Friendly neighborhood comic book store; Local shop celebrates Free Comic Book Day

WASILLA — Aegis Comics of Alaska owners Luis and Amie Jo Nieves donned flashy costumes on Saturday, Oct. 26. They invited the community to do the same while they stopped by their friendly neighborhood comic book store for Halloween Comic Fest.

“It’s been a very blessed day,” Amie said.

Attendees received one free comic book and those who dressed up got two. Aegis Comics was one of numerous comic book stores across the nation that participated in the annual event that promotes the hobby for new and returning readers- much like it’s sister event Free Comic Book Day.

In fact, according to the official website, some people call Halloween Comic Fest “Spooky Free Comic Book Day.”

There was a spectrum of comics to choose from, including lighthearted series for all ages and gritty, mature titles. Amie and Luis bought over 20 different titles to giveaway. From Pokémon Adventures to Ghost Rider, there was a little bit of everything to choose from.

Waves of individuals and families cycled through the store. A majority of the attendees wore costumes, spooky and otherwise. Amie said it was fairly steady throughout the day and she saw numerous regulars with plenty of new faces.

“I love giving books to kids. It makes me happy,” Amie said.

Luis was dressed up as the popular anime superhero One Punch Man and Amie was wearing a Scarlet Witch costume. There were even several cosplay characters hanging out at the store.

Amie said the cosplayers were from a volunteer group called Subzero Heroes. She said they donated their time for the event, actively engaging with the public, especially the kids.

April and Joe Eichhorn brought their children to the shop so they could pick out their own free comics. All the kids were dressed up in Halloween costumes so they were able to pick out two.

“We love coming to their shop. My kids, this is like their new favorite thing to do” April said. “I like that small town feel.”

April said this comic book hobby has brought the whole family together. She said that her husband has been basking in the nostalgia, bringing back his childhood while sharing familiar characters with his kids. Many families around the Valley can say the same.

“It’s good for the community. It’s good for the kids,” April said.

Amie affirmed that parents and children can bond over comics even more seamlessly in this age because there’s countless characters and series that have been around for decades. Classic characters like Spider-Man and Wolverine get reboots and spin offs all the time.

The Eichhorn family is reading a new X-Men series together. A lot has changed since the 1960s, but Wolverine still has metal claws and Professor Xavier is still bald.

“It’s been really cool for a lot of parents because they’ve gotten their kids into it. So, the parents know some of these characters and now the kids are into it. By them doing that, you now have two groups of people in a new storyline but it’s new and old at the same time and they both get to be a part of it,” Amie said.

Joe said that he looks forward to bringing his kids to the store because on top of it being a safe and comfortable location, Luis is a living encyclopedia of comic book lore so they can lose themselves in conversation.

“He treats us like family,” Joe said.

Luis was thrilled to announce the store is set to expand, adding 600 square feet and a “speak easy” VIP room. This will add more display space and better suit community events as the store grows. He said they’ve been getting a lot of traffic through the store and plenty of support from the community.

“It’s literally the ‘Field of Dreams.’ We built it and they came,” Luis said. “There’s actually a lot of comic book lovers in the Valley.”

When the VIP room is ready, local podcasters and vloggers can record content there, according to Luis. He said that all the pull list customers will automatically become VIP members and be able to browse high end, specialty items in the room as well.

Carter Paulson, a local 14-year-old recently created a podcast with his co-host Sam Carrington who is also 14. He said the podcast is about comics and they recorded an episode at Aegis.

“I love this place… I really hope they never go away,” Paulson said.

Aegis Comics is located at 500 E. Swanson Avenue, Suite 10 in Wasilla. For more information, call 907-376-3400 or visit aegiscomicsalaska.com.

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