Remember the first time you went into your now-local comic shop? That massive sensory overload of memorable characters plucking memories you'd long-thought buried into vivid reality, merchandise for that movie or comic that there's no way they'd of made a model for - yet somehow it was in front of you. It's pretty magical stuff, and don't ever let anyone tell you any different. Then you have to turn that place of wonderment into the structure you drag yourself to every morning. And although there's nothing quite like that fresh smell of newly minted comics wafting through the air, being in such a place for any reason other than stuffing your pockets with one-off trinkets and plastic-covered exclusives can leave you a changed person. It's like some nightmarish concoction that would be more at home as one of The Mad Hatter's experiments - twinning the harsh realities of serving people for a living with the heartwarming and soul-lifting imagery of all our favourite heroes pulling you back from the brink every few minutes when things get too hectic. We do it though, because when all's said and done there's just nothing like getting ahold of that new issue a couple of days early, having first dibs on the new range of tabletop games or realising that we knew how Wolverine died before everyone else did. Naturally there's still things we need to get off our chests though, so here's to our spectacularly over-analytic - yet ultimately well-meaning - status as arbiters of nerd culture's finest and dearest.
21. The "I'll Wait 'Til It Comes In" People
Customer: Do you have ? Us: No, but we can order it in! Customer: It's okay, I'll just wait. Us: If you don't order it, chances are we'll never get it. Customer: It's cool, I'll just wait 'til it comes in. *walks away* Us: But...you'll be waiting forever.
