Matawan's newest Main Street addition: Comic bookstore

MATAWAN - It was an innocuous tweet. Doug Preston mentioned that he was drinking from a cup illustrated by renowned comics creator Michael Allred.

Then the magic of the internet took over.

Allred took notice, and before long, the Oregonian shipped Preston some goodies. Among them: Signed proofs of Allred’s beloved Madman books — in Italian.

“I don’t know a lick of Italian,” Preston said, “but it’s such a neat thing.”

That’s the kind of novelty Preston and his brother Justin are putting on the shelves of The Geekery, a comic bookstore opening later this month on Main Street in Matawan. The Old Bridge natives are using much of their personal collection, at an estimated value of $10,000, to get the store off the ground. There are posters, action figures, board games and Lego creations — including a two-foot Millennium Falcon. (For a quick tour, check out the video atop this story).

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They’re also selling new comic-book editions, of course, but personal touches like the Italian Madman proofs and an early-edition VHS tape of the original "Star Wars" movie illustrate just how personal this venture is.

“We always wanted to own a comic bookstore,” said Doug Preston, 30, who is leaving his job as a big box-store merchandiser to chase his dream. “The idea was it would be a comic book store and café. So we’re starting with the comic-book store and we’ll see where it goes.”

The Geekery’s grand opening is slated for July 11, with a soft opening in the works for mid-to-late June. It’s part of a changing scene along Main Street.

“It’s something different,” Matawan mayor Joseph Altomonte said. “These days with malls falling apart, shopping is going back to Main Streets because people want to walk, they want to sit down and eat dinner. It’s about your mom-and-pop businesses now, and I love that.”

Directly across the street, construction is underway for a mixed-use development. “Parking underground, first-floor retail and two stories of residential (rental units) above that,” Altomonte said.

Bids are going out this summer for another development up the road, by the New Jersey Transit station.

“Up and down Main Street you see all these changes are happening,” said Doug Preston, who lives in town. “I saw this spot and said to Justin, ‘What do you think?’”

Justin Preston, who is 27, left his job as a manager at The Home Depot to open The Geekery. Since April, as the brothers began putting the shop together, they’ve been encouraged by feedback from passers-by and Facebook posters.

“I don’t think we knew how much of a want there was for this until we started doing stuff,” Doug Preston said. “It seems like there’s a local buzz, people walking by and saying, ‘What a cool idea.’”

For more on The Geekery, visit their Facebook page here.

Staff writer Jerry Carino: jcarino@gannettnj.com.