FRANCO’s FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS!
By FRANCO
“Comics stores suck.”
That was one of the things I was told by another retailer once.
“They’re a lot of work.”
“Why would you open a store? It’s never going to work. It’ll close within a year.”
“You can’t do that.”
That’s the one that really got my goat.
I know. I didn’t really have a goat. But also, don’t tell me I can’t do something. That’s a surefire way to get me to do it. Or at the very least, look into what the possibilities are.
It’s like putting me in a room with a big red button in the middle of it and telling me, “Whatever you do, don’t push the big red button.”
Well, what do you think is the first thing I’m going to do?
Marc Hammond (second from right), me (in the Star Wars shirt) and a bunch of our comics buddies.
My buddy, Art Baltazar, and I would always talk about comic shops and how cool it would be to open one. But we eventually came to the conclusion that we would never be able to do it as we couldn’t be there ourselves to run it day to day. But we had ideas and a notion of, “Wouldn’t it be cool…?”
In comes Marc Hammond. We had known Marc for a few years at this point. He was working at a comics store in Florida but expressed to Arthur one day on the phone that he was thinking of a change and leaving Florida. Arthur told him he had to go and quickly hung up. Art called me to relay all of this. The next call to Marc was from me. We sat and spoke for hours about what we wanted in a shop. I was very adamant that, yes, we needed the books but I was very big on the community aspect of the store. How can we do things that have never been done? How can we support artists and writers to help benefit the comics community?
All in all, things we wanted to implement and HOW we wanted them to happen eventually became the phrase we still use to this day: “How do we make it the Aw Yeah way?”
Marc and me with comics buddies, including Neal Adams!
We’ve had some incredible signings with some amazing artists and writers! We have had music album debuts. We’ve had cosplay life drawing in the store, art gallery shows and even auctions. We’ve had theme parties. Some pretty inspired ones, like hanging hundreds of fake candles from the ceiling to appear as if floating like the great hall in those magic movies or the Die Hard Christmas party. And all because of — and the support from — our community.
One thing Marc told me at the very beginning of this adventure is that if we do this right and in support of the industry and the local community, the people will show up and the community around the store will manifest. He was absolutely right. We opened that store in Skokie, Illinois, and it was a great place and the community manifested and I made some longtime friends. We expanded out with our friend and partner, Christy Blanch into Muncie, Indiana, and then we eventually opened one more in Harrison, New York. (My local shop! — Dan)
It has been such a fulfilling journey.
People will often ask why those three locations? And the answer is very simple. Arthur lives in Illinois. Christy lives in Indiana and I live in New York.
People will ask, why was Illinois first and not New York? Did we argue over the location? How was the decision made? Proud to say we have never had an argument. Discussions, yes, but never heated and always with respect… And Illinois was chosen as first because of what amounted to a coin toss.
Aw Yeah Comics has been going for close to 14 years at this point. That’s pretty good for something a lot of people said couldn’t be done or would never last.
Happy Friday!
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MORE
— Conventions and the Grooviness of SVENGOOLIE. Click here.
— NEAL ADAMS: The Most Intimidating Nice Guy You’d Ever Meet. Click here.
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Franco and his forehead have traveled the world and he writes and draws stuff. Franco is the creator, artist and writer of Patrick the Wolf Boy and Aw Yeah Comics! Franco has worked on books/comics, including Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures. Franco was also a high-school teacher and is one of the principal owners of Aw Yeah Comics retail stores. Dan made Franco add that he has won three Eisners.
June 27, 2025
Bless you for supporting local artists!