Wes Eastin, director/producer for the upcoming comic shop documentary, Shopping for Superman, is a seasoned filmmaker with over 20 years of experience in digital video, television, and film production, has shot and produced for Turner Broadcasting, Ray William Johnson, CBS Sports, Dollar Shave Club, and Care USA, to name a few. His work has been featured on networks such as IFC, Magnolia Network, and Funny or Die.
A passionate storyteller, Eastin brings a deep appreciation for an elevated ‘Geek Chic’ aesthetic to his work, most recently in his upcoming documentary, Shopping for Superman, (the origin story of your friendly neighborhood comic shop).
“The film’s ultimate goal”, Eastin claims, “is to inspire both lapsed and new comics audiences to visit their local store and ignite a love for a brand-new frontier of storytelling inside a welcoming space for all peoples, places, and things.”
“Comic shops have evolved to become a place for everyone and it’s high time they know it.”
You can learn more about Eastin and Shopping for Superman by visiting their homepages. Also, feel free to follow the documentary on Instagram.
Nicholas Yanes: What was your first encounter with comic books? Was there a moment in which you realized you had fallen in love with this medium?
Wes Eastin: I remember having Action Comics 678. THEY SAVED LUTHOR’S BRAIN! and being endlessly entertained by the cover and the book itself. Plus, this was Superman, we’re talking about here. And then… they found a way to KILL SUPERMAN!? Oh man. I remember telling my mom and any adult that would listen, (candy cigar in mouth) “I need to know more! Great Caesar’s ghost, they’re killing a legend!”
Superman, Batman, and then the X-Men (thanks to the Fox Kids show), and Spider-Man were everywhere but I found it hard to keep track of everything from the grocery store and newsstand so I would end up reading a story here and there and have a cursory understanding of what was going on. I didn’t care, really, I loved it. Luckily, there were a lot of single-issue stories which let me enjoy things without having to collect multiple issues to follow a longer story. I wish there was more of that these days for the larger titles.
The added bonus to all of this was that not everyone seemed to like comic books back then, so it felt a little like something that was more for me than everybody else.
Yanes: When did you realize that you wanted to pursue a career in entertainment production? Was there a moment this goal crystalized for you?
Eastin: My grandmother, Norma Poulos had a PBS show called, Landscapes by Norma and on a couple of occasions I got to travel to the studio and watch them make the show. I’m even in an episode. That stuck with me for sure, having a peak behind the curtain and by high school I had my own Blockbuster Video account and was reading things like Sydney Lumet’s, “Making Movies” or David Mamet’s, “On Directing Film,” so it quickly became the only thing I wanted to do.
I think the influence of comics was another huge reason I wanted to pursue filmmaking. Sometimes, you would see an awesome (also terrible) translation of a comic to a film and think, “There’s more to making this work than just putting a guy in a costume and adding moody lighting. How do you make people believe that this is real and works?”
Yanes: Before you started working on Shopping for Superman, what was your relationship to comic book stores? Did you have a favorite comic shop? (Of note, my favorite comic book store remains the former Bigkatts Comics.)
Eastin: Comic shops were a wild thing to discover and have my parents/grandparents take me to in the early 90s. Some were organized and some were pure, stinky chaos and they all ruled. It was the first time that I walked into a place, a fully-fledged Star Trek loving nerd child and the person behind the counter and I could talk about anything. I went from not being able to relate to a ton of people my age to having long conversations about the minutiae of nerddom with strangers. I’m sure it’s a cliche, but I felt very comfortable and safe at a time when I was being bullied, still dealing with my parents’ divorce, and moving to a pretty rural place where I went from having a few to zero friends. Comic shops were a lifesaver for me.
