ron hill and nick purpura

JHU is closing on Manhattan. This one hurts and lands close to home: literally. JHU is The Beat’s local comics shop, always there rain or shine to pick up a last minute gift, a much needed comics box or just stop in for some conversation. 

But after several years at 481 Third Avenue in its Kips Bay location, co-owners Ron Hill and Nick Purpura are shutting down this store to concentrate on their flagship, located at 299 New Dorp Lane, Staten Island. In a statement posted on FB, which you can read below, they cite rising costs, and the Beat can also testify to this: prices in Manhattan are out of control. The store will close at the end of September. 

We’ll have much more from Nick and Ron as this story unfolds, but continue to support them at their Staten Island base. JHU – which began life as Jim Hanley’s Universe – is one of the founding comics shops of the direct market. 

Jim Hanley’s Universe started in 1983 under the ownership of retailing legend Jim Hanley. Always having two locations, one a commuter store in Manhattan and the other a Staten Island institution, Hanley’s was a comics institution. The Manhattan site was located on 33rd Street across from the Empire State building, where it had signings by every comics luminary – and a particularly notable drop in by Benedict Cumberbatch in his Doctor Strange costume. It was also an industry destination – new comic book day would find DC and Marvel staffers stopping in to get their weekly comics. (It was also involved in a legendary comics scandal, but we’ll leave that story for another time.) Even in these times, I would occasionally run into comics folks out and about on their way to JHU. 

Reopening as JHU under the ownership of Hill and Purpura after Hanley’s retirement, JHU moved around in the NoMad/K-Town area, ending up on Third Avenue across the street from a Stickys in a sort of below street level mall taht also housed a nail salon and a doggie daycare. It was a quirky location, one seemingly suited to the idea of a comics shop, but again, those rising costs. 

There’s much more to be said – and while I don’t discount the general malaise that comics are in, it’s also a unique location that had unique issues. St. Marks Comics, another Manhattan legend, closed  in Manhattan in 2019 but reopened in a trendy Brooklyn location. Midtown Comics and Forbidden Planet are still hanging on in Manhattan but some action has shifted to Brooklyn….and Staten island. 

As sad as the closing of the Manhattan outpost is, JHU abides. It’s even more an institution for Staten Island, with roots going back to 1983, when Hanley became co-owner of a shop on his native island. The store will continue on there as a destination for all things comics. 

But it leaves The Beat and so many others sad. Where am I going to get my comic books now?

The statement is below:

After 10 years of operation in Manhattan (and decades before that as Jim Hanley’s Universe), JHU Comic Books will be closing the Manhattan location at the end of September. Rising costs have forced JHU to make this choice, and they have decided that the best way to continue to serve NYC comic fans is to focus on the operations of the flagship location, located at 299 New Dorp Lane, Staten Island.

And while JHU Comic Books is saying goodbye to this location, JHU will continue to offer the incredibly diverse selection of comics and graphic novels, and unique service at the Staten Island location, and also via the webstore, online subscriptions, Ebay and live social media video auction, comic cons and more!
When Ron Hill and Nick Purpura formed JHU Comic Books in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2013, they were faced with an uncertain future. Thanks to the patronage of all of JHU’s loyal customers, they were able to continue their livelihood and provide for their families for the past 10 years; a decade is a long time for any small business to survive in Manhattan, and JHU thanks everyone for their many years of patronage.
JHU Comic Books hope to see you again at our Staten Island store in the future, just one hour away from Midtown Manhattan!
Still and always, Where Art and Literature Meet!
 

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6 COMMENTS

  1. I can not imagine the rent at that location. The other thing I always wondered? I found that the location , for lack of a better term , was “hidden”.

  2. As a former Manhattanite cum Brooklynite and regular Jim Hanley’s cum JHU Comics customer and friend — I’m gutted. But I understand Ron & Nick’s decision because NYC has become impossible to live in on the comic book dime.

    Viva JHU Comics in Staten Island!

    –Dino!

  3. I’m surprised a comic shop lasted this long in Manhattan with it’s extremely high rents. I’m not into comics myself but JHU has been an asset to the New Dorp Lane shopping area for years, and I wish them continued success there.

  4. I lived in NYC from 2006 to 2011. The old JHU store by Empire State Building was huge and well stocked and always a joy to visit.

    I was visiting NYC back in April of this year, and went into the tiny little new manhattan location and it had very little stock, unfriendly staff, and nothing of interest. I left without even buying anything. (I spent big at two of the three Midtown locations though).

    I didn’t understand why JHU even bothered with their tiny manhattan location. I think abandoning it is the right call. Though I recognize it’s close to your hood Heidi. Sorry.

  5. That’s so sad. When I visited New York from the UK for the first time back in the late 90’s, I made a pilgrimage to Jim Hanley’s Universe and Midtown Comics. Jim Hanley’s was like the comics shops at home (like OK Comics and the late Odyssey 7 in Leeds), but bigger.

  6. JHU they should find a bigger space in the city instead of closing down I haven’t been there as much but I wish their was a way to save it.

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