Lockport’s Amazing comic shop still finding new fans after 25 years

Lockport — For more than 25 years, Lockport residents in search of “fine escapist adventure” have known they could turn to Amazing Fantasy Books and Comics, which proudly advertises itself as a “purveyor” of such escapism.

The shop, owned by Joe Gentile, is one of a small chain that got its start in Calumet City in 1978.

“The original shop is no longer open,” Gentile said. “I started out as an employee there and bought the shop in 1986, then expanded it in the ‘90s. Our three expansion locations in Tinley Park, Frankfort and Lockport are all still open.”

Lockport was the final shop to open in the chain, and it has gone through three different locations within the city’s historic downtown area before landing at its current storefront at 113 E. 9th St.

“It’s been a long time. I don’t remember the exact dates anymore, but I know we opened the shop in the mid-to-late ‘90s, when Pokémon was getting really big,” Gentile said. “That was huge for us when we started here. We still sell the cards for Pokémon and Magic the Gathering and hold tournaments in our Frankfort store, but there is no room for that in our Lockport location.”

Gentile said that when they first moved to the location, he thought the store’s basement could possibly be used to host events but was quickly proven wrong.

“I’m 5′5″, and I have to stoop down in some places down there. There’s not much you can use it for unless you want to see old coal chutes,” he said of the basement, “which is kind of cool. I was told the building was first built around 1875. I don’t know what it was originally, but it had coal chutes in the basement that were sealed up at some point.”

We have regulars who always show up once a week to see what’s new, but over time the groups change,” Gentile said. “It used to be mostly guys coming in, but with the comic book movies and the increase in manga popularity, we started seeing a lot more women come in. There’s also a lot of range in ages.”

—  Joe Gentile, owner of Amazing Fantasy Books and Comics in Lockport

Amazing Fantasy still manages to make the most of its minimal space, offering meet-and-greet events and autograph sessions with authors and artists on special occasions, as well as hosting events for National Free Comic Book Day, which it celebrated May 4, and Lockport’s local comic convention Comicopolis.

Comicopolis is hosted by the White Oaks Library Lockport branch and Embers restaurant and will be held July 20. The community event is meant to encourage reading and the arts and offers a free convention experience for fans of all things fantasy and sci-fi as well as local vendors.

“They’ve been doing Comicopolis for 10 years now, and we’ve always taken part,” Gentile said. “It’s literally a block from the store, so we’ll have sales going on and also a booth at the event with merchandise and, this year, comic-related coffee. We always do something different for it, and it goes over. The cool thing about the event is it’s free to get in, unlike the big comic conventions like C2E2 and San Diego. We draw people in from all over with it.”

Gentile said events such as Free Comic Book Day and Comicopolis benefit the store because they draw in new visitors who may then take an interest in the store or comics.

“We carry an immense variety to appeal to more people,” Gentile said. “We don’t really specialize too much. We also keep our stores well-organized and very clean, so if you walk in and you’re not an avid collector, it feels welcoming and friendly.”

Along with new and used comic books, Gentile said the store sells graphic novels, board games, statues and collectible figures, manga (Japanese comics), action figures, trading cards, and young adult and children’s books and comics.

Over the years, Gentile said, this variety of offerings plus the increase in comic-based movies and TV shows has caused his customer base to evolve.

“We have regulars who always show up once a week to see what’s new but, over time, the groups change,” Gentile said. “It used to be mostly guys coming in, but with the comic book movies and the increase in manga popularity, we started seeing a lot more women come in. There’s also a lot of range in ages. The younger readers almost always come because their parents bring them in either because they’re into comics or because they’re looking for books with characters like Bluey, which we carry.”

Gentile said that although new movies with popular characters such as Batman and Spiderman don’t really have much of an effect on sales anymore, new characters being introduced in movies makes older comics with those characters more valuable.

Occasionally, he said, properties debuting on film and television, such as when “The Walking Dead” became a hugely popular TV show on AMC, will lead to huge influxes in interest.

“Some things have been huge for us, but it really depends on the property,” Gentile said. “Overall, though, comics are talked about much more than they used to be. People aren’t hiding their interest anymore, and that’s definitely because of movies and TV shows. It’s promoted the idea that comics are for everyone. What used to be considered just ‘nerd culture’ is kind of ‘in’ at this point, and there’s nothing wrong with that. We embrace it.”