The comics shop Universe of Heroes in Athens, OH was destroyed in a fire:
The two owners face an estimated $100,000 in lost merchandise — a cost that will fall on them. Insurance is expected to cover the estimated $200,000 in damages to the building and the apartments above the store.
“We must gather what is left of the store and try to build back up,” Grace said.
Insurance on structural damage covers all of the building including the apartments above the store.
Aw, fuck. Awful, awful.
I called Todd Grace’s number and spoke to Tonya Woodbridge.
U of H’s next-door neighbor is a photography studio. The photog lent them garage space so they could serve readers yesterday on new comics day.
U of H customers have been coming in and helping move and salvage.
Just as in our fire, everything bagged and boarded came though.
A nearby church opened rooms so gaming could resume, and they started again last night.
Comics fans rock! They are nothing, (evening though we rail a lot in the interest of good comics) if not hopeful and helpful.
(The puppy mentioned in the article is okay. Dirty, but okay. I’m so glad. That one’s especially personal to me.)
That was a hell of a nice shop, too. Ten or so years ago, it used to be the very model of a cat-piss-man shop, stacks of books just heaped around, dimly lit, dusty shelves and narrow aisles, junk scattered everywhere… The re-opened shop was a wonder: clean, friendly, open and inviting, pretty much everything you want a comics shop to be.