• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Comment Policy
    • Disclosures & Disclaimers
  • Resources
    • Links, Essays & Articles
    • Fandomology!
    • CLAMP Directory
    • BlogRoll
  • Features & Columns
    • 3 Things Thursday
    • Adventures in the Key of Shoujo
    • Bit & Blips (game reviews)
    • BL BOOKRACK
    • Bookshelf Briefs
    • Bringing the Drama
    • Comic Conversion
    • Fanservice Friday
    • Going Digital
    • It Came From the Sinosphere
    • License This!
    • Magazine no Mori
    • My Week in Manga
    • OFF THE SHELF
    • Not By Manga Alone
    • PICK OF THE WEEK
    • Subtitles & Sensibility
    • Weekly Shonen Jump Recaps
  • Manga Moveable Feast
    • MMF Full Archive
    • Yun Kouga
    • CLAMP
    • Shojo Beat
    • Osamu Tezuka
    • Sailor Moon
    • Fruits Basket
    • Takehiko Inoue
    • Wild Adapter
    • One Piece
    • After School Nightmare
    • Karakuri Odette
    • Paradise Kiss
    • The Color Trilogy
    • To Terra…
    • Sexy Voice & Robo
  • Browse by Author
    • Sean Gaffney
    • Anna Neatrour
    • Michelle Smith
    • Katherine Dacey
    • MJ
    • Brigid Alverson
    • Travis Anderson
    • Phillip Anthony
    • Derek Bown
    • Jaci Dahlvang
    • Angela Eastman
    • Erica Friedman
    • Sara K.
    • Megan Purdy
    • Emily Snodgrass
    • Nancy Thistlethwaite
    • Eva Volin
    • David Welsh
  • MB Blogs
    • A Case Suitable For Treatment
    • Experiments in Manga
    • MangaBlog
    • The Manga Critic
    • Manga Report
    • Soliloquy in Blue
    • Manga Curmudgeon (archive)

Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

September 1, 2009 by Katherine Dacey

Where to Buy Manga: Comicopia (Boston, MA)

IMG_0080Highbrow, lowbrow… and everything in between. That’s the slogan of Comicopia, a Mecca (mecha?) for Beantown manga lovers. For twenty years, this modest Kenmore Square storefront has been catering to discerning comic fans of all persuasions, stocking everything from Introducing Derrida to Mr. Arashi’s Amazing Freak Show, as well as crowd-pleasers like Peanuts, Bone, Y: The Last Man, Justice Society of America, and, of course, Bleach, Naruto and Fruits Basket. Comicopia’s low-key, friendly vibe is more bookstore than comic store, making it a great place for former Barnes & Noble junkies to ween themselves off the chain store habit.

Owner Matt Lehman claims to have “New England’s largest selection of manga,” a claim substantiated by both the quantity and variety of titles on Comicopia’s shelves. On my most recent visit, for example, I found all nineteen volumes of Full Metal Alchemist alongside full runs of Dragon Head, Eden: It’s An Endless World, and Swan, as well as a generous assortment of older and more obscure titles: Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla, Shirow Masamune’s Black Magic, Junjo Ito’s Museum of Terror, numerous volumes of Basara, and the first volume of The Monkey King. “We’re committed to carrying every manga in print,” Lehman explains. “We make an effort to stock the first two or three volumes of each new series as it comes out, and continue carrying what sells.”

That commitment isn’t limited to seinen titles or certifiable hits; Comicopia has devoted entire walls to kid-friendly manga and yaoi as well. It’s the only place I’ve ever seen all eighteen volumes of Dr. Slump and all three volumes of Yakuza in Love in stock.

