Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Oct 22, 2014 11:28:48 GMT -6
Dana Tillusz was just 20 when he walked into the Regina, Saskatchewan, store Readers Book Shop and offered to buy it. The owners were skeptical but willing to sell, especially after his girlfriend (now his wife) vouched for him, and 20 years later, Tillusz is the owner of a successful local comics shop, Comic Readers.
www.leaderpost.com/news/origin+story+Comic+Readers+Dana+Tillusz/10311634/story.html
When Dana Tillusz describes his 14-month-old daughter Samantha, it sounds like she has super powers.
“Her eyes are amazing. She can spot a squirrel from inside all the way outside like a yard away,” said Tillusz, who has owned the comic book shop Comic Readers for 20 years.
In classic comic book dad fashion, Tillusz would read Samantha issues of the Fantastic Four when she was an infant.
“Now she has to grab everything and put it in her mouth or try to rip the pages, so now I’m reading kids’ books all day,” said Tillusz.
Tillusz, 40, is actually behind on his comic book reading. He’s also taken time away from work to be a stay-at-home dad, popping into the store occasionally and ordering stock from the computer at home.
It’s a far different lifestyle than when he purchased Readers Book Shop in 1994, which was then located on Grant Road.
“All I remember is stress for, like, probably the first four or five years,” said Tillusz.
Aside from stints working as a dishwasher and porter at a hotel, the 19-year-old had no life plans other than owning a comic book store. Tillusz gave himself an ultimatum. He would either own a comic book shop by the time he was 20 or work a terrible job and be miserable for the rest of his life.
Tillusz beat his deadline by strolling into Readers and simply asking, “Will you sell me your store?”
Fortunately for Tillusz, the couple who owned the store was interested in selling. However, owner Curt Lorge said he was somewhat skeptical of the timid comic geek who frequented the shop.
“He struck me as being pretty quiet, and so I had some concerns at the time that he was a little bit of an introvert and the store requires sort of the opposite of that,” said Curt.
It was Curt’s then-girlfriend Jackie who vouched for Tillusz.
“He was pretty dedicated and focused and seemed like somebody who would do a good job,” said Jackie, who is now married to Curt. The two now live in Moose Jaw.
Tillusz admits he wasn’t prepared for owning a business.
“I had no idea what it meant to be that responsible.”
Tillusz also couldn’t have chosen a more difficult time to get into the comic book business. During the 1990s, a trend swept through the comics industry known as the speculation market. Publishers began selling special edition comics with variant covers to customers hoping their purchases would one day be worth thousands.
“Prices got driven up and the bottom fell out of that market, and it just took a big swath of the comic retail industry with it when it did. So comic book shops were shuttering all over North America in the early 1990s and that’s just when Dana had started,” said Stephen Whitworth, a Regina alternative comics connoisseur and longtime friend of Tillusz.
After moving to Regina in 1998, Whitworth saw a column Tillusz had written in the University of Regina Carillon about alternative comics. Whitworth made it is his mission to befriend Tillusz. He got his chance after spotting him one day in the Carillon offices.
“I basically dragged him off and made him drink with me and just talked at him a lot. And later on he said that he actually thought I was a complete psychopath, but it worked and we’ve been friends ever since,” said Whitworth.
Things were so bad that, in addition to having to tell his accountant he couldn’t afford $300 in income tax, Tillusz had to make the ultimate sacrifice no comic book fan would ever want to face. He took his prized copies of Amazing Spider-Man that he collected as a child and put them up for sale on his own store shelves.
“That was probably the hardest thing was realizing that I have a power bill to pay and I have to start selling my own books,” said Tillusz.
Tillusz said he naively thought he could begin running a successful business without going through the work of building a customer base, assuming all he had to do was stock the shelves.
There was even a point when Tillusz stopped reading comics, partly due to stress and dissatisfaction with what publishers were producing.
After a few years, business began to pick up. Tillusz was slowly able to hire more staff and step back from work. It even allowed him to enrol in philosophy classes at the U of R.
