The triangle shaped store can only be found if you follow the series of signs with the logo and one huge arrow pointing towards a crick in Wisconsin Avenue. The white walls would seem dull if the bright colors of endless stacks of graphic novels didn’t pop off of them.
“It’s a teeny, tiny, hole in the wall comic book shop and there’s something really appealing about that.” said Tate Strickland, a junior at American University and occasional comic book reader.
The store opened in Tenleytown in 2003 and recently opened another outlet at Union Station.
“Location wise, it’s probably the safest and nicest area I’ve had to walk through
The store opened in Tenleytown in 2003 and recently opened another outlet at Union Station.
“Location wise, it’s probably the safest and nicest area I’ve had to walk through
to get to a comic book store,” said Regional Manager at Fantom Comics and AU Alum, Jordan Kessler. “Stores were never nice or easy to get to. DC has a great advantage. This is on the red line and the other store is on the red line.”
Kessler said that the store feeds off of publicity from blogs or columns, most recently Tania Anderson’s column “Shop to it” featured on the Washington Post web site.
“The area is also home to Fantom Comics, a 3-year-old store that sells comic books, graphic novels and manga, which are Japanese comics,” Anderson wrote in her column entitled Off the Beaten Path: Tenleytown. “The store, which gets a new shipment every Wednesday, invites all who read comics and even those who don't in a fun setting.”
“I don’t think people come here and think of coming to shop. [Anderson] said that Tenle
Kessler said that the store feeds off of publicity from blogs or columns, most recently Tania Anderson’s column “Shop to it” featured on the Washington Post web site.
“The area is also home to Fantom Comics, a 3-year-old store that sells comic books, graphic novels and manga, which are Japanese comics,” Anderson wrote in her column entitled Off the Beaten Path: Tenleytown. “The store, which gets a new shipment every Wednesday, invites all who read comics and even those who don't in a fun setting.”
“I don’t think people come here and think of coming to shop. [Anderson] said that Tenle
ytown is a place for shoppers who know what they want,” Kessler said. “I need hiking boots; I’m going to Hiking Trail. I want the new Superman comic; I’m going to Fantom Comics.”
“Fantom Comics is definitely the best place in the area to get comics and graphic novels,” said Dominic Lee in a comment on Anderson’s column. “Plus the staff will always have a cool new book that you should check out that you never heard of before.”
Fantom Comics does it’s best to stray from the stereotype. Strickland thinks that this new literary medium gets a bad rap.
“I think [comics] are really interesting and entertaining,” Strickland said. “People think comics and they see the comic book guy on the Simpson’s, or any other similar stereotype and it’s a medium that has a lot of breadth and depth there is so much to it, literary, entertaining, silly, you know, whatever.”
“Are there still nerdy comic book guys? Yeah, they’re here, they come, and I’m not so arrogant to say that I’m not one of them,” Kessler said. “It’s an awesome clientele. We have the college student, high school student, dad, a good friend of mine, one of the owners, it’s very eclectic. A lot of women, we have a good sized female population.”
“Fantom Comics is definitely the best place in the area to get comics and graphic novels,” said Dominic Lee in a comment on Anderson’s column. “Plus the staff will always have a cool new book that you should check out that you never heard of before.”
Fantom Comics does it’s best to stray from the stereotype. Strickland thinks that this new literary medium gets a bad rap.
“I think [comics] are really interesting and entertaining,” Strickland said. “People think comics and they see the comic book guy on the Simpson’s, or any other similar stereotype and it’s a medium that has a lot of breadth and depth there is so much to it, literary, entertaining, silly, you know, whatever.”
“Are there still nerdy comic book guys? Yeah, they’re here, they come, and I’m not so arrogant to say that I’m not one of them,” Kessler said. “It’s an awesome clientele. We have the college student, high school student, dad, a good friend of mine, one of the owners, it’s very eclectic. A lot of women, we have a good sized female population.”
Even though the nerds still exist, Strickland got a more modern feel from Fantom Comics.
“They’re cool and really interested in comics, not in the way that they want you to be a customer but they’re excited that you read comics,” Strickland said. “They’re friendly and helpful. Definitely a cool place to go.”
Although the store is small in size, that can be appealing to the common customer.
“It’s small, a hole in the wall, nice, organized, surprisingly easy to find everything you need,” Strickland said. “It’s small and intimate, but not the way that’s creepy or sketchy but it occupies a small amount of space, you can get what you need and it adds to its appeal.”
While the store has proven to feed off of the city it calls home, Fantom Comics offers something to the community as well.
“They’re cool and really interested in comics, not in the way that they want you to be a customer but they’re excited that you read comics,” Strickland said. “They’re friendly and helpful. Definitely a cool place to go.”
Although the store is small in size, that can be appealing to the common customer.
“It’s small, a hole in the wall, nice, organized, surprisingly easy to find everything you need,” Strickland said. “It’s small and intimate, but not the way that’s creepy or sketchy but it occupies a small amount of space, you can get what you need and it adds to its appeal.”
While the store has proven to feed off of the city it calls home, Fantom Comics offers something to the community as well.
“I think one it gives it a bookstore. It gives you a place to hang out. There are not a lot of places to hang out that are not Starbucks or are not Angelico’s. There’s nowhere to go,” Kessler said. “I really want to eventually evolve the store to have seats and a table and to be somewhere where people can hang out.”
Fantom Comics acts as a gem in a mass of corporate giants, for anyone, even mothers searching for the right gift for their kids.
“I get the sense that Fantom Comics is an island, because there’s a big electronics store to one side, whole foods across the street and neither are very closely associated with the clientele that Fantom Comics attracts,” Strickland said. “I think it’s interesting that they chose
Fantom Comics acts as a gem in a mass of corporate giants, for anyone, even mothers searching for the right gift for their kids.
“I get the sense that Fantom Comics is an island, because there’s a big electronics store to one side, whole foods across the street and neither are very closely associated with the clientele that Fantom Comics attracts,” Strickland said. “I think it’s interesting that they chose
Tenleytown as opposed to something hipper and cooler.”
“I think we have built a lot of loyalty,” Kessler said. “I constantly hear customers saying, ‘well, I wanted to give you the business first.’”
“I think we have built a lot of loyalty,” Kessler said. “I constantly hear customers saying, ‘well, I wanted to give you the business first.’”
“We’ve become a store people can trust I really police the kids section and put great things in it remove things that aren’t so good,” Kessler said. “I think people can trust and want to come here.”
The key word for Fantom Comics is acceptance. No matter who you are and what you’re doing in their store, judgments are left at the door. Kessler noted that he would never chase anyone out of the store for reading a comic like he’d find at other stores, and he’d never laugh at you for liking Wonderwoman.
On the stores web site, http://www.fantomcomics.com/, they stated that one of their goals that says it all.
The key word for Fantom Comics is acceptance. No matter who you are and what you’re doing in their store, judgments are left at the door. Kessler noted that he would never chase anyone out of the store for reading a comic like he’d find at other stores, and he’d never laugh at you for liking Wonderwoman.
On the stores web site, http://www.fantomcomics.com/, they stated that one of their goals that says it all.
“Fantom Comics is an open, inclusive store that welcomes people who've never read a comic book in their lives…whether you're a fan who want to talk comics, or a novice who wants to learn comics (or just look for the right gift for the fan in your life), our employees are there to help you.”
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