Mark Brunton, owner of Comics World, celebrates three decades selling comics this month.
Comics World stocks some well-known titles from Batman, and the X-Men, with characters whose runs started nearly 90 years ago.
When Mark started out, the internet was still in its infancy, but he says that some things haven’t changed.
“There will always be people who want the physical issue, the collectors, and having it on a digital download is not the same,” he said.
“The movies came along, and that has heightened the profile, but I can’t say it’s heightened the sales. Those collectors are always there.”
One thing that has changed, however, is how comics are seen.
“When I started out in ’93 it was seen as a bit oddball, and a bit geeky. That’s all gone now, it’s cool, it’s the big thing.”
Mark initially got started with comics as a customer:
“I used to go to a sci-fi shop in the mini-market and was a regular customer there. One day the guy said ‘I’m retiring, would you like to take it on?’ I was in my twenties then, I wasn’t sure, so it went to someone else.”
“There were a lot of problems at that time, so he closed, and I just thought, well now there’s a gap in the market I’ll give it a go.”
Starting out of an office unit on West Parade, Comics World would eventually find itself moving across Lincoln, from Portland St to the Cornhill Quarter Market, and now finding a home in St Benedict’s Church on High Street.
“It’s not an obvious retail space for people to come to,” Mark said.
“It’s not what you expect, but to me, it’s a follow-on from the market, with people doing different things under the same roof. It’s something different every day.”
Despite successfully running the business for thirty years, Mark stresses that each day has its financial ups and downs.
“You’ll need some money starting out, and you’ll have to be prepared that your wages won’t be the same every week, or every month. It will be variable depending on what you sell,” he said.
”You’ve got to be able to go through the rough times as well as the good times. Hold your nerve.”