| rev:text
| - Again, I'm so terribly sorry for slacking off on reviews everyone. I've had a LOT on my plate as of late. Long story. I first went to Hellpop several months ago and I'm just now getting around to writing a review so here goes.
The Arts Factory has evolved into a rather....well, contradictory place. What started as a celebration of local art, music and alternative scenes and subcultures seems to have now become the virtual antithesis of that - a mall. At the same time, it's like an anti-mall sort of mall. Instead of Panda Express, pretzels or Applebee's, you have the Bar+Bistro. Instead of Icing, you have several suites selling handmade jewelry and accessories. Instead of a video arcade, there's the Electronic Music Cafe. Instead of the graphic novel section of Barnes & Noble....you have HellPop! The best comic book store I've ever been in.
It's right off one of the main entrances (or, you'll find it when you find it, that place is like a maze. I've been in there innumerable times and I still haven't figured it out), in a cavern-like space with darkroom style lighting.The racks are lined with comics, comics and more comics. As far as I could tell, they have editions dating all the way back to the 60s, and I'm willing to bet they have editions older than that!
Shockingly enough, the prices are pretty reasonable. I've been in many "collection" stores (whether we're talking about comics, books, records, clothes, etc...), and there have been more than a few times where the collector has ridiculous asking prices for items from their collection. Like, if you don't want to part with your cherished collection, DON'T SELL IT IN A STORE THEN. The owners of this shop seem to realize that here. I think the most expensive comic book I saw was $10.
The space is ridiculously cramped unfortunately. It's hard to browse in here without losing one's patience as people try to walk through you as if you're a ghost (Yes, that actually happened to me while looking in the racks, swear to god). That's probably the only major con, you can't spend a whole lot of time browsing in here due to the lack of space, at least during First Friday.
Like I said, as I was losing my patience, I just yanked some old Archie comics and went up to the cashier. As I made my purchase, they gave me a free Marvel calendar and a free copy of BLACK SPIDERMAN. :D How generous, the perfect way of ensuring a customer will come back!
The Final Verdict:
Pros:
Brings activity to the arts district when it isn't First Friday.
Non-pretentious, a rarity in collection type businesses.
Reasonably priced.
Run by two awesome guys.
They gave me a comic for free after making my purchase.
Endless amount of comics in the racks.
Cons:
The terribly claustrophobic space it's located in.
Suggestions:
I think one or two galleries have left the Arts Factory recently, how about getting out of this suite and moving into one of the larger ones?
Return factor: Of course.
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