In 2005, Comic Readers was doing so well it was able to expand by opening up a second store in the downtown area, of which Tillusz is a part owner.
Despite his initial reservations, Lorge said he’s impressed with what Tillusz has accomplished.
“He’s done very well for himself. He’s kept in touch with shifts in the market and taken the store to where it needs to be and (they’re) very clean and beautiful looking stores that he’s got,” said Lorge, who still visits the downtown store regularly to play a card game called Magic: The Gathering.
Whitworth said Tillusz’s ability to weather the crash of the 1990s wasn’t merely luck.
“It’s happened by design, it’s happened through hard work and it’s happened because people walk into his store and they bring enthusiasm with them and that enthusiasm is reflected back at them,” said Whitworth.
When Christina Gottselig stepped into Comic Readers for the first time she brought a sense of curiosity, but absolutely no knowledge of comics. Familiar with the store only because she got her hair cut next door, Gottselig decided to venture in. She walked out with two copies of All-New X-Men, and was soon back for more. That’s when she met Tillusz.
“I just remember asking him if he liked Batman, and he got me started because he was very enthusiastic about Batman,” said Gottselig, who has since become a regular at the store.
“I just feel like I’m with family. I’ve never felt so at home,” she said.
Tillusz has his share of regulars too, including Keith Dobranski, who has been visiting the store even before Tillusz took over.
The first time I went in and he was by himself, he knew who I was and was able to pull my file and have it waiting for me at the counter,” said Dobranski.
“That was the first time ever that somebody knew who I was without me really knowing enough about who they were, and that really struck a chord for me.”
Dobranksi remembers Tillusz even taking the time to properly decorate the store, which for a comic shop means hanging the Millenium Falcon and X-Wing spacecraft from Star Wars on the ceiling.
Tillusz no longer has to work seven days a week as his shop’s lone employee. It’s allowed him to take time away from work to focus on being a father, which currently includes playing with stuffed animals and teaching Samantha how to fist-pump to music.
“The way I look at it is, I’m never going to get a chance to do this again. We don’t plan on having more children, and just this quality time I’m able to spend with my daughter … I understand what other parents told me over the years. It’s different when it’s your kid,” he said.
He’s even started a new comic collection, but this one is for Samantha. So, far he’s selected Uncle Scrooge by Donald Duck creator Carl Barks, and Bone, a comedic fantasy adventure by Jeff Smith.
“I think a lot of the stuff I’m going to read her is the stuff from the ’40s and ’50s where it’s just goofy and silly,” said Tillusz.
Tillusz credits Samantha with teaching him the cliché that there’s more to life than work, even if you do love your job.
“I’m on vacation, in a way. I tell other people that and other parents and they just kind of they look at me like I’m an alien,” he said.
Twitter.com/Melnychuk86
mmelnychuk@leaderpost.com
Dana Tillusz lists his seven favourite comics
There are a lot of comic books out there. If you’re looking at just getting started, we asked Dana Tillusz to list some of his favourites. Check out a list of his top seven recommendations, and why he thinks they’re awesome.
Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man was my childhood hero. His comic was different from the other superhero titles. There were real consequences to his actions, positive and negative, which rippled through issue to issue.
Eightball by Daniel Clowes
This comic series is the high point of alternative comics from the 1990s. Sometimes it would take a year for the next issue to be released. It was a long and painful wait for the best comic of that era.
Silver Surfer: Parable by Stan Lee and Moebius
This one-shot introduced me to the legendary artist Moebius. At a young age, I could see the differences between North American comic fare and European storytelling. And it had Galactus in it too!
Hellboy by Mike Mignola
This is the title all comic readers need to read. Mignola’s moody atmosphere reaches into the supernatural and delivers an epic tale that slowly leads civilization into ruin.
Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
Usagi was the comic series that showed me there was more to comics than superheroes. Set in feudal Japan, Usagi travels the countryside sticking his nose into everyone’s business.
Love and Rockets by Los Bros. Hernandez
The best characters in comic books are found within these pages. Set in Mexico and southern California, these provocative stories will break your heart and teach you about love.
The Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware
Ware’s characters are usually sad and pathetic, living introverted and lonely lives. These comics are truly depressing, but Ware shows he is the best there is at his craft.
www.leaderpost.com/news/origin+story+Comic+Readers+Dana+Tillusz/10311634/story.html
When Dana Tillusz describes his 14-month-old daughter Samantha, it sounds like she has super powers.
“Her eyes are amazing. She can spot a squirrel from inside all the way outside like a yard away,” said Tillusz, who has owned the comic book shop Comic Readers for 20 years.
In classic comic book dad fashion, Tillusz would read Samantha issues of the Fantastic Four when she was an infant.
“Now she has to grab everything and put it in her mouth or try to rip the pages, so now I’m reading kids’ books all day,” said Tillusz.
Tillusz, 40, is actually behind on his comic book reading. He’s also taken time away from work to be a stay-at-home dad, popping into the store occasionally and ordering stock from the computer at home.
It’s a far different lifestyle than when he purchased Readers Book Shop in 1994, which was then located on Grant Road.
“All I remember is stress for, like, probably the first four or five years,” said Tillusz.
Aside from stints working as a dishwasher and porter at a hotel, the 19-year-old had no life plans other than owning a comic book store. Tillusz gave himself an ultimatum. He would either own a comic book shop by the time he was 20 or work a terrible job and be miserable for the rest of his life.
Tillusz beat his deadline by strolling into Readers and simply asking, “Will you sell me your store?”
Fortunately for Tillusz, the couple who owned the store was interested in selling. However, owner Curt Lorge said he was somewhat skeptical of the timid comic geek who frequented the shop.
“He struck me as being pretty quiet, and so I had some concerns at the time that he was a little bit of an introvert and the store requires sort of the opposite of that,” said Curt.
It was Curt’s then-girlfriend Jackie who vouched for Tillusz.
“He was pretty dedicated and focused and seemed like somebody who would do a good job,” said Jackie, who is now married to Curt. The two now live in Moose Jaw.
Tillusz admits he wasn’t prepared for owning a business.
“I had no idea what it meant to be that responsible.”
Tillusz also couldn’t have chosen a more difficult time to get into the comic book business. During the 1990s, a trend swept through the comics industry known as the speculation market. Publishers began selling special edition comics with variant covers to customers hoping their purchases would one day be worth thousands.
“Prices got driven up and the bottom fell out of that market, and it just took a big swath of the comic retail industry with it when it did. So comic book shops were shuttering all over North America in the early 1990s and that’s just when Dana had started,” said Stephen Whitworth, a Regina alternative comics connoisseur and longtime friend of Tillusz.
After moving to Regina in 1998, Whitworth saw a column Tillusz had written in the University of Regina Carillon about alternative comics. Whitworth made it is his mission to befriend Tillusz. He got his chance after spotting him one day in the Carillon offices.
“I basically dragged him off and made him drink with me and just talked at him a lot. And later on he said that he actually thought I was a complete psychopath, but it worked and we’ve been friends ever since,” said Whitworth.
Things were so bad that, in addition to having to tell his accountant he couldn’t afford $300 in income tax, Tillusz had to make the ultimate sacrifice no comic book fan would ever want to face. He took his prized copies of Amazing Spider-Man that he collected as a child and put them up for sale on his own store shelves.
“That was probably the hardest thing was realizing that I have a power bill to pay and I have to start selling my own books,” said Tillusz.
Tillusz said he naively thought he could begin running a successful business without going through the work of building a customer base, assuming all he had to do was stock the shelves.
There was even a point when Tillusz stopped reading comics, partly due to stress and dissatisfaction with what publishers were producing.
After a few years, business began to pick up. Tillusz was slowly able to hire more staff and step back from work. It even allowed him to enrol in philosophy classes at the U of R.
In 2005, Comic Readers was doing so well it was able to expand by opening up a second store in the downtown area, of which Tillusz is a part owner.
Despite his initial reservations, Lorge said he’s impressed with what Tillusz has accomplished.
