Overview:
Time Warp Comics and other local comic book stores continue to draw customers who value physical media and the communities built around them.
When Dottie Cooke and her husband learned Time Warp Comics and Games was for sale in 2024, buying it started as a joke.
“We’re like, ‘Oh, you want to buy a comic shop?’ just kind of joking around,” Cooke said. “And then we started thinking, ‘Well, why shouldn’t we?’”
Two years later, Cooke says the decision has shown her that comic books are far from a passing trend. Despite the growth of digital entertainment, comic book stores like Time Warp, Mile High Comics, Danny the Comic Shop and others in the area remain a gathering place for people to discover comics for the first time.
“We get a huge variety here, especially at this location,” Cooke said. “We get a lot of families, we get a lot of people in their 20s, and we have regulars who have been coming here for decades.”
Since taking ownership, Cooke said she has worked to make the store more welcoming for younger readers. Its proximity to Eisenhower Elementary School and outreach to the University of Colorado Boulder community have helped bring in customers across generations.
“A part of our shop is since I’ve taken ownership, we’ve made it a more kid-friendly place,” Cooke said. “That has drawn a lot more families.”
Cooke argues that the reason physical comics continue to matter is simple: They offer an experience a screen cannot completely reproduce.
“Comics are best enjoyed when you physically have them in your hands,” Cooke said. “I don’t think that’s ever going to change. There are some people who prefer the digital format, but most people enjoy them in print.”
That attachment extends beyond Time Warp. Josh Mullins, manager of All C’s Collectibles South in Centennial, said comic shops continue to attract customers across generations.
“We get a good range of young middle-aged people, 20-year-olds, and teens that are always coming in,” Mullins said. “But kids still love coming in and looking at and grabbing their favorite Spider-Man or Hello Kitty comics.”
He believes that the social role comic book stores play has become more important as gathering places disappear and more interaction moves online.
“I’d like to think that we’re having these safe places to come and talk and discuss anything from shows to movies to cards,” Mullins said. “A lot of times people get tired of life feeling like they’re pushing these tunnels. Whereas here you can see and hear the passion in people’s voices about the love of these characters.”
Sarah Birkin, an English professor at CU Boulder who studies comics and their relationship to history and culture, said the physical form itself is part of the medium.
“There is the satisfaction of holding it in your hands and actually being able to just interact with it haptically,” Birkin said.
“The experience of reading a comic panel by panel on your phone is vastly different than reading it when you have the full page,” adds Matthew Murray, a librarian at CU Boulder. “Having the full page on display, and having the artistic aspect of that, is something that is really valuable.”
Birkin also sees ownership as an important distinction between digital and physical comics.
“When you get a comic digitally, you don’t own it; you merely rent it,” she said. “For collectors, it’s always going to be physical.”
She said her students also respond strongly when she assigns printed comics. Birkin said she is also concerned about artificial intelligence in creative work, though she does not expect it to replace human comic artists and writers.
“I’ve seen students try to use AI to create comics in my class, and they are often the least interesting comics precisely because there’s no heart in the imagery,” Birkin said.
For Birkin, the survival of comic shops is about more than what sits on their shelves.
“There’s not that many public spaces anymore for people to gather,” she said. “Having a private space, like a comic store, where you can come together and get recommendations from staff members or see new comics — it creates a sense of community.”
That is the atmosphere Cooke wants Time Warp to maintain.
“This should be a safe place for everyone to come in,” Cooke said. “It should be a place where you feel welcome. It should be a place where you find that next thing to get you through either the good times or the bad times.”
And for anyone who has never picked up a comic, Cooke said the door is still open.
“Comic books are fantastic,” Cooke said. “If you haven’t read one, there’s one for you; we just need to find it.”
