St. Mark's Comics

St. Mark's Comics was a New York City comic book retailer in Manhattan. The company opened its first store, at 11 St. Mark's Place, in 1983. For a period, the store had two other locations, one in Lower Manhattan and one in Brooklyn Heights. In late January 2019, St. Mark's Comics announced it would be going out of business at the end of February 2019.

St. Mark's Comics
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail
FoundedMay 1983
DefunctFebruary 2019
Headquarters11 St. Mark's Place,
New York City, New York
,
United States
Number of locations
1 (formerly 3)
Area served
New York City
Products
OwnerMitch Cutler
Websitewww.stmarkscomics.com

St. Mark's Comics was noted for its underground sensibility and cluttered, over-stuffed decor, and for employing female staff members long before that became the norm in the comics retailing industry.[1] In addition to comics, graphic novels, and manga, St. Mark's Comics sold trading cards, action figures, toys, T-shirts, and other pop culture collectibles.[2][3][4] The store had been a staple of St. Mark's Place for a generation, and was featured in a number of television shows, including Friends and Sex and the City.

History

St. Mark's Comics was founded in 1983,[3] and acquired a year later by Mitch Cutler[5] when he was still in his teens.[6] The store was originally located up the stairs 11 St. Mark's Place, and in 1993 moved downstairs to the ground level.[4]

Cutler founded a second location at 148 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights in 1988. That location closed in 2012.[7] The store had another location at 150 Chambers Street in lower Manhattan that closed in 2004 in part due to the after-effects of the September 11 attacks.[8]

A fire damaged the St. Mark's location and some of its inventory in 2011, but the store was able to recover.[9]

In October 2017, St. Mark's Comics launched a GoFundMe campaign to keep the store open, but it only raised $1,201.[10]

On January 29, 2019, Cutler announced that St. Mark's Comics would be going out of business at the end of February of that year.[1] Reasons cited by Cutler included 90-hour works weeks, higher rents and a changing marketplace.[5][11] The announcement prompted tributes from comics creators including Neil Gaiman, Brian Michael Bendis,[3][12] and Dean Haspiel.[1]

Comics

In Ex Machina #12 (August 2005) by Brian K. Vaughan and Wildstorm Productions, the main character, Mitchell Hundred, laments the closing of a beloved comic book store in Lower Manhattan following the September 11 attacks, and a friend mentions some real-life comics shops that are still open, including St. Mark's Comics, Jim Hanley's Universe, and Midtown Comics.[13]

Television
  • In the season 3 Sex and the City episode "Hot Child In The City" (2000), Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie goes to get her shoe fixed on St. Mark's Place and ends up dating a man who works at a comic book store on the block. Part of the episode is filmed at the actual St. Mark's Comics.[14]
  • In the season 9 episode of Friends titled "The One with the Mugging" (2003), it is revealed that Ross was mugged outside St. Mark's Comics as a child. He claims to have been there to buy Spider-Man comic books, but his sister, Monica, intimates it was Wonder Woman.

References
  1. MacDonald, Heidi. "St. Marks Comics is closing after 36 years – UPDATED with statement," The Beat (Jan. 29, 2019).
  2. Lewis, Jeffrey. "Opinion: So Long to St. Mark’s Comics: The store, which closed after 36 years in the East Village, was a haven in my youth," New York Times (Feb. 26, 2019).
  3. Pereira, Ivan and Meghan Giannotta. "East Village staple St. Mark's Comics closing after 36 years: The comic shop will hold a closeout sale through February," AM New York (January 30, 2019).
  4. Grieve. "A Visit to St. Mark's Comics," EV Grieve (May 8, 2015).
  5. McBain, Amelia. "New York Institution St. Mark’s Comics Closing After 36 Years," WNBC website (January 30, 2019).
  6. MacDonald, Heidi. "Kibbles ‘n’ Bits 1/30/19: More on the closing of St. Marks Comics," The Beat (Jan. 30, 2019).
  7. Taylor, Chuck. "A Sad Farewell: After 24 Years, St. Mark’s Comics Shutters On Montague Street," Brooklyn Heights Blog (November 30, 2012).
  8. Lish, Samantha. "Two More Will Take Its Place: St. Mark’s Comics vs. The Forces of the Universe," Storefront Survivors (2017). Accessed Jan. 30, 2019.
  9. Hedlund, Patrick. "St. Mark's Comics Reopens After Fire — Minus Some Lightsabers," DNAinfo (February 18, 2011).
  10. "St. Mark's Comics needs help," GoFundMe website. Accessed Jan. 30, 2019.
  11. Grieve. "St. Mark's is deader: St. Mark's Comics is closing after 36 years," EV Grieve (JANUARY 29, 2019)
  12. Garcia, Kristine. "Iconic St. Mark’s Comics closing after 36 years," WPIX website (JANUARY 30, 2019).
  13. Brian K. Vaughn (w), Tony Harris (p), Tom Feister (i). "Fact v. Fiction Part 1" Ex Machina 12 (August 2005), Wildstorm Productions
  14. "Tour the Top 25 'Sex and the City' Locations" on Fodors.com

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