Exploring Life & Business with Drew Stuart of CoMo Comic Books

Today we’d like to introduce you to Drew Stuart.

Hi Drew, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I got back into comic books in the winter of 2005, during my junior year of college, while attending Mizzou. I was going to school full-time and working full-time at a retail store, and I desperately needed something I could do for entertainment or a distraction in the 20-30 minute windows I had between classes or between school and school work. I grew up going to antique malls with my mom and my aunt on weekends and collected and read comics fairly consistently from the late 80s to the early 90s before I discovered things like girls and guitars, road trips, and parties—typical high school stuff. I had a strong background in collecting, and I found that shopping for vintage comics on eBay was perfect for filling those brief periods of free time between school and work. Unfortunately, it turned into shopping for books during classes because free wifi is a terrible thing to waste when you don’t want to focus on the day’s syllabus lesson. Naturally, once this new hobby took hold, it led me to some of the local comic shops in Columbia. Initially, that was Quinlan Keep, but I didn’t take long to become a regular at Rock Bottom Comics.

Rock Bottom was the second oldest comic book store in Missouri (after Clint’s Comics on Main) and was the longest-running, original owner comic book store until 2021 (I think it was) when the owner, Glenn Brewer, sold the store to its current own. Rock Bottom Comics is where I learned about the comics business. I started as just a customer. Then I became a regular. And before long, I was spending a good amount of time at the store just hanging out, talking about comics, movies, music; you name it. Having a retail background like mine, you spontaneously start straightening shelves, organizing things, and being helpful almost involuntarily. After I’d done that enough, I was officially invited to join RBC as an employee. Glenn was well regarded as a skilled grader, and I worked with him at every opportunity to learn how to grade. I spent hours working and talking with store manager James Cagle about good comics, bad comics, underrated comics, overrated comics, and more. Before long, I started learning the buying side of the business, getting called in to assess collections that would come into the store. Before long, I knew how to buy, grade, and sell everything from a high-dollar single issue to a lifelong collection that wouldn’t all fit in the store at the same time.

And it was a massive consignment collection that RBC had acquired that led to my first comic con experience. In early 2012 I was asked to run a booth for the shop at Planet Comicon 2012. It would wind up being the final year Planet was held in Overland Park, but it was my first time setting foot in a comic convention, and I was diving into the deep end by running a booth for the whole weekend. I had a good time because I’ve set up at every Planet since, except 2013, when I chickened out, not wanting to brave Bartle Hall for the first downtown show.

Around the spring of 2012, I realized I could make the most impact in growing my comic collection if I cut out the middleman and began buying collections independently. Even with my generous employee discount, buying books at or near retail can put a dent in your wallet. I picked up my first collection in the summer of 2012, and after pulling out everything I needed or wanted from the collection, I had roughly 3/4 of the collection I didn’t need or want. I decided to load the collection up in the car for a weekend trip to KC with Mrs. CoMo. It didn’t take me long to become frustrated with my experiences attempting to sell the remaining books. One KC area comic shop owner offered me $150 for the remnants. Another wouldn’t give $300 in trade credit for a book in their inventory. I wasn’t looking for an outlandish amount, and I knew there was well over $1,000 in value remaining in the boxes. All I wanted was what I would have offered for the same collection at my hometown LCS (local comic shop). After having what I can only describe as a rage-fueling experience with the stores and store owners (both of which remain open today, by the way), I declared that I would do it myself. This always gets a good laugh between me and my wife because she knows the exact moment and people to blame for everything that has happened over the last 10 years!

I continued buying collections from the summer of 2012 and started setting up at area comic book shows and conventions. Planet Comicon 2014 was one of my earliest shows, but it was a great learning experience. Rock Bottom and the newly minted CoMo Comic Books would split the booth cost for the show. One table full would be CoMo stuff, the other would be RBC stuff, and I’d run the booth for both for the weekend. In the meantime, I would do a smaller show in KC, one in Columbia, St. Louis was soon to follow, and then it just turned into a cycle of shows. Generally, one a month for 8-10 months out of the year. Eventually, the decision was made that the cost of Planet wasn’t worth it for RBC, so I was put in the position where I had to make a choice: continue and fill the booth with nothing but CoMo books or step back from the largest comic convention in the area. I decided to go all in and set up for the first time as just CoMo Comic Books, and we haven’t looked back since. Peaking in 2019, CoMo set up 12 shows, in five cities, in three states, all in a single year.

Things would take a turn a few weeks after our year’s final show in November 2019. The day after Thanksgiving 2019, we learned that RBC manager James Cagle had passed away. James was a pillar of the local comic community and the glue that held the regulars at Rock Bottom together. The comic shop was our home away from home. Our Cheers, Our respite from the real world outside, but without James, we couldn’t return home. Looking back, we all know what is coming in March 2020, but in the early days of January 2020, I decided to take the plunge and start the CoMo Comic Books youtube channel. I had this pipe dream of starting a comic podcast with the usual suspects down at the comic shop for years and had taken advantage of a few Prime Day deals here and there to acquire things like microphones and other basic gear we would have needed. Add in the family digital SLR camera, and I had everything I needed to make a youtube video. And that is just what I did. I needed to know something about making a video that looked good, sounded good, or was valuable for an audience on the platform. Almost 150 videos later, I’m still far from perfect, but we’ve come a long way. The channel is just under 10,000 subscribers as I write this, which is sizable for the comic book niche on Youtube. I’m very fortunate to have found a way to plug into a wider community after I abruptly lost my connection to the local community. I still loved comics, and I knew I needed an outlet for that, and to be able to connect with other members of the wider community has been life-changing for me.

We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As I mentioned before, there have been some bumps along the way. Losing a great friend, I’d had for over a decade was by far the worst, but looking back on it, that event was the catalyst for everything that has happened for CoMo Comic Books since. I would have never been able to fully step away from RBC if James were still here to focus on growing CoMo like I have. There have been plenty of teachable moments over the years, but I’m fortunate that I have a great support system and an inner circle of really great friends and family that support me and so many of the crazy ideas that I come up with.

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
CoMo Comic Books is, at heart, a comic book vendor focusing on golden, silver, and bronze-age comic books. The business started because of comic books and has grown like it has because comics are still the center of what we do. Whether bringing new collections to the collector market or producing content for youtube or our social media, it’s all about the comics. Early on, we focused on building out CoMo Comic Books as a brand. We developed a logo. The brand colors came along—business cards. Then a banner was added to our convention setup, which you did not see at smaller or local shows at the time. Now everybody has a banner. And that commitment to CoMo as a brand and a business helped keep us focused and consistent, which helped our customers and followers get to know CoMo. Establishing relationships and building familiarity with customers over several years starts to transcend a transactional relationship and grows into a community. And the community is what sets you apart. The one thing that sticks with our community members when they think about CoMo Comic Books is that we truly care about the books. We’re not just here to make money or to give you tips on how to flip comics for a profit. We’re here to help you build your collection, expand your appreciation of the hobby, and support you as a comic collector.

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
My most important lesson is that integrity is critical in this business. It’s a super competitive space, and margins are tight in the current market, but fairness and a strong conscience are invaluable. Far too many stories about little old ladies being fleeced by unsavory characters simply because they could. It’s a business; you have to make money to survive, but have integrity and be honest with sellers about what their books are worthwhile you negotiate a purchase. If the deal you just made would upset you if someone else made it with your grandma, you should reconsider your business practices.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.comocomicbooks.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/como.comic.books
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/comocomicbooks
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/comocomicbooks

Image Credits
David Bitterbaum