Wednesday, March 2, 2011 was a momentous day. It was the day I made my first official comic book purchase ever. It may come as a surprise to some of you that I'm not actually a "comic book" person. I don't collect them, I don't really read them, and I've never followed an entire series. That is, until Axe Cop (I may have mentioned Axe Cop here once or twice so, by now, you should have no excuse for not knowing what I'm talking about).
My comic book buying experience began with a few calls to local comic book stores to find out if they had any copies of Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1 (the first straight to print Axe Cop series). Since it was the official release date for the book I wanted to make sure I would be able to find a copy. Many of my local shops had already closed for the day. Some of them had never heard of Axe Cop (losers). Others had already sold out of Bad Guy Earth- which was a bummer for me but great for Axe Cop! Thankfully, The Realm Games & Comics is open until 10:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and they still had three copies of Bad Guy Earth #1. My husband and I loaded our two-year-old daughter into the car and headed out.
I knew exactly where The Realm was, I've driven past it a million times, but until that night I had never actually ventured into the shop. I will admit, I was a bit intimidated by the level of sheer nerdome emanating from this place. As we walked through the door into this strange dimension where at least twelve grown men were gathered around tables participating in various RPGs (Role Playing Games), I will admit I felt a bit out of place. Not that I'm not a huge nerd myself. I have participated in my fair share of nerdy activities; however, it's usually in a certain context and I'm usually dressed for the part and mentally prepared for what I'm about to experience. On this night though, I was dressed like a "normal" person.
My husband and I later agreed that we felt like we represented the "real" world spilling in through the doors of this safe haven for fantasy role play. There was a "what are you doing here" vibe when we entered- if there had been music playing I would have expected to hear the clichéd record scratch sound effect and then silence as the piercing eyes of hard core fanboys looked right through our souls. We wondered later how often a real live female walks into that place, let alone a real live "miniature" female, dressed in bright pink, carrying a Cinderella princess figurine. Perhaps it happens more often than I think but on this particular evening there were no visible hints of a feminine touch- not even that of a totally awesome nerdy girl who can hold her own against the boys in a trivia challenge. I felt alone and lost with no one to relate to- okay, that's a little dramatic.
The awkwardness quickly faded as we pretended like we knew what we were doing and made our way to the piles of new comic releases and found what we were looking for. We lingered a bit and thumbed through the graphic novels to see if we could find any copies of Scrooge and Santa- nope, didn't think so. Our daughter was starting to get restless and kept saying, "Daddy, I wanna play with the toys," as she pointed to various figurines and action figures. My husband's response to her was quite amusing, "No, Sofie, those aren't toys...well, I guess technically they are but...never mind, just don't touch anything." So, in order to avoid offending any of the men who were playing with said toys (as pointed out by a two-year-old who simply sees the world as it is), we made our way to the counter to make our purchase.
As I pulled out my money and handed it to the guy behind the cash register, I proudly said, "I think you should know that this is my first ever official comic book purchase." He stared blankly as he took my money and put it in the drawer. "Great. Well...enjoy it," he said, handing me my receipt but I'm pretty sure he was thinking, "Lady, just take your Axe Cop and your kid and let me get back to my RPG."
Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1 was well worth stepping out of my comfort zone to obtain. The story is shaping up to be amazing, in true Axe Cop form, and there is an epic drawing of a T-Rex crying. Part two of the three part series comes out tomorrow and I plan on, once again, invading The Realm's personal space by showing up on a Wednesday evening with my husband and my daughter to make my second official comic book purchase ever. I look forward to finding out why that T-Rex is crying and following Axe Cop through the rest of the journey as he chops off heads and saves the world- at least I'm hoping it will go something like that.
5 comments:
I guarantee you that The Realm does not see women in there very often, because they gave me the same response. I have no intentions of going back, either. Surely there's a comic book/gaming store out there that won't look at me like I have two heads when I walk in and ask about d10s!
Katie, your posts have a wonderful ability to make me smile. Thanks.
Joi, I'm so glad you told me this, I hesitated to even mention that whole part of the experience in my post because I wasn't sure if I was just reading into the situation or if there really was a "vibe" going on. I do plan on going back there but I think I'll be as obnoxious as possible. Also, I kind of want to think of a reason to ask about d10s- I could tell them I need them for a sewing project and blow their minds!
Matthew, I'm so glad you find my blog amusing. I really try hard to make it fun- it's encouraging to know it makes you smile. =)
Hmm...Never been to The Realm, but I can assure that girl-friendly comic shops do exists. I have been there, it's was fun. Unfortunately the places where I have been have since closed. Also, it might help to go earlier, cuz if they were open that late, I assume it was for the purpose of RPGs, but if you got there before 5 or 6 they might be friendlier and more willing to help sell their stuff. Sadly, since comic book stores tend to come and go, I found shopping on-line to be the most reliable.
Welcome to the world of comics :)
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