Owning a comic store was never really part of the plan from the start for Randy Reid, now the owner of local Darkhorse Comics downtown. Originally from Midland, Ontario, Reid came here for the accounting program at the college.
“I started in the fall of ’88,” he said. “I came up here for college in accounting in ‘84, so I didn’t really have time to read books as often, so I started going to the comic shop at the time, met the owner, and started helping out a lot.”
It was then he started reconnecting with one of his childhood passions: comics.
“I had been collecting them since I was five or six, but stopped when I was in high school—I just got so busy then,” he said. “But in college, they were a great work break—only taking a few minutes to read at a time—so I could finish a comic between studying. And since I hadn’t really read since before high school, I had five years of comics to catch up on.”
Reid’s first comic was The Amazing Spider-Man, a gift since the first issue and the year he was born were the same—1963. But he really became a fan of heroes who were a little less hero, a little more lone wolf—like Conan, Green Arrow, and the Punisher.
“I’m a big fan of a guy who can stand on his own feet, doesn’t really have superpowers, but does the right thing,” he said. “I didn’t really like X-Men or other ensemble comics. I feel like I’d never really get the time to know the characters because there were so many. I read quite a few crossovers too, but standalones were always my favourite.”
Personally, his most prized comic is The Amazing Spider-Man Issue 129, which is the first appearance of the Punisher.
But then, after he finished college, he made the decision to buy the store in 1988.
"I started really getting attached to the city," he said. "I graduated, bought the store, got married, and had kids here. I really made a life for myself here."
Since then, he’s been a staple in the comic community in North Bay.
“Some of my customers have been here before I owned the store, and some who were kids so long ago are adults now and are bringing their kids in,” Reid said. “We had a big surge in the nineties when a bunch of comics were coming out and people started getting more interested, but comics as a whole has been pretty stable.”
With the recent popularity of comic adaptations, such as the Netflix original series’ Defenders, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and so on, Reid said he’s seen a bump in popularity with comics, even to the point where some initiates to comics may mistake which medium came first.
“The movies have made a big impact I think. A lot of people who’ve stopped collecting have come back—there is nothing wrong with remembering your childhood,” he said. “A lot of comics are more for adults too, like Watchmen, or V for Vendetta. Even Stephen King is getting into comics with the Dark Tower series all in comic book format.”
Locally, he said there is a strong community of comic book readers.
“I have days when some of my customers are waiting outside to get in when we get a new shipment of comics, and I get here, unlock the door, and they start helping me set up shop,” Reid said. “One will turn on the lights for me, another will take the open sign outside, and another will turn on the fan. It’s really more like a family here, to be honest.”
And despite being around since the late ‘80s, Reid doesn’t see himself necessarily slowing anytime soon, his eyes still set on a final prize for Darkhorse Comics.
“This is my second last location,” Reid said about his storefront at 596 Fraser Street. “My dream is to one day have a building of my own to run the business out of.”
