My husband is an avid viewer of AMC’s Comic Book Men. By avid, I mean staying up late to watch episode after episode in order to clear off the DVR. But not committed enough to listen to the podcasts. No, he wouldn’t be an “avid” viewer then. Nope. He’d be something else. A cronie? A hardcore fan?
Anyways…
If you haven’t seen the show, it’s basically reality tv following some men who own a… Take a guess…
That’s right!
A comic book store! It’s Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in Redbank, New Jersey.
Bryan could hardly contain his excitement
We arrived on an overcast Friday morning. There were only a few others in the entire store. One staff member at the counter unloading some merchandise.
The inside was set up pretty neat. Lots of props, variety of merchandise, and very welcoming atmosphere. Not stifling and silent like other places. And not awkward either.
Bryan loved the wide variety of comics they had in stock. I loved how they displayed things. So many things to look at! And of course to photograph.
Just get a load of that! So many things packed into a such a small space. I really should’ve taken a closer photo of that display case in the back. It was filled with an array of movie memorabilia, collectible toys, and autographed photos.
That mural would make such a great spot for a selfie. It was too covered up for me to utilize, sadly.
I’m pretty sure that this is not THE table from the show, particularly their podcast portion, but there’s a chance the guys sat at it together. So that in itself was enough to warrant a quick snapshot.
There’s buddy Jesus. You may recognize him from some popular memes. He’s on display in the back in a glass case.
And here was the highlight of the visit…
While we were shopping, Walt from the show walked in. Such nice people! He posed for a quick photo with Bryan without batting an eye. Walt writes his own comic book and owns the store. At least partly. So Bryan really respects him, as that’s one of the things he dreams of doing someday.
We got one souvenir, a poster of the secret basement signed by all the cast members for $20. Which, by the way, nothing sold in the store that is signed by the comic book men, is marked up. Which was very cool.
The cashier was so friendly and helpful. He threw a couple of postcards into our bag for free and a flyer with directions to get to the Quik Stop from the movie, Clerks. So we of course drove over to get a photo of that too.
Our trip into Redbank New Jersey was pretty fruitful. We also visited the beach and Carlo’s Bakery while we were there. Such a great little road trip!
What was/is your favorite comic book super hero? Mine is Captain America, but I’ve only seen him as played by Chris Evans. I’m not an avid reader of comic books 😉
