The San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner so what better time to take a close look at life in a comics store, in this case Midtown Comics, a three-store comic book chain in New York City. On July 13, The National Geographic channel will broadcast Comic Store Heroes, a one-hour pilot for a reality TV show about life among the fans, super collectors and staff at one of the biggest comics retailers in the country.
Gerry Gladston, co-owner of Midtown Comics, told PW during a phone interview that the “show is a pilot for a reality TV series, a 1- hour episode. If it does well, it will go on National Geographic Channel as a regular series.”
A trailer for Comic Store Heroes is available on YouTube and there’s a Facebook page.
Comic Store Heroes will focus on some of the more colorful aspects of comics fandom, in particular, collecting and, in this case, obsessive collecting by what Gladston called “super collectors,” fans with a relentless need to have every issue, every collectible toy, every what-have-you connected to their favorite comics. The show will also look at “the madness that goes on planning for New York Comic-Con,” the popular comics convention that takes over the Javits Convention Center in October.
The show is being produced by Parthenon Entertainment, Gladston said, and the production house approached them a little over a year ago to do the program. “They’ve been great. We’ve been taping over time. It’s taken them a little time to sell the show to National Geographic,” he said. Gladston also says he will have “a small part” in the show and that it will, “show how people’s lives have been transformed by their love of comic books.”
