I live in a college town that, up until recently, was supporting two gaming stores. Brick and mortar places where people would go play D&D or Magic: The Gathering. As an author and general geek, places like this kind of matter to me. Aside from the fact they are local businesses, they have sucked up a great deal of my browsing time, throughout my life.

In the town I grew up in, there was one bookstore that had a gaming section. The fact there could be a whole store dedicated the art and craft of gaming was a thrilling prospect. Now, I find it hard to believe there are decent sized towns of any sort without one.

But note I said “up until recently”. The one where I got my comics just went out of business. I can’t exactly explain how sad this makes me. It’s not so much that I now have to find my comics elsewhere. It’s that, even if the market was a little saturated, I feel like I and my fellow geeks should have done more. It reminds me how the digital time sinks such as World of Warcraft and other games have become the definition of what “gaming” is for a lot of people. I worry about my hobby.

Not to mention, as I said, this is where I got my comics. One can get comics online, subscribe to them and such, but it’s very different to be able to go somewhere and browse; to have someone give a recommendation. To have your little bit of geek accepted and catered to.

I’ll miss the place. I wish it’s owners good luck.

Until then, I urge anyone who enjoys the same sort of shelters from normalcy to make sure you support them, as funds and interest allow. Because each one that goes down feels like a little defeat.

Peace.