SLO's outskirts, but...
... the owner makes sh!t up about comics. It's really quite amusing to witness and/or take part in. This happened over several visits.
I saw a Planet Hulk hardback there a few weeks ago, and asked him what that series was about, and he told me it was about the Hulk flying a ship to another world and trying to cultivate a civilization there, as he was tired of Humanity.
Okay, that's not far off from the truth, so I asked him "since when could the Hulk fly spaceships?" and he told me that when he flew it, he was in Banner's form, as his current Hulk personality wasn't an intelligent one.
The book was shrink-wrapped, so I couldn't bust his b@lls.
I flipped through some "No Fear" comics, and he told me that it was one of the "highest-grossing" crossover events in recent history. Thor was in the book, and I said "oh, I love the way he's portrayed in the movies lately" and the guy told me "that's a different Thor".
SERIOUSLY? A DIFFERENT Thor, yet Cap, Hulk and Iron Man are.. well.. Cap, Hulk and Tony Stark? Thor's a name, not a secret identity, I told him...
.. he also said that the "new 52/new DC Universe" series was widely well-received by the comics community. Any book I picked up, regardless of how sh!tty I knew they were doing sales-wise, he made sh!t up about.
The sad part is, he wasn't kidding about any of this... he got some stuff in other comics correct, but his mannerisms changed when you picked up something he hadn't read, and you could see the gears turning while he made sh!t up.
Do I still go in there? Yes... but I don't mention comics to him at all, since I don't think he even READS them. He's a bit of pencilneck, so I'm not sure what he'd be reading instead.. not exactly the "Newsweek" or "Sports Illustrated" type of individual.
Every store I've been to in the past, worldwide, the owner either knows what he's talking about when he makes suggestions, or he shuts up and lets the customer browse. This guy's unique.
Anyone else know store owners like this one? He still beats the store in Eugene, where the owner played anime porn around the eye-level of 8 year-olds. When I saw some watching it, and brought it to his attention, he did nothing.. and I didn't visit that store again. I've brought THAT guy up before on SF, though.
Disgusting.
