Aegis Comics of Alaska adds coffee shop, breathing new life into local endeavor

WASILLA — Aegis Comics of Alaska recently reached a new milestone by establishing a cafe within their homegrown comic shop.

Aegis Comics of Alaska owners Luis and Amie Nieves are excited to bring this new sense of life into their shop, especially after surviving a severe financial hardship that almost forced them to close their doors for good.

The comic loving couple have owned and operated the Mat-Su Valleys sole comic book shop since 2019. They successfully met their $10,000 goal and they can continue operating their Wasilla Store but it hasn't been with sacrifices. They had to shut down their JBER location and cut down on employees, but there is hope on the horizon.

"We're not out of the woods yet but were not done fighting," Luis said. "The struggles are not over yet but we can still have a smile on our face… Now we have a light at the end of the tunnel… It's been very humbling."

Amie said they were able to expand their services thanks to the continued support of local businesses, community members, and even the USO who donated an espresso machine to help them start their new venture.

The only way we have it is because of the generosity of that," Amie said. "The comic book community showed up in just massive ways… People helped us even if they didn't have much… It just brought me to tears."

Even other small business owners that would normally serve as rivals helped out such as the owner Bosco's who donated $500 to their cause.

"He loved that we made comic books exciting again," Luis said. "We make it fun here."

Aegis has even had support from local coffee companies such as Kaladi Bros and Awakenings Espresso during their endeavors.

"We're optimistic," Luis said. "It's hard not to feel good when you find out so many people love the place. It's been humbling… We've made it a happy place and we couldn't do that without the people… We're very blessed. There are definitely heroes in all of us."

Guests can now play Battleship and other games that are setup on tables while they drink coffee and browse comic books with free wifi.

"Come give us a try," Amie said.

Aegis Comics is participating in the annual Free Comic Book Day event Saturday, May 6 along with thousands of other shops across the country.

For more information, visit aegiscomicsalaska.com.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com