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Welcome to the second segment in which we pick the brains of the Comic Swap Inc. employees in State College, Pennsylvania. For those who want to catch up please go back and read last week’s column. Now let’s get back to the employee’s brain. (Please note the views and opinions expressed by the employees of Comic Swap Inc. are their own.)

Kristian “Kris” has been working at Comic Swap, Inc. since before they had carpet over the concrete floors. Kris has been happily working there for over 15 years, having originally taken the job part-time employee while attending Penn State University.

Kris liked the atmosphere of the shop and he loved comics, but when he was first offered the job he turned it down. Lucky for Kris he was offered the job again and this time he jumped on the opportunity. He found himself spending more and more time at the shop and wasn’t able to dedicate enough time to school. After some time he withdrew from the Penn State and started to manage the shop full time. Working full time allowed him to purchase the shop in 1993.

Kris shared that certain works of literature affect him more often than stories from the superhero genre. Even though that is true he admits to growing up on DC comics. Because of that he’ll always have a nostalgic attachment to those characters. His favorite heroes are the Justice League of America. While he can’t recall all of his favorite stories he can recall which recent stories have stuck with him; graphic novels like, “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel or “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi come to mind instantly.

Current his favorite books are “Walking Dead”, “Ex Machina”, “Daredevil”, “Captain America”, “Criminal”, “DMZ”, “New Avengers”, “Wasteland”, “Y the Last Man”, and “Runaways”. When asked which books others should try he recommends “Wasteland” by Antony Johnston. Kris says “It’s a great world created with some serious political and religious aspects, great character driven material too...” For those interested, the first trade paperback collection of “Wasteland” has become available.

I asked to Kris pick the correct title from the following list: comic books, comic-books, comicbooks, or graphic novels Kris laughed and responded “It’s comic books for the serial pamphlets and it’s graphic novels for the collected works.” He also said he thinks people should spend time debating the question of action-figure, toy, or doll.

What is the best part of Kris’s job?  “I’m very fortunate to have this career and that all the hard work to surround myself with good people has paid off.  My staff is excellent and allows me the chance to go do my own things over the summer months. It’s made me a much healthier person to be able to go do other things and not stress out too much about running the shop.  I’ve been able to find very amazing people to surround myself with and spread out the load.”

One aspect of Kris’s work involves changing people’s perceptions of comics and comic stores. “We do this every day with the shop.” Kris explained that by doing his job well and being helpful and friendly, he can change the perceptions of the shop. He can convince people that comics are stories with words and pictures, but like other entertainment medium some are great and some aren’t. Kris is out there spreading the love of comics, one person at a time.

Another role shop owners take on is highlighting independent books. Kris believes that doing so is a part of a network shared by the creators, publishers, shops, and customers. His view is that the creator’s should make them selves visible, publishers should send out samples, shops should get the books into potential buyers, and customers to spread the word even more. Kris says, “They all work together hand in hand and if the work is worthy enough it will sink or swim.”

There are some people who are concerned that there will be a market crash similar to what happened in the 90’s.  “We’ll always see trends, rises and falls”, he explains further, “things seem to be pretty healthy right now and getting better all the time.  In the context of the paradigm we are currently in as long as stories and artwork are the main focus I think comics will continue to grow and the industry will become healthier.  If collectability and corporate consumerism take over, we will see another fall. It’s a fine line and delicate balance between the art form and the business. I was here for the black and white boom and bust, as well as the collapse you reference in your question.  Those times were learning experiences and will lend a hand to survive the next rise and fall whatever it may be or wherever it may come from.”

From experience I can tell you that buying number one issues doesn’t make you any richer and Kris can back me up on that. When asked about buying comics as an investment Kris had the following to say “In my eyes and with my experiences, it’s mainly only with older books that this happens with any validity and consciousness.” Kris asserts that modern comics operate on perceived value, which isn’t guaranteed to last all that long. He cautions that readers will get hurt if they buy newer books for something other than entertainment value. “The back issue and collectable market is one I left behind many years ago in favor of this one. It’s two entirely different business models within the comic book industry.”

Kris has been a long time employee at Comic Swap, Inc and with that comes years of experience and great insight. I thank him for taking the time to offer his thoughts and opinions and I greatly appreciate his honesty. It goes to show that with hard work and experience there also comes wisdom. It doesn’t always have come from a school. See you all next week.