Phoenix From The Flames: Bizarro Comics in Athens, Ga

Interviews Robert Newsome | October 19, 2026 The recent passing of Dolly Parton caused quite a few people in and around Athens, Georgia to post this photo of Dolly hanging around in front of the Howard Johnson’s on Atlanta Highway. Nobody who shared that photo in any of the online spaces I checked was ever able to positively identify Dolly’s be-blazered companion, but we’re all looking at Dolly, anyway. I get it. The orange-roofed Howard Johnson building is still standing today, and if you were to visit the site of the photograph above and step just a few feet toward the road, you’d be able to see a white building that looks like some sort of brutalist interpretation of a Tolkien castle. That building is the home of the all-new location of Bizarro Comics. This was, I know, a long walk, but I kind of just wanted you to see that photo of Dolly Parton. The brutalist castle within which dwells Bizarro Comics The last time I wrote to you about the state of the comics scene in Athens, the news was pretty dour. Today, I’m glad to report, things are looking up. Devlin’s back to selling comics and the town once again has a weird, wonderful comic shop staffed by someone who cares intensely a...