Streetlevel: From T-Mobile to Comics on Metropolitan
This storefront at 540 Metropolitan Avenue (between Lorimer and Union) has had an interesting past.
The storefront in 2008 as Desert Island was preparing to open. Photo by Heather for Brownstoner
This storefront at 540 Metropolitan Avenue (between Lorimer and Union) has had an interesting past. After years as an Italian bakery, and then a T-mobile store, it is now slated to become Williamsburg’s first indie comics shop, Desert Island. What’s nice is that they’ve kept the original signage and that curved window intact. And let’s face it, getting your Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly fix locally seems like a no-brainer. Desert Island will also carry zines, artist’s books, and limited edition silkscreens. Owner Gabriel Fowler hopes to use the dramatic window space to showcase up-and-coming print artists. “Specific titles include Robert Crumb’s ‘Zap’ comics and Chris Ware’s ‘Acme Novelty Library’ (contemporary favorite), and tons of other obscure delicacies.” Desert Island will open for business in about three weeks. GMAP
So is this a comics shop, or a post Giuliani-era “comics shop”? Because the nabe could use one of those, too.
As the owner of this store, I would like to respond to the anonymous superhero fan above. We are a very small store with specialized stock, and we can’t begin to include every comics title. I personally dislike the “superstore” approach to comic shops, and I won’t attempt to compete with places like Midtown Comics. But I do hope to carry something for everyone in a fun environment. Come see for yourself before you cast judgment!
Best regards,
Gabriel
I miss my comic books. There was a time where I could tell you the extended plot lines of the Avengers, Thor, the X-Men, Spidey, Daredevil, and the Fantastic Four stretching back years. Captain America was stodgey, but I bought it. The Wakandan people and their king, the Black Panther were cool before black people in comics were commonplace.
I used to think the Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange were deep, and had the strangest conversation with someone once about Judeo-Christian ramifications of Galactus and the Watchers.
Always hated the Hulk. Hulk dumb.
They were a lot cheaper then, too.
The Sub Mariner can kick Aquaman’s ASS.
There is NOTHING i would welcome more into Williamsburg than a Comic Store but this sounds like it’s destined to fail.
I’m a fan of Fanatgraphics, Drawn & Quaterly and all the indie press ilk but to create a shop ceneterd solely around those types of indie comics is not only foolish but a disservice to the comics as an art form but also the renaissance writing has been under in superhero comics over the last decade.
I know it seems like there are enough hipster kids who love Crumb, Clowes, Tomine, Ware etc, etc in reality there are not. Plus each of these type of books release on totally haphazard schedules.
I can’t believe you’d consider opening a shop and shun the bread & butter of the genre… superheros. It’s like opening a fruit store and only selling papayas.
The joy of a comic shop is the excitement of something NEW every week, the co-mingling of Spider-Man and Enid!
Boo to this!
Oooh, Guest 3:19, your powers of deduction are exceptional. I can’t allow you to waste them here when there are so many crimes going unsolved at this very moment. Go, go, for the good of the city!
Best Episode, Ever.
But, Aquaman, you cannot marry a woman without gills! You’re from two different worlds…
Oh, I’ve wasted my life.
Yay! This is SO much better than a T-Mobile store.