Local Comics Store Spotlight: Laughing Ogre Comics
The foundation of ComicBook.Com is comics. While we love to cover all aspects of pop and geek [...]
Laughing Ogre Comics (Part Two)
Laughing Ogre Comics may have hit some rough spots in its more than two decades of history, but the store has never been in a stronger place than it is right now. The ownership notes there have been some big changes in readership over the past decade. Gib says, "We probably have the youngest and most diverse reader base we have ever had. The biggest addition is the big influx of female readers." Those additions to the readership have helped bring new life to the store and provide a readership for a growing range of comics. Each new reader is looking for a book to call their own and the staff at Laughing Ogre is prepared to help them find it.
Looking ahead, the future of Laughing Ogre is founded both on its people and its product. In addition to a wide variety of new faces coming through the door, there are a lot of great comics they're looking to discover. When asked about what will make the future of Laughing Ogre great, Gib says it's the combination of people and "the rise in the quality of the books, coupled with popular culture spreading the word." Movies and TV shows might hook interest, but it's what's on the shelves that keep individuals coming back. The Image revolution combined with a diverse set of books from other publishers like Boom! Studios and IDW Publishing makes that possible.
The staff is interested in the history of comics as well as what is fresh and new. There's no one right answer to selling comics for Laughing Ogre Comics; the answer is in embracing everything about it. "We want everyone that comes in to get a sense of the wonderful material being produced today, and through the art form's history" Gib says. That can start as far back as early Ignatz strips or classic Pogo comics, and runs through today's variations of superheroes with Superman being a father or Ms. Marvel being a hero for a new generation of readers. It's apparent that the history seen on the walls of the store is felt within the products they carry too. There's no battle between past and presents. It's all comics and it all matters.
Laughing Ogre Comics is a cornerstone beyond its shopping center; it's an important locale in Columbus. People from around the city rely on it to get their comics. Some have been coming for decades and others just discovered it after the most recent Marvel Studios film. What all of these people have in common is a fascination with comics and the staff at Laughing Ogre Comics is prepared to support them. This is a store that appreciates all of their interests and offers a place of shared community. That is what made it important in 1994 and what makes it important in 2017. It is a store that reminds us why local comics shops matter.
Thinking about everything that Laughing Ogre Comics has been through so far, Gib says, "I see a very bright future."
Click ahead to see full details and photos of Laughing Ogre Comics.
Laughing Ogre Comics (Store Info and Photos)
Store Info
Name: Laughing Ogre Comics
Address: 4258 N High Street
Columbus, OH 43214
Phone: (614) 267-6473
Website: Laughing Ogre Comics
Twitter: @LaughingOgreOH
Facebook: Laughing Ogre Comics