Acme Comics

Great comic store! Jim is cool and very helpful. I spent some time talking to him about all kinds of things… not just comics. Whatever you are into, there is something for you. He has NERF guns, action figures, comics, bundles of comic books, vintage video games, puzzles, and I am sure many other things that I did just did not see. Awesome location, and a great vibe. I have been to comic stores all over the country because of how much I travel, and ACME is one of my favorites. He even offered to help me package everything in order to ship them home if I had an issue getting it done elsewhere. Anytime I am in the area, I will go back.

Love that they have toys there! Old toys line the ceiling of the shop. Thought I wish it was kept in a cleaner condition. Worth the visit if you’re a toy hunter.

Comics galore. Wall to wall. It is what I want to see when I enter a comic store. I was traveling in the area and decided to check it out. I quickly found their bargain boxes and dug through finding some issues I needed to complete some runs.
There is a $ 10 minimum purchase for credit cards (acceptable for a small business).
Then comes the reason it didn’t receive an extra star. I grabbed a comic out of the normal boxes that was unmarked. I needed it for my collection and I figured it would get me over the $ 10 number. It wasn’t a main stream title but it was a Marvel from the 80s. He gave me a price and I accepted it, figuring he had an idea on the value. Personally I needed it so as long as it wasn’t outlandish I was probably going to buy it. Upon returning to my hotel, I looked it up and realize I was charged $ 4.00 for a $ 1.50 book. I post this story to see if others experience the same thing. Lesson learned.

I really dig Acme Comics. It’s what a comic shop should be: Intimate, personable, and crowded with wall-​to-​wall comics and comic paraphernalia. The owner is knowledgeable, personable, and always willing to help. Acme will use pull lists, so particularly if you’ve got a comic you follow it’s worth starting a list, particularly as their stock can vary when school’s in session (It’s in Uptown, adjacent to Illinois State’s campus, and students can sometimes unexpectedly buy-​out certain issues. Pull lists guarantee you’ll get your book[s] every month.). There’s a descent back-​issue selection (I’d like to see this larger, hence the 4-​star review, but for a smaller-​market shop this is understandable), and a huge array of collections and complete-​runs available at good prices. There aren’t many options for comics in mid-​Illinois; but even if there was another shop in town I’d go to Acme, which is just great!

I don’t get here often because I live so far away, but it’s one of my favorite comic shops. Never once have I been talked down to or had my purchases questioned because I’m a woman (which unfortunately happens at many other stores). The staff is friendly and very knowledgable about what’s in stock and when when more of something will be coming in. The staff has also made many good recommendations based on what I was already reading.

I say eh to this place. I was just in there and nothing was priced that I asked about and when I asked how much it was he told me «I don’t know.» Seriously? It’s bad customer service like that EVERY time I go in. Sucks its the only comic store I know of in town. Positives though, it is easy to navigate the store and all the comics are alphabetized throughout so it makes quick of finding something specific.

I never miss an opportunity to browse this shoppe. Some years ago, I was searching for a set of Star Wars comics that had four volumes and the staff were so helpful and we found all four!

I’ve been going to comic book stores for over two decades and never too old reading them. Most comic book stores has new comics, back issues and toys. Acme is a little unique in my mind because they package all the comic story-​lines in a complete package. So if you missed a copy or so in the story-​line you can buy what you’re missing but if you missed the entire story, you don’t have to worry on where the story started or end, just buy the bundled package and what else I like about that is that they give you a 25% discount on all bundles.
Yes, they have new comics but not many titles, I think the older comics are a better read than the new ones at least a better story-​line. The staff is very knowledgeable which is a plus when looking for back issues.

At first, I wasn’t a fan upon my initial visit (a couple years ago), because I thought new issues were kinda haphazard to find, at best. But then (attempting to avoid the clarion call of Medici across the street), I browsed (becoming acclimated to the organization in true fan-​boy fashion), and what I came across was amazing. A copy of Wertham’s Seduction on of the Innocent, I laughed out loud. This lead me to a little alcove of trades, in which I found all 7 volumes of Checker’s Flash Gordon reprint archives, and the guy (who I have to think is the proprietor) even cut me a deal! Totally made my weekend, and just an all around great nerd find. Thanks, yo! I’m totally coming back next time we’re in the BloNo.

At Acme Comics, you get the comics you need and want and other misc. trades and toys that are comic-​related. Jim has taken squeezing stuff into a small shop to new levels. The place is literally bursting at the seams with material. While he doesn’t seek out things to buy… plenty of people bring him items and he’ll generally buy most things you bring to him that will fit in his shop. Now depending on what stock he wants, needs, or desires… you may not like what he wants to give you for it… but if he really doesn’t need it and you want to get rid of it. well…what can you expect really? Jim always has $ 1 bins and $.50 bins about… he’ll run sales… and his big sales are always great.
In addition to that… he administers a good subscription problem. Something that is sorely lacking in my new home of Phoenix, AZ. If you like comics… hit up Acme. If you want to ask stupid questions though and want to try and sell stuff back to Jim that you picked up out of one of his cheap bins… be prepared for ridicule. You deserve it at that point though.

Remember when you were a kid, fingering through stacks and stacks of comic books, looking for that one issue that would make or break your collection? Or chatting with your local comic book guy, discussing the failings of whatever flash-​in-​the-​pants artist took over your favorite title? You know… the good old days of comics, before the old shops shut down, only to be replaced by dumpy mall stores with only new issues. Well, those days are back… only now you have more money and less acne.
Acme Comics is a blast from your hidden, teen past. A comic book store like you remember it: walls of new issues, thousands of back issues in stacked long boxes (tons of bronze and silver age, as well as a few golden age comics), trade paperbacks, sci fi/​zombie DVDs, old Nintendo and Playstation systems and games, and a bunch of MIB figures, as well as that old school Boba Fett in Slave I that your mom threw out after you went off to college. And just to make the experience absolutely perfect, the store is managed and owned by a comic enthusiast who knows his stuff. In Acme, you never have to fear asking a comic book question only to be answered with ambivalence. The owner, Jim, enjoys comics and likes selling you them.
Acme is located off the main strip in Normal, with free parking on the street and several parking garages close by. The store is rather large, and absolutely packed with comics. Its also located between two record stores and knick-​knack shop across the street, so your non-​comic book loving significant other can entertain themselves while you geek out in relative comfort. The place is clean and smells like comic books, as it should. They even collects entire runs of specific titles and sells the whole lot at significant discounts, as opposed to buying each one individually. Imagine an entire six year run of Superman bagged together… Acme has it! You can also find some old gaming books or Mad magazines, as well as modern and classic movie posters. They even has gift certificates, for the person who wants to give someone the gift of comics without having to fumble around looking for specific titles.
All in all, Acme Comics is the perfect store to recapture that love for sequential art you have been hiding since your girlfriend/​wife/​mom convinced you to «grow up» and get rid of all those comic books and action figures you kept since you were 8 years old. Well, now you’re a grownup, and its time to buy it all back.

This is a cool little place. I am not really into comic book collecting, but it’s a good place to stop in anyhow. In addition to comics, they sell action figures, video games, and some other novelties. The staff seems very knowledgeable, although I was a bit freaked out when the middle-​aged dude working there told me that he owned every issue of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Stop in when you are bored, you’ll probably find something you like.