I watched Comic Book Men tonight. Now, given that I talk about women in comics a lot, this blog has a fair amount of friendly criticism. Let’s just say it’s not a topic that comes with a lot of celebrating. Plus, Before Watchmen was announced the other week and the Earth Two costumes were ugly, and the tone here lately has been a little down. So I’m not going to talk about Comic Book Men.

Instead, I’m going to talk about my comic book shop, the spectacular Strange Adventures in Halifax, NS. The people who work there are super nice. They’re not dicks at all. They’re friendly to each other, and to customers, and going in to get my comics is always a very pleasant experience. Oh, we argue from time to time… Dave thought I was absolutely crazy to get Ultimatum a while back, and it turns out he was right. But they’re always nice. Also, they’re funny, clever, cool people, and while polite they don’t laugh uproariously at every weak to average joke they hear.

They also employ ladies. A few, in fact. And there are ladies just around, like in the background of the shop, perusing and buying things. The female population of the shop consists of much more than just, say, a nervously laughing horror movie fan. There are all sorts of women doing all sorts of things. In fact, they’re having a ladies night at the end of the month!! If you’re in Halifax on February 29th, you should check it out!!

Never has anyone who worked at Strange Adventures talked to me about which superheroes they’d like to have sex with. We’ve talked about Archie’s polyamorous relationships and sex in comics generally, but in an interesting, non-creepy way. They aren’t creepy at all. They’re a nice, sort of weird but in ways that are awesome group of people who make customers feel welcome, ie. the exact sort of people you want to buy comics from.

Strange Adventures is AWESOME. It’s the coolest store in the world, and a paradigm for the best that a comics retailer can be. It’s diverse and inclusive and spending time there just makes you want to come back again. I LOVE my comic book shop. And that’s all I have to say about Comic Book Men.

Other than this: You make Mad Men, AMC… MAD MEN. What the hell?!