Eastin ready to join the Starfleet
My current favorite local shop is The Laughing Ogre in Columbus, OH. Amazing selection and a great team running it. Back in Georgia I first started going to Titan Comics in Fayetteville, GA until they closed, then switched to Quest Comics in Morrow, GA… until they closed. THEN I switched to Vengeance of Excalibur (sold, then closed) before going back to Fayetteville’s Dave’s Comics which I believe is still open today. It was all of those closings, back in the day, that first made me consider pursuing a documentary about comic shops.
Yanes: While comic book intellectual properties are more popular than ever, comic books and comic book stores don’t have the same cultural presence. What do you think can be done to increase comic book sales and help make shops more popular?
Eastin: I think stores have made a really strong go of elevating their presence online and in their communities, but that’s not really enough to interest people who aren’t comics readers already.
I think a big help would be if publishers and studios like Marvel made more noise about comics that are coming out, already out, and related to the films they’re making; and could drive new readers in, but advertising books and collections would definitely be a great start.
Some shop owners have repeatedly asked why there aren’t TV ads for comics from publishers or streaming ads. I think that’s a big part of the problem. A great many people aren’t being inspired to say, “That looks cool! Where can I find that?” Another great way to make shops more popular? Watch/buy/recommend Shopping for Superman!
All kidding aside, advertising dollars from publishers and distributors that reach people outside of the established circles might actually help keep readers.
Yanes: One of the arguments made in your documentary is that comic book stores are competing against Amazon. However, the number of independent bookstores as well as Barnes & Noble locations are increasing despite competition from Amazon. Why do you think comic book stores struggle to replicate the success currently experienced by other bookstores?
Eastin: Well, that’s an interesting comparison. Bookstores are traditionally very distinct from comic book shops in more than a few ways. Since they’re very different creatures, I don’t know if the comparison is entirely fair. (Isn’t it interesting that we value comics as much as non-graphical prose these days? Way to go comics!) I will say that the bulk of the material that you find in a comic shop isn’t just new issue floppies and of that inventory (cards, trades, toys, etc) Amazon offers a great deal of it at a lower rate with super-fast delivery. They literally undercut retailers, and sadly, there’s no pushback from companies to demand that they only offer their products at MSRP. They’re moving inventory so they don’t care, right? But it devalues the product and makes it so that someone doesn’t think getting in the car and shopping locally is worth it when they can get it cheaper straight to their door. This has been Amazon’s model for years and years. They don’t care if they take losses if they’re dominating the market. Comic shops can’t afford to do that and so they lose a lot of customers to groups like Amazon or even Barnes and Noble which still has more warehouse space and flexibility than any mom and pop shop.
Now, independent bookstores… there’s a lot of potential in those. The one in my town has a good bit of graphics for kids but not a ton in the way of teen-adult. I think you’d see way more interest in graphic storytelling for the uninitiated but I think comic shops still suffer a bit of the misconception that comics and graphic storytelling is just for kids. If someone hasn’t seen the evolution of the material and the stores that sell them over the past 30+ years then they’ll only think the shop is like whatever The Big Bang Theory tells them. I think that common misconception is why you don’t see a lot of readers in their teens up through adulthood come through as often.
Yanes: On this note, in the past I’ve written about how comic book prices are increasing faster than inflation while book prices haven’t and video games are dirt cheap (The Increasing Cost of Being a Comic Book Fan vs. Inflation). What do you think companies can do to make comic books affordable?
Eastin: If your only goal is distraction, then sure, games give a great return on investment. I’m playing Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (finally) but that’s only because I finally spent a couple of hundred dollars on the console and then another forty on the game. Would the same cost translate to 40+ hours of comics to read? For some titles, actually… that’s possible.
Comics are turn-key fun. You don’t need a PS5 or the latest Nvidia GPU to jump in and I think that consideration gets lost in the shuffle when people try to compare the two. Games require an interface, designed to become obsolete, whereas comics can be grabbed and enjoyed immediately.
