Dublin City Comics: A Profile
[A Note from the Editor]
There has never been a better time to be a gamer or geek (or both!) in Ireland! Each year the community grows and we now have access to the same shows, comics, collectibles, games as the rest of the world, we have taken to the internet like cyber ducks to cyber water and made an Emerald home for ourselves but it’s not all down to the powers of the online world. Far from it in fact!
The Irish Geek community would not be where it is today without the shops, owners and staffs behind some of the most recognizable store fronts in the whole country! In a brand new series of articles the Arcade staff will be travelling the length and breadth of the country to meet with these people, talk about their work and shops and put a face behind some of the geekiest spots in the whole country!
Declan
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“You have so many people with these great comics and people need to get out there. there are great artists and people need to support them and pass them on!”
On a cold Thursday evening, I tidied up my office desk, clearing away briefs, notes and grabbed my coat and scarf, I piled my car into the daily traffic jam that would move bumper to bumper until I usually arrived home. This Thursday evening was a little different, instead of turning off for the estate I live in, I continued onwards into the centre of Dublin city. I was heading to Bolton Street, to a building that houses some of my favourite things in the world.
Dublin City Comics is located at 46A, Bolton Street, here it has set down roots and grown to become one of the most loved hubs for comic fans to shop at and it’s not hard to see why. Established in 2010, the shop continues on, soldiering through these times of economic turmoil, it’s walls lined with freshly printed comics, shelves of collectibles stare sternfast through plastic and cardboard boxes.
The atmosphere is warm and friendly, I’m greeted by Doc at the door and as I step through I can’t help but think the same thoughts I always do whenever I step into a comic shop like this… ‘I can totally not eat food and just live on comics for the week…’
Ignoring my compulsive need to shop, I turn my attention to Doc and get straight to business…
What can you tell me about Dublin City Comics?
Well DCC started off as a stand in Gamers World first of all, the role playing game shop. A couple of mates of mine and myself, we decided we wanted to set up our own little comic business just getting comic books for friends and things. So we started off doing that and the lads in Gamers World were really nice to give us a leg up so they let us put a stand up with a few new comics and we had a few regular customers and we left a few standing orders and we left them there for them so it was pretty much like a drop off point. we found out a space was coming up in Comic in Temple bar so we moved so I felt and said “right lads we want to make a thing of it and start a shop” and just as it was as it would happen one of the guys was getting married and had to get out of it because of that and the other lad was finishing his masters so he couldn’t really put that much time into it so I said to the two “would you mind if I set off” and they didn’t mind and they were like “cool no worries”. So I set up a stand and I met Christy and then that shop imploded for reasons beyond our control. So we moved here and things just fell together. So we’ve been here almost two and a half years and it’s pretty well established now and we’ve got the club around here [motions around the room that we are in] and we have the die-hard coming in here every Wednesday coming in reading comics and the club is open every other day of the week.
So downstairs is for the club then?
Yeah upstairs is the actual shop where we sell the comics and the toys and all of that and down here is the club and its called the ‘Geekeasy’ and it’s basically looked after by the guys in the club so the guys pay their dues and half of the dues go to the venue and the other half goes back into the club and they can use it whatever way they want. So we have the scanner over there and we have games on Steam on the PCs and we have the printer and the ink and all that for the lads [cue gratuitous swearing from the background] … sorry for the swearing …it’s an over 18’s club as well. It’s a comfort place for people who want to come in and read their comics.
And how do you become a member of the Geekeasy?
Well basically if you have a standing order in the shop or you know a member of the Geekeasy and once that happens you pay your membership the first bit is a tenner and that covers the overheads and the set up costs and then after that you can pay a tenner a month for your dues or two euro on the day. So that pays for the facilities and it means that we as a shop don’t have to worry.
So what got you interested in comic books?
I always liked comics as a kid. One of my earliest memories as a kid was getting stuck in a buggy and reading a comic. I was reading a Spiderman comic and I was eating a lot of food and I was a fat little baby. My Mam had to break the buggy from around me [awww] and all I can remember is my comic book with Spiderman and Mysterio.
