Eddie deAngelini and his wife, Kristen Parraz, don’t just like comics; they buy, sell and run Santa Monica Comics Company. Between creating stories and watching them fly off of their shelves, they’ve seen the industry from every angle and what excites readers, what challenges the medium and how physical stores keep community.
Before Santa Monica Comics Company, deAngelini and Parraz spent years as co-owners of Hi De Ho Comics, an Los Angeles institution that built their approach to both business and community. This experience gave them first hand experience with readers, the uncertainty of distribution and the importance of making sure their store feels welcoming to everyone who steps in.
“It’s a step above going to any other type of retail store,” deAngelini said. “It’s similar to ‘Cheers,’ you go where everybody knows your name when you go to the comic shop.”
DeAngelini remembers when liking comics wasn’t culturally acceptable and he had to hide his hobby, but appreciates it becoming normalized.
“People are wearing shirts with Spider Man or Captain America on it, it’s starting to be more normalized,” deAngelini said. “Unfortunately, we’re not leading enough people to the source material. But I’m hopeful that the source material will start to become more normalized as this continues to go on.”
Comics have been declared as dying since the ’50s, yet if you ask them they’ll tell you the opposite. They point to the recent debut of DC’s “Absolute Batman” and the “Absolute Universe” as a whole as a driving force for new younger readers, something they see as essential to a thriving medium.
“All of our retailer friends were saying how last year was just super good for them, quarter one was amazing and a lot of it has to do with ‘Absolute Batman,'” Parraz said. “‘Absolute Batman’ has been bringing not only new readers, but young readers and I think that that is a key to what the industry needs, It needs more books.”
DeAngelini believes the biggest challenge facing the medium is perceiont. While comics were once found everywhere from grocery stores to convenience stores, now they’re only sold in specialty stores that must be sought out.
“I was a kid going to 7-Eleven and buying them off the spinner rack,” deAngelini said. “Then someone told me finally, ‘you like these? you know, there’s shops that carry nothing but these,’ and I was like, ‘oh my god, really take me there now!’”
DeAngelini compared the American comics space to Japan’s own manga, where it’s treated as everyday literature and read by all ages, believing American comics need to make the jump into everyday conversation and academic spaces.
Parraz agrees the medium and the stories are more inclusive than ever, spanning horror, science fiction and crime, yet there’s still the assumption that the medium is solely for the superhero genre published by the big two companies Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
“There are representations of LGBTQIA+ characters, romance or horror,” Parraz said. ”I want a young reader to come in and realize that comics are for everybody, no matter what is, what you are used to thinking comics are about.”
Customers still come every Wednesday excited to get their new books for the week or searching for the missing piece of their collection. That sense of adventure can’t be repeated by scrolling through an app.
Spending time in their shop, that sense of connection really grows. During a weekly visit I found a first edition print of “Transformers #5,” the first appearance of my favorite Transformer, Shockwave, an issue I’ve wanted since I was six years old, just tucked into a back issue bin. This kind of discovery feels less than a mundane task but more like recovering a piece of history.
Recommendations also come naturally, during another visit I was recommended Ed Brubakers’ and Sean Phillips’ crime drama, “Criminal” by deAngelini, who praised its grounded and gritty storytelling, while Parraz suggested “Ripple Effects,” reflecting its inventory that goes so far beyond capes and powers.
That range is clear when you look at their shelves, where superhero titles sit amongst crime dramas, love stories and experimental books. The sheer diversity present they argue is something the medium does expertly and has yet to enter the public consciousness.
As someone who spent years reading comics almost exclusively through collected editions rather than weekly single issues, I found myself enjoying the excitement browsing the store. Conversations with staff replaced faceless conversations online, and books I never would’ve picked up on my own have become my favorites simply because someone took the time to write a note recommending it.
That environment has affected my own reading. Titles such as Deniz Camps’ “Bleeding Hearts” and “Assorted Crisis Events” have changed my perspective on the medium, reflecting the experimentation that retailers like DeAngelini and Parraz hope more people will embrace. Stories that take risks, blend genres and show how great the medium can be.
After long days, sitting in the store and searching for back issues doesn’t feel like loitering, it feels like home. To be able to go to a place where people have the same interests and have a shared enthusiasm for the same thing, is a blessing that the world needs more of.
Parraz said that feeling is exactly why they see the brick and mortar store as essential, not simply as retail space but as a third space.
“There’s no one online for you to talk about it or to come in on a weekly basis and get feedback or ask the kind of recommendations that they might have based on what you like,” Parraz said. “We had of people coming in and then ending up being really great friends based on the fact that they both love comics.”
Readers have slowly but surely shifted toward the collected editions of series, but the love for the material still burns strong. For the couple, regardless of format, there is no replacing the excitement of finding the missing piece that completes your collection. DeAngelini sees that change as generational.
“The people that come into the hobby that are younger aren’t necessarily the ones that want to read single issues, they want to read a whole lot in one sitting,” deAngelini said “It’s similar to how they read online when they’re reading digital comics, where they can just binge a whole lot at one time, as opposed to having to just get one issue and then have to wait another month for the next issue.”
But that acceptance of change is key to their success; new publishing initiatives and reader-friendly titles have brought in younger audiences into stores. Their belief is that the medium’s future relies on accessibility rather than catering to nostalgia.
Readers who want to experience the environment for themselves can visit Santa Monica Comics Company at 11870 Santa Monica Blvd., where conversation is as central as the comics on shelves. Both see their work less as ritual but building a safe space where readers are free to explore, ask questions and find stories that’ll stick with them long after they leave.
“Ultimately, no matter what format it’s delivered in, comics will survive because it’s about storytelling,” deAngelini said. “That’s the whole heart of it, it’s about telling a good story.”
