THN ROAD TRIP: Big City Suburbs — Chicago!
Trip Dates: August 1st – August 5th 2016
Destination: The Suburbs of Chicago
Welcome Back, Listenerds! While most people are out traveling on vacation, I was being on a business trip to outside Chicago, IL. If I had to be there for work, I was also going to have a little fun and check out the local comics shops.
First Stop: Keith’s Komix Inc. / Quake Collectibles West (Schaumburg, IL)
I was spending most the week in Schaumburg, IL which is just about 15 minutes outside of Chicago. After a full day of sitting in a conference, I wanted to go check out what the local town had to offer.
For this review, I am actually putting two stores together because they are literally across the street from one another and if you are visiting one, I do not see why you would not visit the other one.
Quake Collectibles is not a comic shop. They are a nerd’s treasure chest of just about everything. If you are looking for old action figures or something from your childhood, chances are you will find it and everything is a reasonable price. They do have a couple of long boxes of comics, but they are just an added bonus.
After searching through collectibles, I wanted to see if I could add anything to my comic collection across the street at Keith’s Komix Inc. Keith was super friendly and happy to help everyone who came in the door. There was a huge number of current comics and back issue bins. They also had plenty of action figures, Heroclix, and just about anything else you may need in a comic shop.
Ratings: BUY IT!
Second Stop: AW YEAH! Comics Shop (Skokie, IL)
I had to travel to the other side of Chicago to Skokie, IL for a meeting, but I knew I had to stop into Aw Yeah! Comics while I was there. For those who do not know, Aw Yeah! Is the art collective made of mainly Art Baltazar and Franco, who created Tiny Titans and Itty Bitty Hellboy. However, when I walked in I was happy to see Kurt Wood at the shop and behind the counter.
Even before I walked into the shop, I loved passing by the town and seeing large electrical boxes and what would normally be boring city structures covered in the Aw Yeah team’s artwork. When you walk in the doors to the shop, it is no different. Everything is super bright and vivid which is such a change from most comic shops. There was also original art all over the walls and a special section with just about everything Aw Yeah has ever put out.
The store’s back issue bins were a little small and put into brightly painted filing cabinets instead of your typical long box style, but it was easy enough to figure out and all the comics still seemed they were nicely persevered. It looks like they have a great crowd that comes in and they know their customers, they were out of a lot of the new books that came in that day, but still a nice selection to find a couple issues if you need your weekly comic fix without a pull list.
I left the store so happy and I think that is because the store ascetic plus knowing that I got my wife a couple Aw Yeah books which are her favorite.
Ratings: BUY IT!
Chicago may have a lot of great stores inside the city, like Graham Crackers and Ally Cat comics (see my post about Chicago here: http://twoheadednerd.wpengine.com/?p=8281) but if you get stuck outside of them, do not worry, there are some great shops for you to check out!
