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May 11, 2010 
Ever wonder what it’s like to be a comic geek in arguably the most important city in the comics universe? Well, it’s pretty awesome. And no, I’m not talking about New York, NY. Portland f*&^ing Oregon, baby! Did you know we’re so awesome? Didn’t think so.
OniPress, publisher of Scott Pilgrim, calls Portland home
Oregon Business magazine published an article in late 2009 that told the story of Portland’s rise to prominence, called The Rise of Comic Town, which discusses the great many publishers (Dark Horse, OniPress + many more) and creators we have camped out here. They cover the basics on what makes Portland a great comics town, but I would like to share the story of what makes Portland a great comic geek town.
So, I would argue that even with the pending explosion of digital comics, ACCESS is the #1 most important criteria in determining whether a town or city is comic-geek-friendly. And I feel like Portland excels in this category. The city has a number of great comic shops, including Bridge City Comics, Floating World and Cosmic Monkey, plus a few TFAW outlets and the legendary Powell’s Books, which maintains a solid selection of new and used graphic novels. My *local* shop, Bridge City, is under four miles from my home and just a few blocks from my studio. And on the occasion that Bridge City is out of something I want right away, Floating World is a little over a mile away in the other direction. Between the two, I’ve always been able to find exactly what I’m looking for.
And if the great shops weren’t enough, we have arguably the nation’s most accessible library system. With a website that works like Netflix and a brilliant selection of graphic novels, Multnomah County Library is a comic geek’s dream. At any given time I have as many as 15 comics on hold or in transit, enabling me to read probably 3-4 times as many comics as I would if I had to buy them all!
In addition, a comic-geek-friendly city should have COMIC-RELATED THINGS TO DO. Again, thanks to some great shops and some passionate geeks, creators and publishers, we’re pretty spoiled here in Portland. For starters, we have the Stumptown Comics Fest, which is a great indie show that attracts top-notch talent like Jeff Smith and Craig Thompson (who sat in front of me at the movies recently).
Floating World exhibits great comic art
We also have the monthly art showings at Floating World, which most recently showcased the art of Matthew Southworth, whose work on Stumptown (the comic) is stunning. And of course the comic is set here in Portland so I can walk to the spot where Dex gets shot in the opening pages of issue #1. Oh, and we also have the Portland Comic Book Show, which is like a huge comic swap meet perfect for finding good deals. And to top it off, you’re likely to see the likes of Brian Michael Bendis and Kurt Busiek wandering the floor as fans.
Portland also has its share of comic book reading clubs, such as this one at Bridge City. And where can a comic geek feel safer than at a reading club with other geeks!? And to round out the comic-related things to do list, I have now had access to a bunch of free movie premiers (thanks to my local shop) including Kick-Ass and Watchmen (both glorious celebrations for those of us in attendance).
And for the geek who likes to actually create comics, there’s plenty more…but I’ll leave that for another day.
SO, WHAT’S IT LIKE IN YOUR CITY? Enlighten us for the benefit of comic geeks everywhere!
This post is the first in a series–What It’s Like: Being a Comic Geek in _____. Stay tuned for posts from other states and even other countries! In fact, if you’d like to submit a piece on what it’s like being a comic geek in your city, please send it to pdxcomicgeek@gmail.com no later than Tuesday, May 25th and we’ll gladly publish it as part of this series. Note: We reserve the right to edit or not include your piece based on our understanding of social norms and etiquette.
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