A passion for comics

Do you remember the first comic you ever bought at the comic shop? Mine was a new volume of “Spirou and Fantasio” – or maybe it was the latest adventure of the “Marsupilami”? I’m not completely sure anymore. But what I do remember very clearly, is that I always felt really at home in this contained, slightly crazy world of comics in the passageway below the theatre. All my comic heroes inhabited this space and I could forget everything else for entire afternoons, as I browsed my way through speech bubbles and illustrated stories.

Infectious enthusiasm

Angela Heimberg plays a crucial role in the success of the Comix shop, which has been run independently for more than 40 years now. She has managed the store for 17 years and has been working there for a total of 19 years. “I am the longest-serving member of staff here,” she grins proudly – and for this interview we go outside to the Theaterplatz, in front of the passageway, to sit in the sun. It’s probably a good idea to refuel on a bit of vitamin D whenever she can, when you consider the fact that she has to make do with very little daylight in the Theatre passageway. “It’s what I’m used to,” she says, and then adds “but it is important to have a good lighting system in the shop to show the comics off to their best advantage.” Angela and her team are very passionate about their Comix Shop and the thousands of illustrated stories and adventures it contains – that is clear.

Angela’s first visit to the Comix Shop was at the end of the 1990s. She had just completed her training as a bookseller. “As a professionally trained bookseller, I always wondered about how it would be possible to run a bookshop in such a way that it is profitable and can continue to prosper over the years,” She recalls, thinking back. It was probably her passion for reading, coupled with her affinity to art, that led her to start working at the Comix Shop. The Comix Shop, incidentally, was founded on 18 June 1983 by three friends united primarily by their passion for comics, but with a dearth of the professional and entrepreneurial know-how it called for. It was the subsequent owner, Felix Galli, who managed to combine his passion with professionality and structure the business properly – “he was my role model, even though I never met him personally and I still like to stick to his guiding principes these days,” says Angela.

Browsing around, to left and right

“We are on a stable footing these days. In fact, I can say we are doing well.” Friendly and professional guidance is more important in this regard than ever, says Angela. “While we used to hold our position thanks to the exclusivity of what we had on offer in our range, it is now our advice and the discussions that take place in the shop that are unique. I’ve had a really good team for a few years now that I am very happy with.” The Comix Shop also operates an online shop, of course, so that comic fans no longer have to come to the shop in person every time they want to buy a comic. But the Comix Shop does have to offer something extra, in the form of friendly and professional advice. Angela is absolutely convinced about this. “If people come to the shop in person, they can search more precisely and find something that really appeals to them. Only the shop can offer the option of looking around, to left and right, anywhere you feel like. It is a tactile experience, you can feel the quality of the paper, observe the strength of the colouring, take in the dimensions of the comic. All these things make a visit to the shop indispensable.”

Between environmental topics, homo-erotic comics and giant breasts

Just as much as books, comics reflect the various cultural and political topics that prey on people’s minds. These include environmental and gender issues. The so-called “boys- and girls-love” mangas along with the comics from Asia in general are very popular these days. What is interesting is that these homo-erotic stories are predominantly read by women. Comics are constantly evolving, they move with the times, which is why they continue to attract an ever-expanding and more diverse customer base. I think that is wonderful,” Angela explains with enthusiasm. “Of course, superheroines with overly large breasts still make it onto the covers even now. We often discuss this in our team, where women are in the majority, when we are deciding which new publications we should display most prominently on the counter. Then we do ask ourselves: Does she really have to be naked on the cover?,” Angela says and has to laugh about it.

Valuable training

The Comix Shop also makes an important educational contribution, imparting specialist knowledge from the world of illustrated stories, in a framework of regular training courses for librarians, schools, and teaching personnel. “Comics are not just amusing, sexist, action-packed or brutal. They are very varied and complex, both in the style in which they are drawn and in terms of their content. And – as with traditional literature – they appeal to a range of target groups of all ages.” It is this variety that still fascinates Angela in her day-to-day work at the Comix Shop: “On the one hand, I still find myself picking up a ‘Gaston’ comic and laughing heartily at these classic comic cartoons about the archetypal anti-hero. On the other hand, I am amazed at how dynamic the whole comic scene is, how it is expanding, and how new comics appear every day, comics which capture my attention and which I touch me profoundly. In a world which is changing so rapidly, books – and comics – are an impressively constant phenomenon.”