The store’s selection is a big part of the draw, but it isn’t the full story. Comicopia has a friendly staff that knows their stuff, too. Manager Shannon Outlaw “practically came out of the womb with an X-men comic in hand,” while Assistant Manager Angela Outlaw and Manga Manager Maggie Curtis are both dyed-in-the-wool comic fans whose enthusiasm and expertise inform the “Awesomesauce Manga” display, an eclectic selection of new and noteworthy releases. All three make an effort to cultivate relationships with customers, setting aside new arrivals for Wednesday regulars and making recommendations to anyone who asks for help. “I have one customer who says I know her taste better than she does!” Curtis jokes. Their most recent initiative: a “Manga for People Who Hate Manga” display featuring a variety of horror, sci-fi, and action-oriented series with genuine crossover appeal, e.g. Berserk, The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Monster and Parasyte.

IMG_0079

Recent staff picks (a.k.a. the “Awesomesauce Manga” display) included Alive: The Final Evolution, Ooku, Waq Waq, and The Name of the Flower.

IMG_0085

The Manga For People Who Hate Manga display.

Lehman, who served as an Eisner judge in 2002, shares his staff’s enthusiasm for manga. “My first exposure to manga came in the 1980s, when Eclipse Comics was releasing Area 88, Kamui, and Lone Wolf and Cub,” he notes. “In the 1990s, it became a bigger and bigger part of our business. Manga now takes up almost half the store’s shelf space.” Comicopia participated in the first Anime Boston convention in 2003, one of only two vendors selling manga onsite. “We were slammed,” Lehman says. He credits his staff with turning Anime Boston into the store’s “biggest ongoing project.” Comicopia has steadily increased its presence at Anime Boston, sponsoring artist signings and offering con-goers a mixture of bargain-bin titles and hot-off-the-press releases. In anticipation of the 2010 show, Lehman and crew will be holding a pre-registration event at Comicopia on Saturday, September 12th from 1:00 – 5:00 PM. (Click here for details.)

IMG_0087IMG_0082IMG_0088

From left to right: the register, the magazine section (always well-stocked with manga and cosplay titles), and a fine assortment of J-snacks.

Given its great selection and cool staff — and really, how could you not like a store manned by two Outlaw sisters? — it’s easy to see why Comicopia was one of four finalists for this year’s Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award. Ask staff members what honor means the most to them, however, and they’ll tell you that it’s the Trans-forming Our Community Award, which Comicopia received for its colorful, enthusiastic participation in this year’s Boston Pride Parade. (They designed and manned a superhero-themed float; click here for pictures and the full scoop.) The fact that Comicopia’s staff is so actively engaged with the community speaks volumes about the store, its people, and its welcoming atmosphere; it epitomizes what a “local comic shop” should be.

WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO…

Comicopia is located in Kenmore Square, approximately two blocks from the Kenmore Square T Station (Green Line; serviced by B, C, and D trains) and a variety of bus lines. (Click here for directions.) Comicopia is also accessible by car via Storrow Drive and the Mass Pike; as the Comicopia site notes, however, driving is not advisable when the Red Sox are playing at Fenway Park. Sometimes you really can’t get there from here.

New arrivals are posted on the Comicopia website each week. (Regulars can also sign up for the store’s newsletter by clicking here; the full shipping list will then be delivered to your inbox on Tuesday evenings.) N.B. Owing to the vagaries of the comic distribution system, Comicopia usually stocks new Del Rey, Tokyopop, and Viz releases one to two weeks before the publisher’s projected street date — a vital resource when you’re eager to go to DMC before everyone else!

College students who are members of their schools’ anime club are entitled to a 10% discount on manga when they present proof of membership.

Last but not last, Comicopia is on Twitter. Chat with owner Matt Lehman and stay apprised of new arrivals and cool developments in real time: http://www.twitter.com/comicopia.

Comicopia (http://www.comicopia.com/)
464 Commonwealth Avenue (Kenmore Square)
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 266-4266
Hours: 11 AM – 7 PM everyday; 11 AM – 8 PM Wednesday; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Manga Critic Tagged With: Boston, Comicopia, Where to Buy Manga

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melinda Beasi says

    September 1, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    I have only been to Comicopia once, but it was a glorious experience. I wish I was just a bit closer!

