By Justin Smulison
Ever since 18-year-old Justin Rosenberg stumbled upon boxes of old comic books in his attic a couple of months ago, he found himself in a state of nostalgic bliss. Since then, Rosenberg has sought old comics he is missing and been catching up on what has happened in the worlds of Spider-Man and Batman since he stopped collecting six years ago.
It's a nice break to read comics after going through textbooks and notebooks in college, Rosenberg said. The only problem is that a lot of the places I went to as a kid are gone.
The reason for that is simple, yet sad for those trying to recapture a piece of their childhood like Rosenberg. With a whole generation of kids growing up with the Internet, Play Station and 500 television channels, a classic form of entertainment has taken a back seat. Thus, the comic-book industry is at an all-time low.
We basically stopped selling comics when we moved [from Lawson Boulevard to the current location at 3328 Long Beach Road] in January of 1997, said Sheila Segel, a sales associate at Doubleheader, which once specialized in sports cards and memorabilia and comics. Comic sales were going down, while things were going up in price.
In fact, the only comic-book store in Oceanside that has survived the many peaks and valleys in the industry is Cosmic Comics at 246 Merrick Road. Ken Diamond, 52, attributes his store's 18 years of success to his experience in the field and professional approach.
For me, it's a livelihood, Diamond said. Younger people that own comic-book stores are fanboys, while I treat it like a business.
Diamond said that although companies market products to sell in mass quantities, he has steered clear from a lot of the hype, which is why he is still in Oceanside.
It's all a gamble regardless. It's better to sell out and make the profit that you do rather than have 20 extra copies of something, Diamond said. But I know my customers, and I know what they like in terms of titles, writers and artists.
Segel believes the comic-book industry reached its highest point in 1993 with installments about the death of Superman and has been on a steady decline since, which is why she said Doubleheader probably wouldn't sell comic books again, even if they made a comeback.
But Seidman and Diamond are more optimistic than Segel regarding the future of the comic-book industry and how long they will remain in Oceanside. Both agree that upcoming comic-book-related movies like Spider-Man will boost comic sales.
