Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Apr 30, 2015 22:29:21 GMT -6
Illinois comics retailer Chimera’s Comics will open its third location, in Woodridge, this Saturday, just in time for Free Comic Book Day:
www.buglenewspapers.com/woodridge/article_3d71b2c2-eec5-11e4-b216-870750638716.html
Comics Come Home: Chimera's Comics celebrates Woodridge opening with week of activities
Comics are dominating popular culture.
Some of the top grossing movies and highest rated television shows are comic book adaptations, and fans are flocking to local comic shops to discover the origins of their favorite on-screen characters.
One of those shops is Chimera’s Comics. The retailer has two locations in LaGrange and Oaklawn, and will open its third shop Saturday in Woodridge.
Carmelo Chimera, co-owner and president of Chimera's Comics, said the decision to open the new shop, located on the corner of 75th Street and Lemont Road, took some time, but he ultimately came to see it as the perfect location.
“Not every neighborhood is right for a comic shop, whether its because of traffic congestion or other stores in the area, but once we saw [Woodridge] the light bulb went off,” Chimera said. “Woodridge struck me as a place that would like what we would do.”
Chimera first got the idea to open a comic book store while he was working in a shop during high school. After graduating from college, he and longtime friend Steven Brown decided that their love of comics could not be contained.
The two friends set out to open their own shop, and that’s what they did. The first Chimera’s location opened in LaGrange on May 7, 2011. Fittingly, it was Free Comic Book Day.
Now, the store’s owners are bringing that same love of comics to Woodridge.
The timing of the Woodridge grand opening was planned to coincide with the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, C2E2, the April 30 release of “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and the 14th annual Free Comic Book Day on May 2.
Chimera’s Comics kicked off the week by celebrating comic book culture with thousands of fans of the medium at C2E2, a Chicago fan convention for comics, graphic novels, anime, video games and other pop culture. Chimera and Brown began displaying their merchandise at the convention in 2012, and have been there every year since.
On Thursday, Chimera's will host a screening of “Age of Ultron” at Hollywood Boulevard Cinema, which is located in the same shopping center.
“We’ve teamed up with Hollywood Boulevard… to rent out an entire theater for the opening night of the film, and we’ve been giving away tickets to the event in a contest all month,” Chimera said.
The shop will give away 65-100 tickets for the screening, and contest winners will then be invited to check out the new shop two days before it opens.
But, Chimera’s opening ceremonies don’t end there.
To show appreciation for their customers, the store will give away 2,000 comic books for Free Comic Book Day. The Woodridge store partnered with Woodridge Public Library to celebrate the annual event, which welcomes community members of all ages to visit the library, 3 Plaza Drive, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday and receive a free comic book.
“Community ties are important to us, and we’re excited to team up with the Woodridge Public Library for the first time,” Chimera’s Vice President of Operations Khal Shaar said in a release.
The store will also work with the Oak Lawn Public Library, which is having its own comic appreciation day with the inaugural Oak Lawn Public Library Fan Fest.
“It’s a thing that I love doing with libraries and communities,” Chimera said. “I’m really hopeful Woodridge will be just as perceptive.”
Chimera said he and the store have worked with libraries in the past and hope the new relationship is a fruitful one, adding that the store has already started making plans for the summer reading program.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Samples
www.buglenewspapers.com/woodridge/article_3d71b2c2-eec5-11e4-b216-870750638716.html
Comics Come Home: Chimera's Comics celebrates Woodridge opening with week of activities
Comics are dominating popular culture.
Some of the top grossing movies and highest rated television shows are comic book adaptations, and fans are flocking to local comic shops to discover the origins of their favorite on-screen characters.
One of those shops is Chimera’s Comics. The retailer has two locations in LaGrange and Oaklawn, and will open its third shop Saturday in Woodridge.
Carmelo Chimera, co-owner and president of Chimera's Comics, said the decision to open the new shop, located on the corner of 75th Street and Lemont Road, took some time, but he ultimately came to see it as the perfect location.
“Not every neighborhood is right for a comic shop, whether its because of traffic congestion or other stores in the area, but once we saw [Woodridge] the light bulb went off,” Chimera said. “Woodridge struck me as a place that would like what we would do.”
Chimera first got the idea to open a comic book store while he was working in a shop during high school. After graduating from college, he and longtime friend Steven Brown decided that their love of comics could not be contained.
The two friends set out to open their own shop, and that’s what they did. The first Chimera’s location opened in LaGrange on May 7, 2011. Fittingly, it was Free Comic Book Day.
Now, the store’s owners are bringing that same love of comics to Woodridge.
The timing of the Woodridge grand opening was planned to coincide with the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, C2E2, the April 30 release of “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and the 14th annual Free Comic Book Day on May 2.
Chimera’s Comics kicked off the week by celebrating comic book culture with thousands of fans of the medium at C2E2, a Chicago fan convention for comics, graphic novels, anime, video games and other pop culture. Chimera and Brown began displaying their merchandise at the convention in 2012, and have been there every year since.
On Thursday, Chimera's will host a screening of “Age of Ultron” at Hollywood Boulevard Cinema, which is located in the same shopping center.
“We’ve teamed up with Hollywood Boulevard… to rent out an entire theater for the opening night of the film, and we’ve been giving away tickets to the event in a contest all month,” Chimera said.
The shop will give away 65-100 tickets for the screening, and contest winners will then be invited to check out the new shop two days before it opens.
But, Chimera’s opening ceremonies don’t end there.
To show appreciation for their customers, the store will give away 2,000 comic books for Free Comic Book Day. The Woodridge store partnered with Woodridge Public Library to celebrate the annual event, which welcomes community members of all ages to visit the library, 3 Plaza Drive, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday and receive a free comic book.
“Community ties are important to us, and we’re excited to team up with the Woodridge Public Library for the first time,” Chimera’s Vice President of Operations Khal Shaar said in a release.
The store will also work with the Oak Lawn Public Library, which is having its own comic appreciation day with the inaugural Oak Lawn Public Library Fan Fest.
“It’s a thing that I love doing with libraries and communities,” Chimera said. “I’m really hopeful Woodridge will be just as perceptive.”
Chimera said he and the store have worked with libraries in the past and hope the new relationship is a fruitful one, adding that the store has already started making plans for the summer reading program.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Samples