Graham Cracker Comics asks for help in sponsoring a comic anthology by its Ladies' Night members
crhodey let me know that Graham Crackers in Chicago is helping to sponsor a comics anthology written and created entirely by members of their Ladies’ Night events, and asked for HFW’s help spreading the word!
This is a really great thing and I am totally happy to help broadcast the word. Here is the Indigogo page, if people would like to put a few dollars toward the project, which sounds fantastic! They’re currently at $400 of their $1000 goal - I’m sure we can help them make it. Whether or not you make a donation, please signal boost this around!
There’s a Facebook page for Ladies’ Night here, and on tumblr at ladiesnightcomics. Let’s do this thing!
Montasy Comics, New York City
Montasy is a great little comic store in midtown Manhattan (5th Ave btw 38th & 39th). Its staff is mostly PoC with the occasional woman. It’s on the second floor, but there is an elevator, although I’m not sure if the width of the hallway from the elevator is wheelchair-friendly. It has a wide range of the latest weekly comic releases and a small section of previous issues, as well as a larger community space for events in the back. It has a much larger sister store out on Long Island, which has a wider selection that they can have sent over very quickly, and they’re very good at ordering and tracking down comics for their customers. Their membership is $20 a year and lets you set up any size pull list, large or small, and comes with 20% off every comic, including special orders and trades.
The staff is super friendly, and happy to recommend comics and chat with customers. I have had long discussions with them about women, PoC and LGBT and their portrayals in comics, as well as general diversity issues with the Big Two. As for the customers in general, on the one hand, I tend to come at non-peak times, when there’s only a handful of customers, and I have frequently been the only female customer in the store. On the other, even when I’m the only female in the store, the staff and other customers have never been anything but friendly, welcoming and inclusive. I have been to many of the other comic stores in New York City and this is far and above my favorite, as the friendliest and most welcoming, despite the smaller selection on hand.
Comics Dungeon, Seattle, Washington
I wandered into Comics Dungeon last Saturday in the middle of a power outage and ended up spending half an hour chatting with the proprietors (a guy and a girl) in the dark. Even without electricity, there was enough light coming in through the windows to see most of the books; it’s not a very good dungeon, but a really open, well-lit space.
The organization is a little peculiar, but they were more than happy to explain it and help me find my books (it’s new digs for them, so they’re trying stuff out), and both of the shop people (Chris and I’m-so-sorry-I-didn’t-catch-her-name) were completely awesome and enthused about new comic fans, and then went on to give me some really terrific recommendations—even going so far as to suggest I check a couple of gns out of the library to see if I liked them before I commit. (It was like Miracle on 34th Street where Kris Kringle recommends the other shops to all the Macy’s customers, except it was for comic books and Santa was a bald guy named Chris—no relation.) Based on the proprietors and the other customers who came in while I was there, it’s certainly woman- and PoC-friendly, and based on the general vibe I’d infer that it’s LGBT*-friendly as well, though I don’t have empirical evidence. :-)
Anyway, this shop is definitely on my roster now, and I can see it becoming my go-to. It’s right on the 44 bus line, so if you’re going to The Dreaming or The Comic Stop in the U District from that direction, it’s on the way.
Comics Dungeon
319 NE 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 545-8373