“He’s done very well for himself. He’s kept in touch with shifts in the market and taken the store to where it needs to be and (they’re) very clean and beautiful looking stores that he’s got,” said Lorge, who still visits the downtown store regularly to play a card game called Magic: The Gathering.
Whitworth said Tillusz’s ability to weather the crash of the 1990s wasn’t merely luck.
“It’s happened by design, it’s happened through hard work and it’s happened because people walk into his store and they bring enthusiasm with them and that enthusiasm is reflected back at them,” said Whitworth.
When Christina Gottselig stepped into Comic Readers for the first time she brought a sense of curiosity, but absolutely no knowledge of comics. Familiar with the store only because she got her hair cut next door, Gottselig decided to venture in. She walked out with two copies of All-New X-Men, and was soon back for more. That’s when she met Tillusz.
“I just remember asking him if he liked Batman, and he got me started because he was very enthusiastic about Batman,” said Gottselig, who has since become a regular at the store.
“I just feel like I’m with family. I’ve never felt so at home,” she said.
Tillusz has his share of regulars too, including Keith Dobranski, who has been visiting the store even before Tillusz took over.
The first time I went in and he was by himself, he knew who I was and was able to pull my file and have it waiting for me at the counter,” said Dobranski.
“That was the first time ever that somebody knew who I was without me really knowing enough about who they were, and that really struck a chord for me.”
Dobranksi remembers Tillusz even taking the time to properly decorate the store, which for a comic shop means hanging the Millenium Falcon and X-Wing spacecraft from Star Wars on the ceiling.
Tillusz no longer has to work seven days a week as his shop’s lone employee. It’s allowed him to take time away from work to focus on being a father, which currently includes playing with stuffed animals and teaching Samantha how to fist-pump to music.
“The way I look at it is, I’m never going to get a chance to do this again. We don’t plan on having more children, and just this quality time I’m able to spend with my daughter … I understand what other parents told me over the years. It’s different when it’s your kid,” he said.
He’s even started a new comic collection, but this one is for Samantha. So, far he’s selected Uncle Scrooge by Donald Duck creator Carl Barks, and Bone, a comedic fantasy adventure by Jeff Smith.
“I think a lot of the stuff I’m going to read her is the stuff from the ’40s and ’50s where it’s just goofy and silly,” said Tillusz.
Tillusz credits Samantha with teaching him the cliché that there’s more to life than work, even if you do love your job.
“I’m on vacation, in a way. I tell other people that and other parents and they just kind of they look at me like I’m an alien,” he said.
Twitter.com/Melnychuk86
mmelnychuk@leaderpost.com
Dana Tillusz lists his seven favourite comics
There are a lot of comic books out there. If you’re looking at just getting started, we asked Dana Tillusz to list some of his favourites. Check out a list of his top seven recommendations, and why he thinks they’re awesome.
Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man was my childhood hero. His comic was different from the other superhero titles. There were real consequences to his actions, positive and negative, which rippled through issue to issue.
Eightball by Daniel Clowes
This comic series is the high point of alternative comics from the 1990s. Sometimes it would take a year for the next issue to be released. It was a long and painful wait for the best comic of that era.
Silver Surfer: Parable by Stan Lee and Moebius
This one-shot introduced me to the legendary artist Moebius. At a young age, I could see the differences between North American comic fare and European storytelling. And it had Galactus in it too!
Hellboy by Mike Mignola
This is the title all comic readers need to read. Mignola’s moody atmosphere reaches into the supernatural and delivers an epic tale that slowly leads civilization into ruin.
Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
Usagi was the comic series that showed me there was more to comics than superheroes. Set in feudal Japan, Usagi travels the countryside sticking his nose into everyone’s business.
Love and Rockets by Los Bros. Hernandez
The best characters in comic books are found within these pages. Set in Mexico and southern California, these provocative stories will break your heart and teach you about love.
The Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware
Ware’s characters are usually sad and pathetic, living introverted and lonely lives. These comics are truly depressing, but Ware shows he is the best there is at his craft.