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| - If you live in the NW part of Phoenix, good comic stores are hard to find. Not that they don't exist, but when they do, they only stick around so long. Thankfully during those times (like present day) when there's currently a dry spell in good shops near me, All About B&C is a great "backup plan" well worth the trip!
It's location is a huge plus - NW corner of Central/Camelback - that there's prime real estate, fella! (They're moving soon but will still be on the NW corner of the same crossroads but more on the Camelback side as opposed to the Central side...the same plaza the Valley of the Sun G&L Community Center used to be.)
The main two reasons I totally dig this place though is (1) excellent selection. If you're looking for something, they most likely have it - from the major titles to the more smaller obscure publishers - the CATCH though is it's well advised to get there to grab it as soon as you can after it's released because given the popularity of the store, it's not that uncommon that others could snatch up all the copies of said item before you get there to pick it up. But even more importantly...
(2) Ease of finding things! This, to me, is the most important thing about a comic shop/bookstore - even more than its selection (after all what good is it to have everything and anything if ya can't FIND the bloody thing you came huntin' for!!) Once you enter the store (that is, if you're coming through the front entrance), to your left is the rack with that week's new releases and right next to that are the recent releases...not just from the past few weeks but usually the last two to three months (or more) are kept in this section - all nice and alphabetized by title name (none of this "Marvel over here, DC over there, other publishers hidden somewhere behind this bathroom tile somewhere" nonsense!) Plus there's even handy-dandy "last week's release" tabs to make your browsing as efficient, easy, and painless as possible. I've been to MANY a comic shop that had no rhyme or reason to where they put things and this is my biggest pet peeve and the #1 reason that will influence whether or not I end up being a return customer.
The main couple employees are not only extremely friendly but have been there for as long as I remember (we're talking a good two decades here) - AND they don't seem to have aged any in that time! (Perhaps they sleep in giant comic preservation bags?)
Like any good comic-centric shop, you won't just find the Funny Papers here, but also a varied selection of various collectibles related to pop culture (comic shops are excellent barometers of All That's Cool, doncha know?) So come in for the reading material, leave with a Betty Boop clock or Dr. Bunsen Honeydew action figure! After "W" stole the election, I bought one of my favorite t-shirts here that featured a stunningly beautiful image of Bush biting into the Statue of Liberty ala a vampire and anytime I'd wear it, I'd be flooded with inquiries of "Wow - where did you get that!" and of course I'd proudly direct them to this store!
Now of course, nobody's perfect and there are some minor flaws - I touched earlier on their popularity being a curse because something you want could easily be grabbed before you get there. (To this day, there still remains a teeny tiny hole in my heart from the day when I - one of the planet's biggest Muppet/Jim Henson fans - finally spotted a much sought-after Palisades Muppet Backstage playset only then to be told it was actually reserved and held for someone else.) But also you're more likely to pay a higher price for items here than somewhere else. Plus they recently have been selling a number of bulk packages of comics which are sealed up with tape so you can't really see but two of the ten comics that may be in the bag...and there's no guarantee the ones sandwiched in the middle will be of the same "type" as the ones visible. (Call me kooky, call me crazy, but I kinda like to know what I'm getting before plunking down my cash.)
Still all in all, this is one of those shops that have been a long staple of our community and it's nice to know I can generally always count on them during the times I might not have the convenience of a good shop closer to my home.
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