  2. Katherine Dacey says

    September 1, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    I can’t tell you how happy I was when I first discovered Comicopia back in 2007. When I moved back to Boston after being in NYC, there was a Midtown Comics-sized hole I needed to fill — I’d gotten into the habit of visiting Midtown almost every Wednesday, as much for the ritual as for the books. I tried a lot of different shops in the Boston area, but none had very good manga collections. So I was ecstatic when my first visit to Comicopia yielded a manga from Tokyopop’s aborted Passion Fruits line.

  3. Melinda Beasi says

    September 2, 2009 at 7:35 am

    We have a nice local comic shop over this way (Modern Myths) but they really don’t maintain their manga section with much seriousness so they never have the books I want most. I need to try to get out to Comicopia more often.

  4. Melinda Beasi says

    September 2, 2009 at 7:37 am

    Also, I have to say that I feel now like I wasted the entire 9 years I lived in NYC by not being into manga at the time. Heh.

  5. Michelle Smith says

    September 2, 2009 at 7:45 am

    What a great article! Melinda, we must go there together when I visit! :)

  6. Katherine Dacey says

    September 2, 2009 at 7:59 am

    If you ladies make the pilgrimage to Comicopia, you should drop me a line—my office is about a 10 minute walk from the store, and there are several excellent restaurants in the immediate neighborhood that are conducive to long lunches (or dinners). (I was about to say “in spitting distance,” but decided that didn’t sound very appetizing.)

  7. Michelle Smith says

    September 2, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Hee, it’s a date!

  8. Sam Kusek says

    September 5, 2009 at 10:16 pm

    Excellent article, Kate! I go to Comicopia regularly, at least twice a week and you capture every thing perfectly about the store!

    @Michelle: when are you venturing up to B-town?

  9. Watch Anime Online says

    September 8, 2009 at 4:16 pm

    I am a hardcore anime fan, like to watch any kind of anime. Found your site on google, keep up the good work.

Trackbacks

  1. Cartoon and Manga articles news. » Archive » The Manga Critic » Blog Archive » Where to Buy: Comicopia (Boston, MA) says:
    September 2, 2009 at 4:59 am

    […] Here is the original: The Manga Critic » Blog Archive » Where to Buy: Comicopia (Boston, MA) […]

  2. Analysis, predictions, and reviews « MangaBlog says:
    September 2, 2009 at 6:15 am

    […] Dacey profiles manga-friendly comics store Comicopia at The Manga […]

  3. A Little Morning Link-Blogging | There it is, Plain as Daylight says:
    September 2, 2009 at 9:54 am

    […] world that have gotten my mind going. First off, Kate Dacey talks about fabulous Boston comic shop Comicopia in her blog this week. Despite living only a couple of hours away, I have only visited Comicopia […]

  4. The Manga Critic » Blog Archive » The Shipping News, 5/12/10 says:
    May 11, 2010 at 8:09 am

    […] where Melinda Beasi is posting a weekly run-down of what’s new at Kenmore Square retailer Comicopia. Click here for the inaugural […]

  5. PR: Sailor Moon Docking at Comicopia says:
    August 24, 2011 at 12:26 am

    […] recommend the place highly enough — in fact, I featured Comicopia in one of my very first Where to Buy Manga columns. Schedule permitting, I plan to go and show my support for my favorite local comic shop. I […]

  6. Where to Buy Manga in a Pandemic: Comicopia – The Manga Critic says:
    March 26, 2020 at 6:00 pm

    […] been a loyal customer since 2008, the year I relocated from New York City to my hometown. As I noted back in 2009, Comicopia is a manga lover’s comic […]



Before leaving a comment at Manga Bookshelf, please read our Comment Policy.

 | Log in
Copyright © 2010 Manga Bookshelf | Powered by WordPress & the Genesis Framework
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.