Lloyd - One thing I remember from working in a comic store (and this may have changed in the last few years) is that the bigger name free comics (that is, Marvel and DC) cost the stores less. The pricing as I recall is set by the publisher, which means that Marvel and DC can afford to charge less for their books than smaller companies.

The books are divided into Gold and Silver depending on how heavily the participating company is sponsoring FCBD, and retailers are required to order a certain number of Gold books before they're able to order Silver books at all.

So the selection a store carries doesn't necessarily reflect any particular endorsement of superhero comics over indie or anything like that - especially at Arcane, which I think is a great store with tons of product packed into a really small space, and a very helpful staff. It's more likely to be indicative of their budget and what the people who showed up before you decided to pick up.

Competent and broad article on the scene/culture/retail experience. Nice one! Sorry those who posted comments to the effect, but any adult who's too lazy or 'inconvenienced' to take a 20 minute bus ride from the Hill to Downtown or the U-Dist - well damn, it must not be that important to you to begin with. That, and/or laziness is how your cultural values/interests are really prioritized.

This past week on "Comic Book Day" the U-dist with Zanadu, The Dreaming and Comics Dungeon (with their amazing backissue selection and a 30-60% off sale!) really delivered on the quality reads, helpful and informative service and pricing that didn't reflect the 'collector' mentality. Most everything I found was coverprice or less!

Competent and broad article on the scene/culture/retail experience. Nice one! Sorry those who posted comments to the effect, but any adult who's too lazy or 'inconvenienced' to take a 20 minute bus ride from the Hill to Downtown or the U-Dist - well damn, it must not be that important to you to begin with. That, and/or laziness is how your cultural values/interests are really prioritized.

This past week on "Comic Book Day" the U-dist with Zanadu, The Dreaming and Comics Dungeon (with their amazing backissue selection and a 30-60% off sale!) really delivered on the quality reads, helpful and informative service and pricing that didn't reflect the 'collector' mentality. Most everything I found was coverprice or less!

The Owners of this shop are amazing. They worked very hard to bring such a great shop to the Seattle area. Recession or not, you cant pass up on good customer service and truely good hearted people.

I haven't been to Arcane's locations, but can definitely endorse those of Zanadu's branches. Knowledgeable, friendly and occasionally goofy staff working for Perry -- the U district branch is my local comic store (lcs) and it's a pleasure to shop and smooze with manager John, Sean and Ed there.