Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Apr 1, 2014 18:03:43 GMT -6
news.hjnews.com/bridgerland/for-love-of-comic-books-finding-a-unique-niche-in/article_f6e63b2a-b905-11e3-9c48-001a4bcf887a.html
Just because he looks like Comic Book Guy from “The Simpsons” doesn’t mean he acts like him. Thirty-year-old Trent Hunsaker is the proud owner of Death Ray Comics, the only true comic book shop in Cache Valley. While you can find comics at other stores among the card games, memorabilia and puzzles, Death Ray Comics only sells comics.
Death Ray Comics opened up on April 12, 2013, with quality customer service as its primary goal.
“Death Ray Comics was born out of the idea that selling comics couldn’t be that hard,” Hunsaker said. “Myself and my friends had experienced the worst customer service ever so we figured there had to be a way to not screw it up that much, or if not to screw up, at least have a place you could go to buy comic books where people would want to sell you things. That’s kind of where the idea came from. Then I set a goal that I would open it up by the time I turned 30, and I opened it up last year when I was 29, so I think that counts.”
Hunsaker opened up the shop with the idea that it could be a place where people who both love comics and who don’t know anything about comics could meet and feel comfortable.
“Initially, it was to have a comic book shop where people could hang out, read comics and be accepted and mostly as a place for people who have never read comics. They could go in and ask questions about it,” Hunsaker said. “The ultimate goal is to have it be profitable and make it my livelihood and doing what I love because I do love it.”
Hunsaker himself is a huge lover a comics. He began reading comics in the late 1980s when his older brother introduced him to them. Even as young as kindergarten when he couldn’t read, Hunsaker said he would make up his own stories to go with the comics he had.
Hunsaker said he loves comics because of their ability to be a great in-between of literature and cinema.
“With literature, despite Steinbeck-ian descriptions, there is still a lot of interpretation that is left up to the reader. And a lot of times in a movie, there is still interpretation, but a lot is also put out there for you so there’s not a lot to infer,” Hunsaker said. “Comics are kind of the great in-between where there is a lot of things you can create with your own mind but at the same time, it is easy to stay on track with where the creators want you to go. To me, that’s very, very appealing.”
Hunsaker also admits he just loves superheroes, especially Fantastic Four and anything dealing with the cosmic universe of Marvel.
“I’m all over it. I don’t know. There are very few comics that I’ve read where I thought, Well, this is (expletive), because I try to look for the merit, and I try to see where it’s going. But at the same time, there are definitely books that are more deserving of my time,” Hunsaker said. “So, the ones that I love are the ones that I think pay homage to the classic characters, and I think that’s why I like Fantastic Four so much. But at the same time, I love comics that are breaking out and going to new places.”
The people who come to Death Ray Comics may all be drawn there for the comics, but their tastes and motivations vary wildly.
“You’ve got people who know comics better than I do and are waiting for their comics, and are pounding on the door by the time I get here, and they’re ready to pick up their new comics,” Hunsaker said. “I’ve got people who, a lot like myself, have read comics in the past and are either financially in a place where they can get back into the hobby or culturally feel like it’s something that they’re OK and they won’t be judged for reading them.”
Hunsaker said his favorite memory of a customer was when an elderly gentleman came in, and they began talking about how he read comics when he was young and he wanted to get something for his grandson.
“It was really cool because in my mind, I saw him sitting down with his grandson and being like, ‘Look at this comic. This is what I used to read. Now it’s something you can read,’” Hunsaker said. “You get some of those moments where it’s a shared experience for a lot of people. That was a really cool experience.”
Hunsaker equates his customers as more of a fanbase — fans of both comics and of the shop itself.
“I think fanbase is the perfect word because anyone can be a customer, and anyone can go online and be a customer. But for a small local business, you won’t survive on customers. You’ll survive on fans, people who make it part of their weekly regiment to go in and talk to the guys at the comic shop, or make it part of their routine to go to their specific coffee shop so they can chat with a waitress,” Hunsaker said. “That’s how small businesses survive, through the love of other people.”