I don’t think the costs of comics are too outrageous when you see what your five dollars can actually buy you, these days, but I get it. When I bring home a stack of comics that cost me sixty bucks, I think of that as money well spent at a store I love, for stories and art that I’m going to appreciate. In some cases though, I find the current model to be insubstantial in floppy form and really wish there were another 5 pages or so to really give the book a little more oomph. (Every artist and writer just decided to stab me.)
If there should be a decrease in cost for comics for anyone, it should be for shop owners. The margins on new comics are pretty low and it’s impossible to run a store where you only offer new books which discourages buying anything new for your customers to try. Flexibility in the wholesale price would be a huge help for a lot of shops.
Yanes: While researching for this documentary, were there any facts you discovered that surprised you?
Eastin: You’re asking some dangerous questions. For both our sakes, let it go. I was never here. (smoke bomb)
This may sound shmaltzy but the biggest surprise was just how welcoming and kind shop owners, comics artists/writers, and even distributors were when I approached them. There are always exceptions but once I made clear that I respected their time it was really rare that anyone either passed on an interview or was in any way confrontational. I worried, at the start, that the toxicity of the fandom I’d seen online was more prevalent in the culture and I had just been lucky my whole life. Turns out that jerks are the minority in both the industry and the community, broadly speaking.
Oh, and I learned more about the mafia being involved with early comics distribution than I expected. Y’know, IF the mafia were even real. (I’m no rat.)
Yanes: On this note, why do you think comic shops continue to be so important to geek and nerd communities?
Eastin: The short answer is human connection. The stereotype about geeks/nerds lacking social graces and abjuring social interaction isn’t entirely baseless but that really hasn’t been my experience. Comic shops continue to be a place where they can find their new favorite thing while chatting with people who are either already familiar or just as curious as them. And while you can get a little taste of that all over the internet, we’re social creatures and face to face interaction has a significant impact on people’s moods, thinking process, etc.
The other thing to consider, for shops that order a nice wide array of offerings, you have a place that allows you to respond to art in a way that doesn’t always translate online. Not only can a cover pique your interest on a new release wall but you’re allowed to pick that art up and give it a look before you take it home and along the way see what other people might be interested in. It’s an immersive experience with the possibility of positive social re-enforcement.
A lot of people liken the comic store to a sort of “third space”. Your work and home are both spaces that you routinely switch back and forth between and the third space is the place you go to forget about the other two for a while. And for stores that have embraced community play with things like Magic the Gathering, D&D, or some form of board game night; it’s the place you go to see your friends and take a break from all your worries (to borrow from the Cheers theme).
Yanes: When people finish watching Shopping for Superman, what do you hope they take away from the experience?
Eastin: For fans of comic shops, I hope they learn something new and walk away feeling like someone made something just for them. It’s definitely a unique film in that it considers the fanboy and the people who are new to comics in general and tries to give them both a fun hour and a half.
For people that are new to comic shops, I genuinely hope it encourages them to visit a comic book store and talk with the owners/clerks to find that perfect story for them that keeps them coming back for more. Comics aren’t just stories where super powerful people beat each other up and from one page to the next you can find inspiration, beauty, and horror in combinations you never thought possible.
My genuine hope has been that people who run comic shops feel appreciated and understand that there’s a love for what they do and what their stores offer and I hope they keep up the fight to keep their doors open!
Yanes: Finally, what else are you working on that people can look forward to?
Eastin: I’ve been writing in my downtime and have a few comedy/horror projects that I’d love to develop but there’s still a lot to do with this film and until we’re distributed and I put the final touches on our physical edition (available for pre-orders at www.ShoppingforSuperman.com) I have to write down and then forget about every new project I want to take on or else I get too distracted and fall behind on everything else.
Although… I have outlined the first five issues of a comic and just finished a first draft of issue one. That would be an incredible thing. To make a documentary about comic shops and then make a comic that might show up in a comic book shop. The prophecy of ultimate self-promotion would be complete.
Remember, you can learn more about Eastin and Shopping for Superman by visiting their homepages. Also, feel free to follow the documentary on Instagram.
