Sam Baldwin stood silently beneath the chandelier of cut-out magazine covers in Desert Island, a consignment-based comic book store on Metropolitan Avenue, his arms heavy with a stack of publications. A screen printer and artist from London, Mr. Baldwin studied the books’ illustrations meticulously, his eyes widening with each page turn.

“I can buy this on eBay,” said Mr. Baldwin, 28, holding a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. “But there’s something about when you flick through the drawer, and you’re like, ‘It’s there!’”

Experimental and underground artistry is the norm at Desert Island. Look through the Williamsburg store’s plywood shelves and you’ll find glossy paperbacks as well as photocopied-and-stapled booklets with a D.I.Y. aesthetic. Surrounded by ice-blue stalactite sculptures and tapestries, regulars, travelers, and fellow artists immerse themselves in visual publications, seeking escape, inspiration, or both.