Unfortunately, a passion and love of something does not always equate into financial security. This is especially true in the comic book industry since there is only one distributor, Diamond Comic Distribution.
“The way the distribution model is set up, there is only one distributor for all comics, and all publishers distribute through this one distributor. The only way you can get product is with a cashier’s check, which I understand. They’re covering their tail,” Hunsaker said. “But at the same time, it’s really hard for a shop that is just starting out to have that amount of capital that is liquid that they could actually use.”
Another difficulty, according to Hunsaker, is the lack of a mentorship program with Diamond that would help small shops know what comics are popular or what are selling. Because of this, Hunsaker made some poor choices in merchandise that he was unable to sell.
This came to a head in October 2013 when the shop was in a dire situation.
“So, I’m sitting on all these books that I can’t sell, and I’ve had to pay to get them in the door,” Hunsaker said. “So there came a point where I needed to pay for the comic books that were coming in that people had actually ordered, and I didn’t have the liquid cash to do so.”
After contemplating hard about what to do, Hunsaker decided he had to ask for help. Hunsaker wrote a blog post explaining his situation and asked for financial help, something he said was very hard to do.
“I wrote a blog post on my personal blog and kind of explained what I did and said if people want to help, then by all means, please do,” Hunsaker said. “If not, I totally understand. I wouldn’t expect anyone to feel obligated to help out, but if they felt like this was important to them and to others, then by all means.”
Nearly instantly, the money started pouring in from all over the world, from people Hunsaker both knew and some from people he had never met.
“It was so much more than I ever anticipated. I never expected to get that many people to even see my digital plea and those who did to actually respond to it,” Hunsaker said. “I had people donate from all over the place, from New York to California, Australia, Canada, people from all over. I felt very loved.”
Since then, Death Ray Comics has never come close to that serious of a situation.
“The comic shop is doing well now, relatively speaking. Having done it long enough, we’re able to know what customers want and what they’re looking for, infused with being on top of things myself so I’m aware of what new products are coming out and knowing my customers well enough so I can say, ‘You like this one. Maybe you’ll like this one,’” Hunsaker said. “It’s been able to do pretty well. I’m not retiring yet by any means. But we’re off in the right direction.”
Just because he looks like Comic Book Guy from “The Simpsons” doesn’t mean he acts like him. Thirty-year-old Trent Hunsaker is the proud owner of Death Ray Comics, the only true comic book shop in Cache Valley. While you can find comics at other stores among the card games, memorabilia and puzzles, Death Ray Comics only sells comics.
Death Ray Comics opened up on April 12, 2013, with quality customer service as its primary goal.
“Death Ray Comics was born out of the idea that selling comics couldn’t be that hard,” Hunsaker said. “Myself and my friends had experienced the worst customer service ever so we figured there had to be a way to not screw it up that much, or if not to screw up, at least have a place you could go to buy comic books where people would want to sell you things. That’s kind of where the idea came from. Then I set a goal that I would open it up by the time I turned 30, and I opened it up last year when I was 29, so I think that counts.”
Hunsaker opened up the shop with the idea that it could be a place where people who both love comics and who don’t know anything about comics could meet and feel comfortable.
“Initially, it was to have a comic book shop where people could hang out, read comics and be accepted and mostly as a place for people who have never read comics. They could go in and ask questions about it,” Hunsaker said. “The ultimate goal is to have it be profitable and make it my livelihood and doing what I love because I do love it.”
Hunsaker himself is a huge lover a comics. He began reading comics in the late 1980s when his older brother introduced him to them. Even as young as kindergarten when he couldn’t read, Hunsaker said he would make up his own stories to go with the comics he had.
Hunsaker said he loves comics because of their ability to be a great in-between of literature and cinema.
“With literature, despite Steinbeck-ian descriptions, there is still a lot of interpretation that is left up to the reader. And a lot of times in a movie, there is still interpretation, but a lot is also put out there for you so there’s not a lot to infer,” Hunsaker said. “Comics are kind of the great in-between where there is a lot of things you can create with your own mind but at the same time, it is easy to stay on track with where the creators want you to go. To me, that’s very, very appealing.”
