Al's Comics

Although I took some six years off from buying them, I've been reading comic books to some extent as long as I can remember. Whenever I go home, I check out my old collection: it's the one thing I've talked my mother into saving for me through numerous moves. It makes me feel like I have a good memory when I think of all the stores and countless hours logged reading comics over the years, remembering covers and story lines so I wouldn't re-buy an issue, and filling my head with nearly useless information about places and people who don't exist.
I came back to really reading and buying comics about five years ago, and started to check out the stores in SF to find which one would get my money. All stores are different: some bag and board, some have larger display racks than others. Although I usually went for the store closest to my home, after I made some friends who read comics i heard about Al, and started to go there.
Being in the business for as long as he has, Al has a lot to be jaded and awnry about. Some fans are fickle, only following the titles which have current movies. Some can talk your ear off. Al's location on Market street seems to only add to his social plight: more busters come into the store but you have to deal with it because rent is high. My friend Ryan always got nervous whenever I said I was stopping at a comic store, he'd always ask me to make sure to buy something because he didn't want to feel uncomfortable in a store without making a purchase. Al did that to him. He told Ryan "you don't look tough enough for a black shirt," when Ryan had gone in to browse and not buy.
After going into Al's enough with loyal customers, I noticed he relaxed and would answer my questions with a grimace, but without insult.Not to say I haven't seen him in full form. After the Superman movie, lots of people would stop in and ask just for that title, and they were directed to every other corner of the store save for the DC rack. God help you if you try to read more than 1/4 of a comic, save that for Jefferey's or Borders. I've heard the "it's considered disrespectful and douchey to read an entire comic in the store" speech more times than I can count. Al's store is exactly what the comic industry needs it to be: a place where loyal readers can look down upon trendy readers for their lack of knowledge of comic universes. It's a good thing too, because that is about the only time this knowledge is useful.