When customers walk into Metropolis Comics and Toys, they are greeted by a familiar face: Han Solo.
And not just any Han Solo – it’s Han Solo looking shocked after being frozen in carbon at the end of the Empire Strikes Back (for those who don’t watch Star Wars movies, don’t worry, he lives).
It’s just one of the many cool pop culture items you’ll find at Metropolis, which has tagged itself as “Vancouver’s Secret Stash” on Kingsway in Metrotown since 2009.
Owner Jonny Botsch and assistant Andrew Barrow have been running the shop together for 13 years. They say the comic collecting community in Burnaby is small, but active one.
“It's a mix, said Barrow. “A lot of people who are regulars are just buying comics because they love the stories. There's also an active collector community.”
There are a variety of customers who shop at the comic store, including collectors who are hobbyists or ones who are speculators.
“There's been a bit of a difference between a collector community and a hobbyist,” said Barrow. “People who enjoy reading comics for the sake of reading comics, and there are people who enjoy purchasing comics, because they like the vintage collectible aspect of it, they want to speculate on who's gonna be the next big thing.”
The local comic store has been affected by the most recent change in the comic industry, as now there are multiple distributors instead of under one umbrella.
“One of the main things that kind of shook the comic industry in the past couple of years has been the separation of the distribution partners; it used to be all consolidated under one umbrella, which was Diamond Comics Distribution. They've had a monopoly on the distribution of comics since the 90s- every single publisher; Marvel, DC, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics,” said Barrow.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the shipping-supply chain issues have also impacted the store.
“COVID shipping issues in general, things that are coming in by boat overseas and whatnot, everything is delayed and nothing is guaranteed,” said Burrows.
For the Metropolis staff, it’s all about keeping the customers supplied with the latest and greatest items.
