We all love comics, right? I mean, you wouldn’t even be reading this if you didn’t enjoy the unique experience of the pairing of words with pictures that comics offer. It’s a form of storytelling unlike any other. The juxtaposition of the action on the page with the dialog. The power of a caption box giving us insight into a characters thoughts. The raw imagination we display (without even realizing it) to fill in the blank spaces between the panels.

Yeah, we love comics.

But saying we love comics is very different from proving we love comics. Sure, we all use the internet as our forum to discuss the books and characters we love. We feel a sense of ownership over them. We feel our opinions should matter, dammit! And we’re furious when it appears that the comic companies blatantly ignore those opinions. It hurts.

If you REALLY want to prove that you love comics, and that your opinion should matter, then you’ll listen to me now and help out a dear friend of mine.

There’s a comic shop called Comic Evolution in Puyallup, Washington (that’s just outside of Seattle) that is owned and operated by Chuck Messinger. Chuck is one of us. He loves comics. And not just tights and capes. All comics. He champions the indie creator. He gets it. He takes the time to know his clientele to the point where a recommendation from him is pretty much a guarantee that you’re going to enjoy whatever he’s telling you to read. His shop is free of the stereotypical comic store pretension. It’s a place for comic lovers to go and let their geek flag fly with pride. He gives back to the community and the surrounding businesses.