There’s been a lot of talk recently about the comic book making a comeback, with the rise of the graphic novel, comic conventions, and movies such as The Avengers, Snowpiercer, Deadpool, and the cult and culture of The Walking Dead.

However, Tulsans would say that the comic book hasn’t made a comeback, because it never left.

Advertising professional Steve Roop grew up loving comics, but during college he stopped collecting them. However, one semester, Roop and a friend both secretly found out they had the mutual love for comics growing up, and Roop was back collecting them.

“We’re always told,” Roop says, “that when you become an adult, you leave behind children’s things, but, why? When I started collecting again, I had to ask myself, ‘Why did I ever stop this?’ I love this. This is great; it makes me feels good.”

Roop says the collector community in Tulsa reminds him of the television show, Cheers, where it’s not about the bar, but the people in the bar. You can forget about socioeconomic, cultural or gender differences and enjoy the common affinity everyone has for comic books.

“I get a lot of joy out it,” he says. “I can’t just go into Mammoth Comics and run in and run out. My wife says if you’re going into Mammoth, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Roop loves comics so much that he created Zap-Kapow, a comic book price guide and collection management web application. 

Another comic book collector, Ryan Chastine, thinks Tulsa is like much of the rest of the world, where comics have exploded into pop culture in the last decade. He recalls that only a few years ago there were only three places to purchase a comic book.

“Now, there’s at least eight,” says Chastine. “People love comics because it’s an escape. Nerd culture around the world has really blown up. We have Marvel, in particular, the first Iron Man movie, to thank for that. I mean, Robert Downey Jr. made it OK, even cool, to read comics.”

Chastine says he’s deep in it now, setting up tables at collector conventions with his wife, Kendal, selling comics he’s collected through the years. He buys and sells comics on eBay and Facebook, as well as the Vintage Toy Mall in Broken Arrow. 

Chastine, Roop and others in Green Country say stores like Mammoth Comics and the oldest comic book store in Oklahoma, The Comic Empire, are big reasons Tulsa has kept its passion for comics.

“We’re one of the veterans,” says Mike McCormick, owner of The Comic Empire. “We’ve been around 41 years, although the digital world has changed comics a lot. In fact, people have been predicting the end of the comic book since the ‘50s, but Tulsa is always a good area for comics."

“It’s good escapist literature. There’s Shakespeare and then there’s Stan,” says McCormick, referring to Stan Lee, creator of the Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man, Spider-Man and other beloved characters.

The newest comic book store in Tulsa, Nova Comics, is the only one of its kind inside the IDL (Inner Dispersal Loop, the highway system that frames downtown Tulsa). Nova’s owner, Lance Miller, believes Tulsa needed another comic book store. He sees comic book stories as modern day mythology. 

Miller also sees today’s digital age, which is highly visual, as appropriately conducive to the world of comics.

“I did a paper in college about the Athena Parthenos [a nearly 40-foot tall sculpture of the Green goddess Athena],” says Miller. “She had a shield with a story written on it through art, so that visitors to the temple who couldn’t read could follow the story. I learned how to read from reading comics, while on a road trip. Literacy was one of my goals for opening. It’s a good medium to get kids excited about reading. That’s what it did for me.”

People love comics for the connections they make to the main characters, says Miller.

“The artists and writers are like rock stars,” he says. “People follow them from book to book and make connections with characters that have some identifiable trait or flaw they relate to. It’s nice to relate your inner workings to something else. You don’t feel so alone or weird.”

And the world of comics is no longer an all-boys club. It’s becoming a more inclusive and welcoming community.

“There are great female writers and artists. Regardless of gender, regardless of previous knowledge, you should be able to walk into a store and find something that matches your interests,” Miller says. “Lumberjanes, Rat Queens, Paper Girls, for example, have great female protagonists. Faith is another one. Not only is the protagonist female, she also has a different body type than you typically see in comics. That’s important as well. We can’t all be chiseled Greek gods.”

Adrean Messmer, local horror writer and comic book fan, agrees. She cites as favorites the X-Men’s Emma Frost and Spider-Gwen, both from Marvel and both strong females you don’t want to mess with.

“We’re seeing a lot more female characters being assertive and heroic,” says Messmer, “and not being pushed to the back, where they’ve always served as plot points or pretty arm candy. Females are allowed more often to lead the story. We could still do that more, but we’re getting there.”

For whatever reason, Tulsans are in love with comic books. Perhaps it’s because Green Country embraces its inner child. Hopefully, it’s also because Tulsa is continuing to learn how to embrace diversity and empowerment for all people, in literacy and other ways, as comic books seem to do more often. Maybe it’s just that Tulsa knows a good comic book when they see it.

LOCATOR
Mammoth Comics
4614 E. 11th St. | Tulsa
918-836-9636
mammothcomics.com

Nova Comics
502 E. 3rd St. #29 | Tulsa
918-809-9341
novacomicstulsa.com

The Comic Empire
3122 S. Mingo Road | Tulsa
918-664-5808
thecomicempire.com

Vintage Toy Mall
530 S. Elm Place | Broken Arrow
918-919-8697
vintagetoymall.com

Zap-Kapow
zapkapowcomics.com