The Secret Lair Comics — Attraction in Harrisonburg

If you can recall Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park when he peers into the monitor on the Jeep and states: "now, eventually you do plan to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, right?"

Take that quote and apply it to comics on release day at Secret Lair; "now eventually you do plan to have comics on release day at a comic store, right?"

This seems to be the case at Secret Lair. Consistently out of release day titles shortly after the store opens. You would believe that such a business would adjust to offset this constant predicament; perhaps order more runs, more titles, more issues, pad the inventory a bit, etc. No. Not Secret Lair, it's an anomaly of traditional management, distancing itself from the tried and true business practices of retailers that seek to fulfill the most basic portion of a fruitful economic model; meeting customer demand.

If, perchance an issue (yes, singular) happens to get shelved on release day, it is truly an artifact to behold. Seemingly slipped through the space/time continuum and managed to situate itself on the metal rack at Secret Lair. You will notice upon light inspection that it has seen some sights. It's almost like the latest Captain America issue actually fought on the shores of Normandy in World War II with a redeployment to the frontlines of the Pacific to also fight the Japanese at Iwo Jima, only to end up in the shadow of the Secret Lair rack with trench foot and corner dents. No way an American hero should be treated to rot on a rack with a bent spine and apparent exposure to nuclear testing. Or the latest Doctor Strange issue appearing as if it had recently returned from a hellish dimension fighting with demons and battling Tibetan wizardry to finally die among the damaged of the Secret Lair rack. "These comics couldn't have just came out of a box" I tell myself believing nobody would mistreat comics like this, "surely Cyclops came to life and laser beamed off part of the corner of this X-Men comic." It's like these comics come to life, like "Indian and the Cupboard" but instead of gallivanting around on merry adventures, they are beaten senseless for the cruel amusement of their handlers.

I always enter Secret Lair with hopes and promises, like an abused dog that is always happy to see his owner till the neglect of food and affection makes me ball up in the corner wishing for a better life, or in this case, a better comic shop. Instead, I just end up in my study among my dusty comic collection like Orson Welles in "Citizen Kane" but instead of muttering "Rosebud" repeatedly to myself, I'm muttering the latest issue title of the comic I was unable to purchase. I punctuate it with dropping a half empty double whiskey on rocks instead of a snowglobe.

I always say to myself "I deserve better than this" or "maybe they will change." But like the abusive relationship that it is, I stay and everyone else is saying with understanding and an arm on my shoulder "get out, they don't love you" or "just order online, it's easier...they ship sturdy."

This is my break up letter. I'm leaving you Secret Lair. I found something better. I'm tired of the tears. I'm tired of the neglect. I just want to be happy. I just want...

I can't say enough positive things about the Secret Lair.

Start with the staff. The owner is a tremendous guy who is always helpful in ordering books you want an helping with their subscription service. He has also surrounded himself with some of the friendliest staff you could ask for. I put them to the test on a regular basis; I'm constantly adding and dropping books and they are always quick to take care of my needs. I have always felt welcome and satisfied.

The Secret Lair has been slowly expanding since it opened. What once was a few walls of current books now boasts a good supply of back issues. And guess what-- they're all in order! That's right, unlike some comic shops that will remain nameless (but let's just say they're in an hour radius of Harrisonburg), searching through back issue boxes isn't like being thrown to the wolves. Then you've got the 50-cent boxes, an ample supply of cheap books that contain some hidden gems.

Harrisonburg isn't a huge town, and it means a lot that there is a local comic shop that is so well-run and customer service-oriented. I've seen some hole-in-the-wall shops in my life, and some behemoths in bigger cities that seemed to big to be bothered with little things like customer service and the personal touch. Not at Secret Lair. Harrisonburg is lucky...

Just left this shop empty-handed once again. If you are looking for a particular issue, there is a very good chance it will not be available by Wednesday (weekly comic book release day) afternoon. To avoid this i am constantly told by the owner and employees to set up a subscription with them. That sounds really great! I tried that-however, most of the books they seem to get from the distributor are beat up and are not collector-grade copies. This service is great for the casual reader of comic books-not the collector who cares about the condition of particular books. I cannot comprehend why more copies of popular books are not ordered by this place. There is little point of having a local comic book store if one cannot stop by the day of a certain issue's release to pick ot up-only to find that the 3 copies ordered have sold out. Ridiculous. If you are a collector like myself, stick to online stores or make the trip to Atlas in Charlottesville. The drive sucks but at least you are certain to find the books you want. Its perpetual Amateur Hour at the Lair. Nice people,...