Chicago area comic book store chain takes root in Wisconsin

By Igor Studenkov For Chronicle Media

Graham Crackers Comics’ Madison, Wis. location.

Chicago area comic book fans may stumble across a familiar name when they visit Madison, Wis.

In Chicago area, comic book stores tend to be small, independent shops. But there are two exceptions — First Aid Comics and Graham Crackers. While the former has two stores, the latter is in a league of its own, boasting three stores in Chicago, five stores in the suburbs, a store in exurban DeKalb and one store in Normal. And, three years ago, it did something no other comic store in Illinois managed to do — opened a location in another state.

Shawn Spurlock, the manager of the Madison location, says that the biggest advantage of being part of the chain was having access to its extensive selection of back issues. But he said that each location has its own quirks, which has as much to do with what his customers want as what interests him. And Spurlock argued that this is a great time to be in the business. Even if one isn’t interested in superheroes, comic books offer plenty of options, there are more comics geared in kids that there have been in quite some time, and the audience is more diverse than ever.

While specialty stores that catered to comic book readers first started appearing in the late 1960s, it wasn’t until the 1980s that they truly took off. Newsstand sales were declining, and specialty stores were able to order issues that newsstands didn’t carry. Comic book stores also carried back issues, allowing readers to catch up on issues they missed or find a comic that was out of print.

Graham Crackers was just one of the many stores that emerged at the time. Jamie Graham, originally of Elmhurst, opened the original store in his home town in 1982. According to the Chicago Tribune, that store failed, but Graham tried again in Naperville. That store grew into a flagship of a chain that soon expanded into Downers Grove, Bolingbrook and other western suburbs.

Graham Crackers Comics Madison, Wis. location’s Independent Comics section shows the diversity of the medium. Superhero comics and licensed properties share shelves with fantasy, science fiction and horror comics.

By that point, Spurlock has already been in involved in the comic book store business. In 1985, he went to work for a small store that, he said, had a cigar box for a cash register. He stayed on as a store grew into a chain, and continued working there when Graham Crackers bought the chain.

In the mid-1990s, Spurlock left the chain, taking a job at Family Video, a video rental store chain. He and his then-wife moved to Madison around 12 years ago. He had no intention of getting back into selling comics. Even when he found himself looking for another job, he only contacted his old employee to make sure he could use them as references.

Next thing Spurlock knew, the chain’s co-owners — Graham and John Robinson — were talking about opening a location in Madison and hiring him on as a manager.

He said that he wasn’t sure why they decided to open a location in another state, but he suspected it had something to do with the fact that he was there, they knew him, and he had more than a decade of experience running a store.

The Chronicle attempted to reach out to Graham and Robinson, but they did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

As Spurlock himself noted, when the Madison location opened around three years ago, the city already had several comic book stores that have been around for years, if not decades. But he said that Graham Crackers believed the chain’s extensive collective of back issues gave them an edge.

The Madison Graham Crackers is opened small retail strip in the city’s East Side neighborhood, at 2831 E. Washington Ave. At a casual glance, nothing suggests that it’s part of a chain — the large sign above the storefront simply says “comics.” But when one looks closer, one can spot the chain’s name and logo on the door. Inside, the comic book shelves and back issue boxes uses the same fonts and graphics as other Graham Crackers stores, and Spurlock wears the chain’s uniform shirt.

As with other Graham Crackers location, the Madison store stocks superhero comics from DC Comics and Marvel Comics, but it also has a large “Independents” section — a catch-all term for smaller publishers that don’t necessarily specialize in superhero comics. A section with kids-orientated titles from all publishers is located by the door. The store also has a sizable selection of graphic novels, and back issues old and recent fill the boxes stacked on the tables in the middle of the store.

The store also has plenty of action figures and statuettes — something that, Spurlock said, wasn’t originally part of the plan.

“When [the branch] started out, it was all comics,” he said. “There was interest in action figures. I had a plan for the store and then people started asking for different stuff, so plan started to change a little.”

Spurlock said that, in the three years since it opened, the store has slowly, but surely, been becoming more profitable. He said that, as with any other comic book store, one of the big issues has been the way the comic book distribution is structured. All single issues and graphic novels must be ordered months ahead of time, and they are usually non-returnable. That means that, if a series doesn’t sell well, he would be stuck with the inventory.

Spurlock said that every publisher has its ups and downs, and when one publisher isn’t doing well, he tries to get more customers interested in another publisher. For example, last year, when Marvel wasn’t doing well, he tried to get customers interested in Valiant Entertainment, a less prominent superhero comics publisher. Spurlock said he liked their output, and he was able to get many customers interested.

While Graham Crackers Comics’ Madison, Wis. location originally only sold comics, it started selling action figures in response to customer demand.

“Usually, one publisher is doing very well,” he said. “You have to be on top of it, because you have to order several months in advance and it’s nonreturnable. If you’re ordering properly, you can manage the downturn.”

Spurlock said that, overall, being part of a chain has been helpful. He said it has one major advantage — he has Graham Crackers’ entire inventory to draw upon.

“Every two weeks, I do a special orders list,” Spurlock said. “I drive down to DeKalb and bring [the ordered items] here. I don’t have to have everything in these walls.”

And he said that building a good relationship with customers is key. Many of them come in every Wednesday — a day when new comics and graphic novels are released. Since he and the customers are interested in comics, they wind up chatting about their interests, and the relationships grow.

“You see customers all the time, and you become friends, and people value your opinion,” Spurlock said. “That’s the nice thing about this job — you can put good books in people’s hands.”

When asked whether the rise of movies and TV shows based on comic books — especially superhero comics — affect the sales in any way, Spurlock said that, while they do get people interested, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Comic books and films were different mediums, he said, and just because someone is interested in a character in one medium doesn’t mean he’d want to seek out that character in another.

Other Graham Crackers locations sell comics by local creators. The downtown Chicago location, for example, has a shelf devoted to self-published comic books by creators from the area. Spurlock said he is always happy to support Madison area creators.

“I carry local creators’ books,” he said. “I don’t do signings much here, but I support anyone who’s making comics.”

And while digital comics are bigger than ever, Spurlock said that he doesn’t think it hurt the sales. And while he thinks that there may be time when there will be less comics, and prices may increase, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if print comics stick around.

“It’s strange, because [comics] seem really resilient, more than any other print media,” he said. “I’m surprised at the way they [endured].”

Spurlock argued that now is the best time to be into comics. He said he is pleased that there are more comic books aimed at kids, and greater diversity in terms of genres.

“It’s not just guys in tights punching each other,” he said. “You have a lot of horror, a lot of science fiction.”

Spurlock compared the current state of the comic book market to the 1940s, when science fiction, horror, true crime, romance and comedy comics were just as common as superhero comics. He cited the Image Comics — which publishes superhero comics alongside titles such as the Walking Dead — as a major example. And Spurlock said that the customers coming to the store have become more diverse as well.

“It’s not just guys anymore,” he said.

Spurlock recalled that, growing up, he got made fun of for liking comics. And, when he first started working at a comic book store, people asked him when he would get a “real job.” That’s not the case anymore — something that he still marvels at.

“Now, weirdly, toward the end of my life, I got cool, somehow,” he said.

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