Hunsaker also admits he just loves superheroes, especially Fantastic Four and anything dealing with the cosmic universe of Marvel.
“I’m all over it. I don’t know. There are very few comics that I’ve read where I thought, Well, this is (expletive), because I try to look for the merit, and I try to see where it’s going. But at the same time, there are definitely books that are more deserving of my time,” Hunsaker said. “So, the ones that I love are the ones that I think pay homage to the classic characters, and I think that’s why I like Fantastic Four so much. But at the same time, I love comics that are breaking out and going to new places.”
The people who come to Death Ray Comics may all be drawn there for the comics, but their tastes and motivations vary wildly.
“You’ve got people who know comics better than I do and are waiting for their comics, and are pounding on the door by the time I get here, and they’re ready to pick up their new comics,” Hunsaker said. “I’ve got people who, a lot like myself, have read comics in the past and are either financially in a place where they can get back into the hobby or culturally feel like it’s something that they’re OK and they won’t be judged for reading them.”
Hunsaker said his favorite memory of a customer was when an elderly gentleman came in, and they began talking about how he read comics when he was young and he wanted to get something for his grandson.
“It was really cool because in my mind, I saw him sitting down with his grandson and being like, ‘Look at this comic. This is what I used to read. Now it’s something you can read,’” Hunsaker said. “You get some of those moments where it’s a shared experience for a lot of people. That was a really cool experience.”
Hunsaker equates his customers as more of a fanbase — fans of both comics and of the shop itself.
“I think fanbase is the perfect word because anyone can be a customer, and anyone can go online and be a customer. But for a small local business, you won’t survive on customers. You’ll survive on fans, people who make it part of their weekly regiment to go in and talk to the guys at the comic shop, or make it part of their routine to go to their specific coffee shop so they can chat with a waitress,” Hunsaker said. “That’s how small businesses survive, through the love of other people.”
Unfortunately, a passion and love of something does not always equate into financial security. This is especially true in the comic book industry since there is only one distributor, Diamond Comic Distribution.
“The way the distribution model is set up, there is only one distributor for all comics, and all publishers distribute through this one distributor. The only way you can get product is with a cashier’s check, which I understand. They’re covering their tail,” Hunsaker said. “But at the same time, it’s really hard for a shop that is just starting out to have that amount of capital that is liquid that they could actually use.”
Another difficulty, according to Hunsaker, is the lack of a mentorship program with Diamond that would help small shops know what comics are popular or what are selling. Because of this, Hunsaker made some poor choices in merchandise that he was unable to sell.
This came to a head in October 2013 when the shop was in a dire situation.
“So, I’m sitting on all these books that I can’t sell, and I’ve had to pay to get them in the door,” Hunsaker said. “So there came a point where I needed to pay for the comic books that were coming in that people had actually ordered, and I didn’t have the liquid cash to do so.”
After contemplating hard about what to do, Hunsaker decided he had to ask for help. Hunsaker wrote a blog post explaining his situation and asked for financial help, something he said was very hard to do.
“I wrote a blog post on my personal blog and kind of explained what I did and said if people want to help, then by all means, please do,” Hunsaker said. “If not, I totally understand. I wouldn’t expect anyone to feel obligated to help out, but if they felt like this was important to them and to others, then by all means.”
Nearly instantly, the money started pouring in from all over the world, from people Hunsaker both knew and some from people he had never met.
“It was so much more than I ever anticipated. I never expected to get that many people to even see my digital plea and those who did to actually respond to it,” Hunsaker said. “I had people donate from all over the place, from New York to California, Australia, Canada, people from all over. I felt very loved.”
Since then, Death Ray Comics has never come close to that serious of a situation.
“The comic shop is doing well now, relatively speaking. Having done it long enough, we’re able to know what customers want and what they’re looking for, infused with being on top of things myself so I’m aware of what new products are coming out and knowing my customers well enough so I can say, ‘You like this one. Maybe you’ll like this one,’” Hunsaker said. “It’s been able to do pretty well. I’m not retiring yet by any means. But we’re off in the right direction.”