Mad Cave Shop Talk: Bat City Comic Professionals

Q: What does your store specialize in?

Shannon: Our store is a unique concept because we are a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization. Things bought in our store work to help fund the educational programming we do. So, our number one specialization is teaching children how to read, write, and explore their imaginations through comic books. We host free in-store monthly workshops for reading, writing, and artistic concepts, as well as partner with schools, libraries, the Girl and Boy Scouts of America, the Boys and Girls Club, several other organizations, and other stores around the country to create resources and workshops for educators, parents, and students. Our biggest programs are our Comic Creation Workshops that focus on learning to use the elements of writing for sequential storytelling and our Story Spelunkers program where kids learn literary concepts and practice reading aloud with comic books.

Our shop is an indie focused store. Our new comic wall has over 200 titles all individually faced out, and 170 of those are always indie/small press titles. Each indie title receives a recommendation card that describes the series in a way that feels like reading a book blurb or Netflix description for picking your next show. We have an additional display that features 60 more new small press/indie titles right by our register to serve as our impulse buys, so instead of grabbing a magnet or a keychain our customers are flipping through new indie titles they haven’t heard of before and picking them up.
We also host a show each weekend called Wine Down Your Weekend where we showcase the art and story of every single indie/small press book out that week. I read each book every week so that I can give a real world take on the books and truly tell the viewers what they are going to get from the book…without spoilers! While I’m talking about each book, Matt scans the art with the camera so that viewers can get a look at a few pages and see if the art style is something they would enjoy when they pick up the book.
Matt: We have a separate counter just for comic book appraisals, grade approximations, and cleaning, pressing, and other professional services. We have a large section for Manga, and kids have their own section with an activity table and low-height shelves. We have new and used trade paperbacks, and almost 75,000 back issues.

Q: What store achievements are you most proud of?

Shannon: In 2023, we had nearly 2000 kids participate in the full version of our Comic Creation Workshop. In that workshop we use a dual-coded learning process and collaborative techniques to learn how to create characters, develop problems to make a plot, and how to write solutions that keep your readers wanting more. We then learn how to put it all together in sequential format and build our own comics out of it. Each student gets their own workbook that we created in-house that helps walk them through the process as we go. With the book being dual-coded, students who are stronger verbal learners have the opportunity to focus on their writing where they feel comfortable, whereas students who are more visual can experience the process in the way that works for them. And the cool thing is that everyone gets a chance to try both, taking risks and exploring new avenues of creativity. Seeing that many students learn and grow through that process was inspiring.
We were also a finalist for the Eisner Spirit of Comics award in 2023. Being considered in the running and getting to attend the Eisners award show was a dream I’ve had since before I even worked in comics, so that was a fairytale moment for me.
I also gave a TedX Talk in 2023 on how to use comics to help young people find their voice.