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Mark Waid says buying a comic shop was like burning his money (but he had a good reason for doing it)
Mark Waid bought a comic shop so he could get a better understanding of the industry
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Mark Waid loves comics so much that he decided to buy his own comic shop. In 2013 Waid bought Alter Ego Comics, a Muncie, Indiana area store. Waid admitted that the idea wasn’t to get rich. In fact, he compares the experience to setting his money on fire. The truth is he loves comics, and he wanted to see the industry from a retailer’s perspective.
“At that point, this was the mid-2010s, that was the only thing I hadn’t done yet,” Mark Waid says during an appearance on SKTCHD’s Off Panel. I mean, I penciled, I inked, I colored. I mean, never great, but enough to know. I don’t know if it will ever see print at this point, because it’s been kicked down the road a lot, but I actually for Marvel, I did a How-To book about every aspect of it. Not just how to write comics, but like every aspect of it from a beginner’s point of view, from lettering, coloring, designing. Everything.”
“I could do that because I had dabbled in all of that stuff, and I was eager to relearn it so I could write that book properly. I think the more you know about how comics work in every aspect, the better you’re going to be. It’s all informative. So, that’s why I bought a comic shop and set fire to a ton of money.”
I wonder if Waid ever heard customers having spirited arguments about comics he had written. At times, Waid worked the register on weekends. Imagine buying Superman: Birthright, only to have the author himself ring you up. Alter Ego Comics is now known as Aw Yeah Comics, and Mark Waid no longer owns it, but you can still check out the store if you’re ever in Muncie, Indiana.
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