From the White Hen Pantry in Geneva, Illinois where I bought Age of Apocalypse: Omega to San Francisco’s Isotope “the comic book lounge” where owner James Sime ran down the bus so I could get back to my hotel, I’ve bought comic books all across the United States.
Without a doubt, the best of the best is the Phantom of the Attic (PotA) comics division on S Craig St in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Save for a few missing summers and a few months spent in Brooklyn, I’ve been shopping at PotA for going on eight years now and the experience only gets better with time.
PotA used to sit in a cramped second-floor space where they had it all… but it was small. Now they’ve moved across the street into a gorgeous loft with tons of room and even more comics. If PotA’s previous space was a like a delicious Dagwood sandwich of comic book merchandise, then the new PotA is a bountiful smorgasbord of comics, graphic novels, manga, toys, and more.
Wayne Wise (seen above) is a longtime PotA employee and my comic book mentor. He let me in on a few interesting facts about the relocated shop. I was surprised to learn that all the racks are custom made. The design allows for individual clear plastic shelves to be interchanged every Wednesday as the new books hit:
Back issues are now stored inside large custom drawers that have been balanced to accommodate the cumbersome weight of two long boxes:
Graphic novels sit in tall bookcases lining the store’s lengthy walls:
The manga section is also more fleshed out, complete with a flip rack of anime DVDs:
The indie comics section has expanded from a couple long boxes and a few cramped racks into towering shelves of graphic novels and indie-specific back issue drawers:
New issues have tons of room to breathe in the new setup too, as do toys and other merchandise:
I’ve been to a lot of comic book stores in my lifetime. Some have yielded priceless memories, from the dingy Ayer, Massachusetts shop where my dad got me Uncanny X-Men #100 for my ninth birthday to Graham Crackers Comics in St. Charles, Illinois where I bought a used Uncanny X-Men #275 poster right off the wall where it was hanging.
There are some comic shops that have been less than kind. The comic book stores in Fairport, New York were so terrible that I would go to my local Wegmans supermarket to get my comics off the spinner rack in the magazine aisle. Earlier in this decade, I worked for a comic book retail giant in New York City and I never want to set foot in their stores again.
There’s no other way to say this: the best comic book store I’ve ever been to is now the most beautiful and spacious comic book store I’ve ever been to. I know I’m doing some serious ass kissing here, but Phantom of the Attic in Pittsburgh has always been good to me and I just want to give back a little bit of that love.
Let’s not forget that PotA also has a gaming division! I spent a good deal of money and time on Warhammer 40k, CCGs, and various other delights in 8th grade. My entire middle school life was Phantom and The O.
truth. the gaming division is moving down the street to the now-former home of the comics division (you know, above the beads store and below whatever CD store is now in that building). i think i already told you that, right neal?
if you live in Pittsburgh, you should go take the City Paper’s Best of Pittsburgh survey and fill in Phantom of the Attic (Craig St) as your answer for best comic shop (yes, they have a best comic shop category). i also put Phantom down in the final write-in section as “Best Newly Relocated Store.” go take the survey now!!!