Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Sept 14, 2014 19:51:44 GMT -6
www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Love-Shop-Proud-Lion-comics-Cheltenham/story-22276499-detail/story.html
There are very few places in Cheltenham for comic lovers.
Those were one of my first complaints when I moved to the town nearly two years ago.
So you can’t imagine my delight when I found out about Proud Lion in Winchcombe Street, the brainchild of Ben Fardon.
Formerly located near the iconic Odeon, it moved this summer to another town centre location – opposite the famous Badlands Records, just off the lower High Street, in St George’s Place.
The place is home a diverse range of comic books and graphic novels, with enough board games and role playing games to charm any comic lover.
It boasts a great mix of action figures, clothings, and all sorts of other merchandise a proper fan would want.
Ben, who has been trading in Cheltenham for six years, said: “These are all things I’m passionate about.
“I’ve been reading comics since I was a young lad growing up down the road in Wiltshire.
“My first ones were Transformer comics, with reprints of Marvel’s Iron Man nestled in the back pages. The rest is history.
“In my teen years, I discovered more diverse board games than Snakes and Ladders and Monopoly, with games such as the Settlers of Catan and RoboRally, along with role-playing games like the seminal Dungeons and Dragons and Werewolf.
“By the time I was in college, I was working at a local gaming and modelling shop in Swindon, and later, a couple of comic shops, eventually running one of them in absence of a manager.”
He moved on to work for Forbidden Planet in Bristol, before returning to Swindon to manage a new comic shop.
But Ben was determined to set up his own shop, and set up his own shop in Cheltenham at the end of 2007.
For a few years when he was at the University of Gloucestershire, there had been a comic shop in Cheltenham, but it closed quickly.
“I’d always marvelled in the years that followed that Cheltenham had not been able to sustain a comic shop for long,” Ben said.
“But it’s the perfect place for a comic shop. Cheltenham is a town full of intelligent residents with successful arts and literature festivals every years.
“So I decided to take up the challenge.
“The beauty of comics is that we get new issues every week, with most titles continuing on a monthly basis, which means we get to see our customers on a regular basis and hopefully build a rapport with most of them. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the people who live here, who also love comics and gaming, and have made some great friends.
“The business has grown from year to year.
“Comics are becoming more and more diverse, embracing more than just the stereotypical superhero genre.
“Every narrative genre that can be found in novels, TV, films and radio dramas can be found in comic books.
“This year has also seen us celebrate 75 years of Batman and the launch of the new Doctor Who comics, not to mention the successful movies Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy and the forthcoming Sin City 2.”
And since moving into their new premises, Ben has started to do more events around the town.
One of those is the monthly Drink and Draw at the nearby Boston Tea Party, a social event which encourages artists of all abilities to get involved.
The shop is also helping out with next year’s True Believers comic festival at the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse.
There is also a monthly gaming night on the second Saturday of every month, again at Boston Tea Party, the next being today.
There are very few places in Cheltenham for comic lovers.
Those were one of my first complaints when I moved to the town nearly two years ago.
So you can’t imagine my delight when I found out about Proud Lion in Winchcombe Street, the brainchild of Ben Fardon.
Formerly located near the iconic Odeon, it moved this summer to another town centre location – opposite the famous Badlands Records, just off the lower High Street, in St George’s Place.
The place is home a diverse range of comic books and graphic novels, with enough board games and role playing games to charm any comic lover.
It boasts a great mix of action figures, clothings, and all sorts of other merchandise a proper fan would want.
Ben, who has been trading in Cheltenham for six years, said: “These are all things I’m passionate about.
“I’ve been reading comics since I was a young lad growing up down the road in Wiltshire.
“My first ones were Transformer comics, with reprints of Marvel’s Iron Man nestled in the back pages. The rest is history.
“In my teen years, I discovered more diverse board games than Snakes and Ladders and Monopoly, with games such as the Settlers of Catan and RoboRally, along with role-playing games like the seminal Dungeons and Dragons and Werewolf.
“By the time I was in college, I was working at a local gaming and modelling shop in Swindon, and later, a couple of comic shops, eventually running one of them in absence of a manager.”
He moved on to work for Forbidden Planet in Bristol, before returning to Swindon to manage a new comic shop.
But Ben was determined to set up his own shop, and set up his own shop in Cheltenham at the end of 2007.
For a few years when he was at the University of Gloucestershire, there had been a comic shop in Cheltenham, but it closed quickly.
“I’d always marvelled in the years that followed that Cheltenham had not been able to sustain a comic shop for long,” Ben said.
“But it’s the perfect place for a comic shop. Cheltenham is a town full of intelligent residents with successful arts and literature festivals every years.
“So I decided to take up the challenge.
“The beauty of comics is that we get new issues every week, with most titles continuing on a monthly basis, which means we get to see our customers on a regular basis and hopefully build a rapport with most of them. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the people who live here, who also love comics and gaming, and have made some great friends.
“The business has grown from year to year.
“Comics are becoming more and more diverse, embracing more than just the stereotypical superhero genre.
“Every narrative genre that can be found in novels, TV, films and radio dramas can be found in comic books.
“This year has also seen us celebrate 75 years of Batman and the launch of the new Doctor Who comics, not to mention the successful movies Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy and the forthcoming Sin City 2.”
And since moving into their new premises, Ben has started to do more events around the town.
One of those is the monthly Drink and Draw at the nearby Boston Tea Party, a social event which encourages artists of all abilities to get involved.
The shop is also helping out with next year’s True Believers comic festival at the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse.
There is also a monthly gaming night on the second Saturday of every month, again at Boston Tea Party, the next being today.