Today we’d like to introduce you to John Stangeland.
John, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up with three older brothers who all read comic books, so comics have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. By the time I was about ten years old – likely because of those glorious comics – I had somehow already decided that I didn’t care to have a typical 9-5 job. Kids are funny like that. My first choice to avoid the drudgery of work was to become a comic book artist, something I was able to do during the late 1980’s and 1990’s. It was a grave misunderstanding because sitting at the drawing board day after day was most definitely work, but at least it was work that I liked.
Early while I was working towards the goal of becoming an artist I opened my first store, Titan Comics. It was 1983, Ronald Reagan was President and comics fandom was still completely underground. The store was profitable, but after a few years, I sold out to a friend and took a year off to concentrate on art. Of course, things sometimes fail to work out the way we would like.
In 1988 a partner and I opened Atlas Comics in a 700 square foot shop in northwest suburban Norridge. Fortunately, it was just before the dawn of mainstream comics culture; only a year later Tim Burton’s Batman movie hit the industry like a tornado, followed by the launch of Image Comics (1992) and the national media storm surrounding the Death of Superman (1993). These were high water years for the modern comic industry. I was freelancing regularly and the shop became a fixture on the northwest side.
After 25 years in the same location Atlas Comics lost its lease, and in 2013 we migrated to a subscription and online-only office in Jefferson Park. Then, just a few months ago we lost our space there. It was time to return to retail. Atlas Comics reopened on September 30th, just miles away from our old location in Norridge. It feels pretty good.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think the biggest single challenge to my business – like a lot of others – was the economic downturn of 2008 / 2009. The crash drained resources and confidence from everyone, and comics were among the easiest targets for people to reduce non-essential spending. There was a similar, smaller dip after 9/11 and those two events took together caused the entire industry to drop to a level from which it has never recovered.
On a more comic-centric basis, the gradual trend away from single monthly issues and towards graphic novels has changed our retail model, with Amazon and other online retailers pulling sales from what was traditionally our exclusive domain. The internet has also hurt the in-store market for vintage comics, which continues to migrate to eBay and other auction houses. This lost percentage of sales is now being taken up with pop-culture merchandise and product designed for the mainstream “civilian” fans who have embraced the movies and TV shows, but not the comics. As a result, it’s an ongoing learning curve to discover what your client base wants this year / this month.
Atlas Comics – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
For a long time, Atlas Comics was known as THE local destination for vintage comics, but that seems to be less of a draw than it was before. We still have thousands of back issues from the 1950’s to the 2000’s, but it is not as comprehensive as it used to be.
I think the real draw now is my knowledge base and that of my staff (they are true comic geeks). I started working for trade at a comic book store in 1974 (Variety Comics on Western Avenue, now defunct), and have been an owner since 1983. I’ve seen it all pass before me.
Customer service is far more important now than it ever was back in the day. We’ll go above and beyond to find what the customer wants. At this point I have a lot of resources for obscure and rare material – need some 1970’s Slurpee cups? Want to see when Superman fought Muhammad Ali? We can get it for you.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Next spring will mark Atlas Comics’ 30th year in business, and that it a source of enormous pride. We’ve outlasted many, many of our contemporaries over those decades – people I miss and was sorry to see go – but Atlas has been a fixture of this neighborhood since Ronald Reagan was president, and that’s an accomplishment. I’m really happy to be back and on the front lines again.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5251 N. Harlem Ave. Unit C
Chicago, Il. 60656 - Website: www.acomics.com
- Phone: 708 453-2110
- Email: atlas@acomics.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Atlas-Comics-233705150009561/
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