Local Comics Store Spotlight: Third Eye Comics

The foundation of ComicBook.Com is comics. While we love to cover all aspects of pop and geek culture, our roots lie in the comics community and the plethora of characters and stories that have sprung from it. If you speak with anyone in the comics community about what has made the medium successful in North America, you’ll quickly discover one answer that stands far above the rest: local comics stores. They are the bedrock of comics in the United States and Canada, supporting fans, communities, and conventions with open doors and a dedicated staff.

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This year on ComicBook.Com we are highlighting this important aspect of comics and culture by taking a look at one local comic store each week. These are stores that embody what it means to support culture and community. We hope you can visit some of them throughout 2017.

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Anyone who has read comics will appreciate that anniversaries are a very important thing in this particular medium. With series running for hundreds of issues, landmarks run from #25s all the way up to #1000s. Publishers and creators celebrate these special occasions with new stories, celebrations of the past, and oversized issues. It should come as no surprise that a great comics store treats its anniversary with the same amount of pomp and circumstance. That’s the case for Third Eye Comics in Annapolis, MD which is celebrating 10 big years!

The store moved to a new location that opened at the start of July. It has doubled its floor space and provided an updated appearance for new customers and committed fans alike. Third Eye has been a landmark of the comics scene in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia communities for years, but the move down the street provides them with even greater opportunities.

Store owner Steve Anderson has been busy preparing for the change throughout 2017 and is excited for what it means. “With our new space, we’ve doubled our size, and have expanded all of our categories, as well as adding some categories not previously in place before,” says Anderson. Third Eye Comics is a bona fide comics store after all. If you come inside, you can expect something for you, not just the new superhero releases that make each Wednesday exciting. Anderson mentions that many of the store’s dedicated customers came to comics during the manga boom of the ’00s. Now they have even more space to explore their favorite stories no matter which hemisphere they originate in.

The larger space also means Third Eye can continue to lead on the East Coast. It has been a hotspot for signings and events for years, regularly bringing creators from across the country to its store. “We are very excited to be able to accommodate the large crowds are store draws on higher traffic days, as well as being able to have more room to build better, and more eye-catching displays to showcase our favorite works,” says Anderson. Fans of the shop and new visitors can both count on Anderson and his staff to make that promise count. At the previous location, Third Eye Comics created a space that adored comics and hosted excellent events. So the additional floor space seems like a bigger canvas on which these comics lovers can now paint.

Click ahead to learn more about the history of Third Eye Comics and what the store’s vision is for the future.

Third Eye Comics (Part Two)

Every great anniversary is built on a dynamite debut, and that’s true of Third Eye Comics as well. This is a comics store that was great before it even started in the eyes of some Annapolis residents. Before he opened Third Eye, Anderson worked at another local shop and counts many of his most loyal customers and fans from that time. “It’s crazy, and inspiring to think that I’ve known some of our customers for nearly 15 years,” he says, “and I’m only 35!”

His time working at a comic store helped Anderson to discover what he wanted his own shop to be about, and it’s a goal that he’s never steered away from. “Our mission statement has always been to be the comic shop for everyone – even folks who haven’t yet discovered comics,” says Anderson. Despite shifts in the industry, growth, and new opportunities, he feels that is a mission that has only grown stronger. Third Eye Comics is meant to be a place that anyone can enter in order to discover their new favorite story.

It’s a mission that comes with a success story found in the store’s customers. Many of the readers who are with Third Eye Comics today discovered comics on these same shelves, even if they’ve moved a little ways down the road. Anderson has watched young adults move through high school and college to become readers who will soon recruit their own kids as they open comic books for the first time. Annapolis residents who start to shop at Third Eye Comics don’t typically stop, as it never provides a reason to look elsewhere.

That gets to the real heart of the store as defined by Anderson: the people who work there. “It’s our staff and their incredible dedication to building relationships with customers that make us who we are,” Anderson says. Everyone at Third Eye Comics is as excited about sharing their love of comics as Anderson. They know each reader is unique and are focused on helping them discover what they will love. There’s no special training or set of rules for the Third Eye staff. “We all just follow the simple law of: be cool to others, and they’ll be cool to you.”

The new Third Eye Comics is an incredible looking shop. It is pristinely presented and offers a veritable bounty of comics from across the world. The staff is ready for new events and new customers, helping people from across Maryland discover or rediscover their love of the medium. It’s not the new space that makes Third Eye Comics special though. Anderson believes that comics shops should be magical places, and it’s a belief that this store has made reality.

Click ahead to see full details and photos of Third Eye Comics.