Wonderworld Comics’ image as being a leader in community involvement and a leader in connecting comic book readers and collectors to the medium they love has sparked interest in the organizers of the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award and will bring positive international attention to the Metro Detroit area.
Wonderworld Comics
Dennis L. Barger, Jr. and Robert Bowman are humbled to announce that Wonderworld Comics in Taylor, MI has been nominated for the 2013 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award. This is an annual award given during the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards at Comic-Con International: San Diego. This is the pinnacle award for comic book retailers and simply being nominated is an extreme honor.
A key judging point for the 2013 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award is a store’s connection with the local community. Wonderworld Comics is a founding member of Detroit Fanfare Comic Con, a comic book convention held each October at the Adoba Hotel in Dearborn. This convention created an event named Blood4Comics where fans make donations of blood or money to the Red Cross in exchange for comics. This tradition has carried over to other conventions across the country. Detroit Fanfare Comic Con has also run food drives for Gleaners Food Bank and has contributed to other notable charities.
Scare Bears at our Detroit comic book store
Wonderworld Comics is a co-founder and board member of the Shel Dorf Awards held at Detroit Fanfare Comic Con. This award ceremony is named after the founder of the Detroit Triple Fan Fare (the first comic book convention) and the founder of the Golden State Comic-Con which would become Comic-Con International: San Diego. In 2012 and early 2013, the Shel Dorf Awards raised money to purchase and erect a tombstone for the unmarked grave of the industry legend.
Wonderworld Comics is the organizer of the Detroit Organized Retailers of Comics, a conglomeration of local comic book stores which meets each year to discuss fair business practices in the area. The store is also a co-founder of DetroitComicBookStores.com which makes deals with comic book publishing companies to bring special variant-covered comics to collectors in the Metro Detroit area.
Recently, Wonderworld Comics received special notation in the comic book industry for warning other comic book stores in the Metro Detroit area of a group of men who were attempting to pass off counterfeit sketches supposedly drawn by major players in the comic book industry. The store shared its surveillance footage with other stores and the media and was key in helping to convince the perpetrators to return the product and money wrongfully gained from various local stores.
Among the other areas in which Wonderworld Comics will be judged, is the store’s ability to offer opportunities for creators to reach buyers. The diverse inventory at the store exceeds offerings at most comic book stores and is a location where shoppers can find rare and obscure titles right alongside the most popular titles from Marvel and DC Comics.
Wonderworld Comics will also be judged upon its ability to stay informed on the machinations of the comic book industry and its ability to come up with innovative techniques to involve customers. The store’s recently updated website has become a focal point in the comic book industry as it is giving comic book readers and collectors a voice on various issues facing the industry. The site has allowed comic book fans a seat at the table to question the large companies about the decision to introduce digital comics on the same day as the print versions are introduced in the stores and to show their support for brick-and-mortar stores. The site is not only giving collectors a deeper connection to their collections, it is giving readers and collectors connections to the industry at large.
Dennis L. Barger, Jr. is the face of Wonderworld Comics and is known for innovative ways to connect new readers of all ages to the comic book medium. Robert Bowman runs the day-to-day store operations. The store recently held a special event to benefit P.O.E.T. Animal Rescue and is one of the few mid-west Phantom Variant retailers. The store has hosted signing events with legendary creators such as Larry Hama, Gary Reed, and Billy Tucci and new creators such as Rob Worley and Katie Cook.
As for this writing, Wonderworld Comics is working hard to plan their official nomination video which will be judged for the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award. Wonderworld Comics hopes to become the second Michigan comic book retailer (Vault of Midnight in Ann Arbor, MI in 2010) and the first Metro Detroit comic book store to win the award. The nomination has Barger and Bowman, the staff at Wonderworld Comics, the customers in the store elated and honored.