Hmm so Spiderman or Batman??
Oh Spiderman hands down [oooo controversy!! – Me]. I probably shouldn’t say that but I don’t like Batman I really don’t. There’s nothing appealing about him, he is responsible for more deaths than any other villain. He could take the Joker out but he doesn’t, he puts him in a place where he knows he’ll get out and kill more people just so he can chase him. And he’s pretty much responsible for perpetuating the system in Gotham where you have psycho killers constantly coming back who wants to fight with Batman, kill a few people…Batman shows up and we have a fight while we’re at it!
But can you forgive the Toby Maguire Spiderman movies??
No absolutely not! I used to get really irritated by movies…like Superhero movies and remakes and stuff but over the last couple of years after putting up with all the Transformer movies I take them with a large dose of salt cos you’ll get this with comics as well, there’s a character that you follow. For example myself i follow Deadpool and I’ve been reading a lot of his stuff and the earlier stuff with Fabian Nicieza and that and Agent X are my favorite of all time. But then you’ll get people like Daniel Way and they’ll start of strong and then it’ll just get crazy wacky and it’ll lose all sense of the character and by the end of it I just hated it and I was so annoyed but then I realized there’s no point in getting annoyed you don’t have to read it. If it bugs you then don’t acknowledge it, it’s a simple thing to do. Same with movies.
I suppose you have to take each thing in its own right
Exactly they are just someone else’s interpretations.
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Do you find that there is a lot of competition in the comic book market?
Not really actually. When we started there might have been but then they realized that we’re not out there to nick their business we have our own niche market because there are people who don’t shop in certain shops. Customers like the different shops for what they offer. So me and the other guys get on grand. There’s no animosity and we all get on. There’s more of a comradeship than competition. There’s no reason you can’t get on. There’s a comic book appreciation society in the Grand Social Bar even.
Going back to the club how did that come about?
Well initially we had the space and we were going to use it as either a larger part of the shop or a storage room and we were sitting with Wayne Talbot and a few friends and we were joking about what we were going to do and someone said to have a club where we can hang out and we all though it was awesome and it just came about. Wayne Talbot from the Pubcast actually came up with the name for the Geekeasy.
And can you tell me a bit more about the games?
We do a lot of research when it comes to the games that we get and we want to keep a social aspect. we’ve recently gone into MMOs. We want it to be a group thing. The MMOs that we play we have four or five people in the group playing the game. We’re all trying to co-ordinate. When people get too aggressive it just ruins the whole experience. We’ve never had a row here in two and a half years. We’ve had a few instances where people get shirty but you just keep slagging them. There’s new people coming in every week and people are getting on because they have a common appreciation.
Would it be purely PC or would there be Xbox games too?
We have a Gamecube and a PS3 and a Nintendo as well as an Xbox and PS2 and N62 in the corner but they generally don’t get used because you can get more players on the PC. Most of the games that we use are controller enabled.
Favorite Avenger and why?
In the comic The Avengers it would be one of the Dark Avengers. My favorite was Bullseye playing Hawkeye with Norman Osbourne at the head of the team and all the villains masquerading as the heroes. They are all set each other up and screw each other. From the movie it would probably be Thor. I loved the Thor movie, I’m a big fan of Kenneth Brannagh and he brought a lot to it. Joss Whedon has the team working and he works better with an ensemble cast.
The interview continues for some time before we end the conversation. Judging from this encounter I have discovered that there is no underestimating the Irish Comic Industry. I have come out of this experience more enthusiastic about the world of comics than I have ever felt and I hope that those who read this will feel the same.
For now, we’ll continue to explore the wonderful world of the Irish Comic Book Industry, all thanks to the awesome lads at Dublin City Comics.
You can keep up to date with Dublin City Comics, ask questions about incoming titles and more by clicking the link below:
