Community. When people talk about the comics industry, they talk about community – the connected web of readers, creators, publishers and retailers who support each other through art and entertainment. When comics shop owners, especially, talk about their businesses, they often talk about building and supporting their community. “Wednesday Warriors” is a loaded term, but besides a release day it means a way for people to connect. The best comics shops are places that sell cool stuff, yes, but also a place for people who consume – and create – that cool stuff to come together.
We’re seeing a couple of very cool examples of that this week. One is San Francisco retailer/publisher Silver Sprocket’s new fundraising campaign, which owner Avi Ehrlich talks about at length with Publishers Weekly.
The other is closer to home for me, a GoFundMe to keep Williamsburg’s Desert Island Comics going, despite a massive rent increase, prompted when a local liquor store went to Fowler’s landlord and offered them more money.
As we reported earlier this week, owner Gabe Fowler launched a campaign to raise $79,200 to help the store sign a three year lease for $201,600. (That’s $5600 a month.) That’s not a small amount of money, but as of this writing, after just three days the campaign stands at $88,548….and still going.
I’m pretty amazed. I imagine Fowler is too. In his latest Instagram he wrote, “Are you kidding me?! YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA3pmAKudoX/
The comments on the instagram – and the GoFundMe – show that Desert island is a beloved institution not just for comics folks….but the surrounding Brooklyn community.
OF course it’s still a long road for the store. I know Fowler has a lot to do this week besides talk to journalists so I reached out to him with a few questions, which he graciously answered.
THE BEAT: What are you going to do now? You do mention possibly using the money to fund a move, but the current location is so ideal, so you must have some tough decisions to make.
FOWLER: After this outpouring of support, it’s my duty to respect the interests of the community and find the best solution for everybody. I’m not particularly happy with my current landlord and am going to continue looking for a new space with better terms until their October 15th deadline. The worst case scenario is that Desert Island would remain at our current location, which is not bad at all. But it would be nice to have a more supportive landlord, less brutal rent, and a lease longer than three years. It feels like a shame to just to keep things status quo for three years.
THE BEAT: Why do you think the campaign has been so successful? Do you think that part of it was the local community, not just comics folks?
FOWLER: It’s hard to speculate about the thoughts and intentions of others, but I’m thankful that my commitment to this community has been noticed and appreciated. As you suggest, it may be possible that some people have donated because they’re sick of rich people steamrolling culture in NYC. My bandmate said it’s like I’ve had a tip jar on the counter for 17 years but didn’t know it was there.
THE BEAT: I would guess this whole week has been a bit of a whirlwind, but what has surprised you most about the reaction to the announcement that the store was closing?
FOWLER: Honestly, the thing that surprised me the most was the way some commenters implied that something bad needed to be done to the liquor store, and the strange mob mentality that can appear on the internet. I’m not particularly happy that the liquor store would approach my landlord and throw my life into chaos, but they’re only doing it because they are suffering with their own real estate problem. There’s plenty of suffering to go around.
Clearly, Desert Island may still be facing changes, but at least it has a chance now.
And now a little editorial from me:
Speaking as a New Yorker (30 years as of next Tuesday), this story makes me think there’s still some hope for New York’s rich history as an eccentric, independent lab for artists and creativity.
And if I can get a little sappy for a minute, the best part of being a New Yorker is other New Yorkers. Don’t believe the stories about crime and homelessness. We love our city because it’s one giant hodge podge of a community, one that has rough patches and makes mistakes (and contains many assholes) but still comes together to make something bigger and better.
It’s extremely touching to me that Desert Island’s community realizes the value of a good bookstore – as a place to buy cool things but also be exposed to new ideas and art, and to meet like minded people.
Maybe the most shocking thing is that it happened in Williamsburg. When I moved here this was a cool, edgy neighborhood where artists could afford giant lofts, and bands rehearsed day and night. It was a little rough around the edges – there was still street crime and I once saw a young woman in Doc Martens kick in the door of a bar after the bartender threw a roll of paper towels at her. But cool and edgy inevitably becomes trendy and raw loft spaces become $9,000 a month 2-bedrooms. We all know the ills of gentrification, or as I call it, the Kale Trail.
If you ever watched Girls, that was Williamsburg in the 00s, filled with hook up spots and trustafarians – spoiled rich kids pretending to be bohemians while the real artists got priced out. It’s been going on at an ever accelerating clip everywhere, and now, in these Stakeholder-driven days, money isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
Anyway, that’s a roundabout way of saying that, in I suspect there’s no way the indie comics community alone raised all that $80k. Given the low page rates and fingernail clinging profit margins, no way. (Not to put down the comics community; James Tynion is the single biggest donor at $2500 – he’s just One Of The Good Ones for reals.)
I guess what touches me the most is the hope that maybe some of the folks who can afford those $9000 apartments actually understood that supporting a weird little comics shop that sells Lale Westvind zines and Hideshi Hino books is more important than another $18 cocktail at the William Vale.
Or maybe, as Gabe suggested, everyone just pitched in and gave $1. (I guess if Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney were still around they’d be doing GoFundMe’s instead of putting on a show.)
Either way, I think most of us understand that passionately personal spaces like Desert Island are what make B-burg a cool community. We just don’t need another Chipotle.
There’s definitely more to come on the Desert Island story, but for a couple of minutes, let’s enjoy the win.
English (US) · 