Over the years the store has continually expanded its goals to provides its regular customers and random visitors alike with one of the most immersive shopping experiences in all of comics fandom. Selling comics was never enough at Meltdown. It’s a big title, but not nearly as big as the reputation the store has earned with that space. That expansion has made Metldown the largest comic book shop west of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. In less than 10 years Meltdown Comics had moved twice and arrived at its current location complete with more than 9,000 square feet. The first store only had 1,500 square feet of space, more than many other comics stores, but not enough for what Dominguez-Letelier and Carson-Leterlier had in mind. At that time it was known by the longer moniker of Meltdown Comics and Collectibles and the shop began “ with little more than some Vertigo comics, a run of The Crow, and some Spider-Man t-shirts.” Like so many other comics shops, it was a dream (and a longshot) for the owners, but theirs would succeed beyond the wildest dreams of most others. Gaston Dominguez-Letelier and Ilia Carson-Letelier opened their shop on Sunset Boulevard in 1993, the same street and block they occupy today albeit at another location. That broad influence and national recognition is one of the things that makes Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles, CA a truly special store.īefore arriving at the current stature, Meltdown Comics engaged with very humble beginnings. It’s exceedingly rare for a comic book store to reach the pop culture consciousness outside of their chosen medium though. We’ve covered a variety of them in this very column – highlighting the holidays, organizations, and advertisements that have grown from local shops to national ideas. There are a fair number of stores in comics whose popularity and influence have grown outside of their own communities. We hope you can visit some of them throughout 2017. These are stores that embody what it means to support culture and community. This year on ComicBook.Com we are highlighting this important aspect of comics and culture by taking a look at one local comic store each week. They are the bedrock of comics in the United States and Canada, supporting fans, communities, and conventions with open doors and a dedicated staff. If you speak with anyone in the comics community about what has made the medium successful in North America, you’ll quickly discover one answer that stands far above the rest: local comics stores. While we love to cover all aspects of pop and geek culture, our roots lie in the comics community and the plethora of characters and stories that have sprung from it. The foundation of ComicBook.Com is comics. This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on December 01, 2017.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |