Comic Book Store Clerks of America No. 15: Pasadena, Calif.
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They have no superpowers, but they are heroic: They are the store employees across America who sell comics and, like the guys in ‘High Fidelity,’ bicker with one another all day long about the true treasures of the discount bin. They are the Comic Book Store Clerks of America, and we salute them.
In this special edition of Comic Book Store Clerks of America, the Hero Complex visted the good folks of Comics Factory (1298 E Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA; [626] 585-0618) as they, along with many other comic-book shops throughout the country, celebrated Marvel Comics’ 70th anniversary.
Shops stayed open after 9 p.m. selling ‘The Marvels Project #1,’ a retelling of how it all started for Marvel Comics, centering on two of its stars: the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner. Many had special guests signing books and making sketches. Comics Factory had Marvel colorist Dean White, and I chatted with him about one of his latest, and toughest, assignments as he displayed a Jack Kirby-esque Fantastic Four reproduction.
After speaking to Stewart, we talked to one of the guys who makes the shop run -- and was there after hours to help customers -- Sean Jackson. A super clerk (since he’s the manager), Sean let us do a quick video intro, then I asked him a few other questions while hanging out.
HC: If you could be one of the Lanterns -- a color of the spectrum -- which would you be?
SJ: I was gonna say John Stewart. John Stewart is awesome. John Stewart is the greatest Green Lantern of all time.
HC: Not what I was going for, but OK. And that’s a big thing to say. There are a lot of Hal Jordan fans out there.
SJ: Yes, Hal Jordan was the main guy for many years, but John’s the coolest Green Lantern. He’s a ladies man, and in the cartoon he just kicked it up a notch too. ... And he’s also the most technical.
OK, well, if you couldn’t be a Green Lantern, what kind would you be?
SJ: I gotta go with black. I’d like to be able to raise the dead and have my little zombie army.
HC: But you have to be dead to be a Black Lantern?
SJ: Yeah, that’s kind of a drawback to being a Black Lantern. Summoning the dead? Awesome. Being dead? Not so much.
HC: What are your top five favorite books right now?
SJ: That’s tough cause I read everything, but in no particular order ... The Killer from Arcana Comics. It’s a European comic. It’s amazing. It’s about an unassuming assassin. ... Blacksad, also a European comic. It’s only published in graphic-novel form in the U.S. It’s about a detective that’s drawn as a panther in a world full of animals. ... The Mighty from DC Comics -- an unassuming little comic with an original take on the superhero. 20th Century Boys, a manga, but it’s still a great comic. ... And lastly I’ll go with Usagi Yojimbo. I love the fact that it’s an ongoing story done by one creator. It just feels like a life developing.
-- Jevon Phillips
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