Local Comics Store Spotlight: Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge
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Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge (Part Two)
Isotope is an incredible store, staffed by awesome staff of aficionados ready to help you find the perfect read and an array of current comics that will make the mind reel. Yet the first thing you are bound to notice upon entry is a line of toilet seats that runs throughout the entire store, each of them covered in original artwork from the very best creators working in the medium today.
If you're skeptical just go on and click ahead to the picture gallery.
The museum was founded by Rick Remender and Brian Wood and now includes lids by Brian K. Vaughan, Jim Lee, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Frank Quitely, Jason Aaron, Brandon Graham, Warren Ellis, Darick Robertson and many more. It has become a proud part of San Francisco's off-beat culture and legend.
While there's a story behind each toilet seat, the one that first springs to Sime's mind these days is that of Darwyn Cooke's lid featuring a portrait of Catwoman. After visiting the store, Cooke realized the owners had forgotten to ask him for a toilet lid.
The artist was sure to berate the store owners much to their chagrin, but presented Sime with one as a surprise when they met in Florida. Sime says he was delighted, but Cooke was sure to have the last joke. Sime says, Cooke "laughed with a wicked grin and pointed, 'Hey! Have fun being the weird guy carrying a toilet lid on the airplane back to California!'"
It's not all shenanigans at Isotope either. While the toilet lids are a lot of fun, they serve to remind everyone in shop what the focus is: comics as art. Even the strangest of places it's possible to appreciate the tremendous accomplishments of comics storytelling. That's something the store doesn't just preach; it actively teaches. For more than 5 years, the shop has hosted Isotope Univerisity where professionals teach new artists about the artform. The class has featured talents including Ed Luce of Wuvable Oaf, Alex Woolfson of Young Protectors, Kelly Martin of Doctor Lollipop, and Devin Grayson of Batman fame. It's just one more way in which they continue giving back to the community.
Even if you were to swing by Isotope on a day when there are no artists drawing on toilet seats or classes being taught or any other events occurring, the love of comics would be obvious. One thing that sets Isotope apart is its relentless focus on selling comics. They don't stock related merchandise or board games or long rows of back issues. Isotope is devoted to selling a wide array of current comics so that any person can enter and find a story that is for them. It's a store that promotes reading comics as its goal and brand. No matter where you look in this shop that's clear.
Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge is different and that's obvious from the first step you set inside. It's not a simple matter of any one element. The lids, the classes, the awards, the wide-array of modern comics all stem from something more fundamental. Sime pins this down in romantic terms that ring true, he says, "an isotope is an element, just like any other element, but with a molecular difference that makes it much more dynamic." That is Isotope in a single line. It's a local comics store that has devoted every aspect of its being to making comics and the experience of reading comics better. That dynamic difference is clear with just one glance.
Click ahead to see full details and photos of Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge.
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Store Info
Name: Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge
Address: 326 Fell Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 621-6543
Website: Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge
Twitter: @isotopecomics
Facebook: Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge