Community Corner

Latest Episode of Comic Book Men the Best Yet?

A focus on the art of the comic book trade at the Secret Stash gets highlighted in the most recent episode.

Before Comic Book Men even aired its first episode on AMC the guys at on Broad Street found themselves answering to criticism levied from fans and the media.

Though questions like why are there no female clerks have been answered - it's because the four guys that star in the reality show are actual longtime employees and/or friends of Kevin Smith - and if the show is scripted or not - some is staged, none of it is scripted - a later complaint was inadvertently brought up by Comic Book Men star, non-Stash employee Bryan Johnson when he asked in the first aired episode if anyone ever comes into the store to buy anything.

In the most recent episode, which some are calling their favorite of the new series so far, Comic Book Men seems to find its balance between banter and the business of comics and collectables. Not only is the store treated to a number of interesting drop-bys by people looking to sell rare items - including original Silver Surfer artwork - by a couple of customers even come by to purchase a couple of things. One couple stops in and drops $1,600 on three rare comic books while another guy purchases an entire set of "Tortured Souls" action figures, a revolting lineup designed by horror master Clive Barker and brought to action figure life by Todd McFarlane.

The most recent episode also features plenty of interesting information about the products that come in, too. Instead of out of context price points dropped by store manager Walt Flanagan and human comic encyclopedia Mike Zapcic, the items, and their rarity, are discussed in more detail giving the viewer a little more insight into the comic collecting world.

Den of Geek discussed the most recent episode as well as Zapcic's coming out party of sorts. Zapcic, who runs the store on a daily basis, may know more about comics than anyone else. Anyone.

Find out what's happening in Red Bank-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

From Den of Geek, which provided a full rundown of Sunday's episode:

It's taken awhile to realise, as he's often so quiet, but Mike could be the biggest comics nerd at the Stash. Straight away, Zapcic offers up Superman and Captain Marvel's tussle in Waid and Ross' 1990s epic Kingdom Come. When Ming throws out Superman against Batman he's ridiculed for not citing any issues. Mike's quick to jump in with Miller's Dark Knight Returns #4.

Find out what's happening in Red Bank-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mike handles this week's first valuation amiably too. A young lady and her partner stop by to browse the Stash and they take a shine at something the store sells for once! It's Marvel's valuable, ground-breaking Giant-Size X-Men #1 from 1975. She's a big X-Men fan.

Comic Book Men is on at 10 p.m. every Sunday after the Walking Dead on AMC.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here