Comic Book Store Owner Interview

For my INFO 5415 Graphic Novels & Comics class I had to interview an owner of a comic book shop. Below is the information I gathered from my observations of the store and lovely interview with Byron the owner of Gulf Coast Cosmos located in Third Ward in Houston, Texas.

I visited Gulf Coast Cosmos in Houston, Texas. It is in Third Ward right next to a Black woman owned bookstore called Kindred Stories. The store is small and cozy. As soon as you enter you will find yourself greeted by a staff member at their register who when I visited just so happened to be the owner. Upon entering Gulf Coast Cosmos to my right I found new titles for the week and current issues which were placed in alphabetical order by title. As I continued to move along the wall I noticed back issues arranged in alphabetical order by title (and at a discounted price). From there one will run into shelving containing Funko Pops and other merchandise along with manga and graphic novels. There is a small section of merchandise from popular franchises like Marvel. Rounding out the selections are the kids books featuring titles such as Ironheart, Unearthed and Chunky. My eye was immediately drawn to the section containing graphic novels and manga and the kids books. I feel that I can find an item I’m interested in my own with the organization being one of alphabetical order.

I feel that help is readily available to store visitors as I observed with my interview with the owner that he was more than happy to help and speak with customers as they walked through the door.

I was able to sit down with the owner Byron. Byron’s relationship with comics began when he was 8 years old as an avid reader. One day his day brought him a 3 pack of comic books when he was sick at home and it was through this mind-blowing experience that Byron’s love of comics began to grow. Byron stated that he was always in love with and enamored by the historical Black community of Third Ward. He liked the fact that it was not only brimming with culture but Black culture as well. He wanted to give back to the community he fell in love with by placing his shop there. Byron stated that he is very much partial to Spider Man, Black Panther, Falcon, and Iron Man. So it is no surprise that Marvel is his favorite comic company.

He also finds himself getting into independent comics. Byron stated that they’re edgy and not as confined to what stories they tell and what characters they create, which when done the right way can be really rewarding.

Byron has taken notice that they are a niche shop in that they are catering to the community that they are located in. This means that patrons are usually asking for stories featuring Black, Brown, Asian and Indigenous characters along with creators who identify with these communities. Byron also spoke of how they curate their collection based on the suggestions of their patrons. He noted that with these suggestions they are starting to see a lot of patrons asking for independent titles. Byron states that manga is a continuously growing trend that he does not see going away. Also a genre he notices starting to trend is horror as he states “there’s something about being creeped about”. In looking at the future of comics Byron spoke about how the discussion of AI (artificial intelligence) has been trending in terms of artwork and how he could some movement towards creating comics through the use of AI.