When I was a kid growing up in Lakewood, the closest comic book store to my house was Lone Star Comics in Mesquite. I would beg my mom to drive me there every Saturday, and she would more often than not, God bless her. When I got my license, the first place I drove without an adult in the car was that store. Perhaps because I was so excited about driving — or more likely because I was simply excited about going to Lone Star Comics — I got confused as I pulled my Volkswagen Beetle into a parking space and pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal. A brick pillar was all that stopped me from plowing through the front window of a pet store. As I sat on the curb, wondering what I was going to tell my mom, an officer from a nearby Navy recruiting station put his hand on my shoulder and said, “You know, we can sign you up and get you out of here right now.”

These memories are on my mind because the Lone Star Comics brand is going away. Owners Buddy and Judy Saunders are selling their brick-and-mortar locations to longtime employees so they can focus on their website, which has not used the Lone Star name in a long time, if ever. Although Lone Star has never gotten as much press as the pristine Zeus Comics or the purist Titan Comics, the chain was ubiquitous in North Texas for years. Here’s hoping the new owners will inject a little more personality into the rebranded stores.