Commitment can be measured in many ways. For Lucky’s on Main Street, a good indicator of its commitment to the book and comic subculture has been pure geographical distance. As in, how far the owner traveled to open and close the store in its early stages. Literally.
“When it first opened about 19 years ago, Lucky’s was actually located in Blaine, WA. The owner lived here in Vancouver and drove there to run the store every day,” says Will Anderson, the store's manager, describing second-hand those first days from behind the counter at the present day creaky, wood-floored shop.
“It was around the same time that Pogs and Magic cards were getting really popular and he had been reading [90s alternative comic] Hate,” Will says about the owner opening the store. After running the shop out of Blaine for a while, he moved Lucky’s to a few other Vancouver locations before settling at its present home at 3972 Main Street.
There's more to comics than just superheroes. Lucky's on Main does stock up on graphic novels – including classic runs of Spider-Man – but you can also pick up offbeat indie comics that are more personal than they are punchy, small-run zines full of cartoony illustrations, kids’ books and more.