BORN FROM THE MIND AND HEART of Steve Geppi, Comic World in Largo began as the seventh store in the Geppi's Comic World chain on June 26th, 1982. As Steve began to branch out of the Maryland / Virginia area, he headed south, opening the store in the Keene Plaza Shopping Center as a retail store-front that also housed the newly-created Diamond Comic Distributors. Together, the twin-businesses made a powerful impact in the Tampa Bay Area and in Florida.
Comic World was the first fully-realized comic book store in the area. Whereas in the past, mom and pop book stores carried comic books on the side, Comic World stocked all of the latest new releases, thousands of back issues, and provided a subscription service that offered a regular discount off the cover price. Meanwhile, Diamond Comic Distributors wholesaled hundreds of thousands of new comics to stores all over the state of Florida, providing a much-needed resource for store owners who wanted to grow their comic book businesses but were unable to amply do so due to the constraints placed upon them by standard newsstand distributors.
I first stepped foot in the store in May of 1982, a typical fanboy wide-eyed with enthusiasm for the plethora of comic books that seemed to stare back at me - wall to wall and floor to ceiling - beckoning me to "...buy me!" "No!, Buy ME!"
But at the time, the retail store was not yet open, and the Diamond warehouse manager explained to me that I would be able to come back after the grand opening, which coincidentally was on my wedding day! So I'm afraid I missed out on that big day in the history of the store!
I returned to meet and greet the new manager that summer and became a fixture of sorts here ever since. My first on-the-clock day was October 15th, 1982, as we set up for a visit by none other than Cerebus's own Dave Sim and his then-wife, Deni. It was a splendid visit, and Dave was very cheerful and friendly to fans who filled the shop. The very next day, our big weekend continued as the esteemed Jim Starlin joined us for another fan-filled day! I still recall Jim taking a break to step out on the front walk and inviting some of the fans to join him outside to hang out and shoot the breeze!
Check back for more of this missive as I expand on how this came to be my store. In coming weeks, I will occasionally post a blog with anecdotes about other events in the life of COMIC WORLD! I'll even be adding some old pictures going back to the earliest days of the store, so stick around. You might even see yourself or someone you used to know here in the future!
Hey Gang!
Check out my interview on Nolan's Website at:
ODDSERVATIONS
Oddservations Spotlight: Largo's Comic World owner Pat Potter by Andy Lalino |
Visit COMIC WORLD - Pinellas County's Oldest Comic Book Store!
Discover why it's the place where the ordinary meets the extraordinary!!
2132 East Bay Drive
Largo, Florida 33771
727-581-9948
comicworld_news@yahoo.com
