Empyre Strikes a Closure

Kevin Kangas’ customers couldn’t be blamed if they’re not taking seriously his decision to close Empyre Comics, the Glen Burnie comic book store he’s owned for 16 years.

After all, his shelves are full of merchandise related to Superman, Spiderman, X-Men, Wonder Woman and Star Wars, among others. Several signs advertise some items for $1 or 60 percent off.

And for the first few years the shop was open, Kangas had printed fliers advertising “the first annual going-out-of-business sale,” then “the second annual going-out-of-business sale.”

Customers finally got the joke after the third or fourth time.

“It would freak people out. You got to have fun. You got to amuse yourself,” Kangas said. “After the third or fourth time, people were like, ‘Oh, it’s that time of year again.’ People don’t believe it now.”

But the store has fallen victim to the recession. It’s harder to turn a profit in a struggling economy, Kangas said, adding his customer base has dropped. He’s been thinking of closing the store for a couple years, he said.

The rising price of comic books is another factor, he said.

“The average price is $3.99, which is a lot more than when I was a kid,” he said.

Kangas’ fascination with comics goes back to childhood. He would save money from mowing lawns to buy his favorites, including Spiderman and X-Men.

In fact, he’s so fascinated with X-Men that he named his son Logan, which is Wolverine’s real name.

In college, he managed a comic book store and when that owner closed the store, he gave Kangas his mailing list in case Kangas decided to open his own store.

A couple years later, Kangas did just that. And Empyre Comics has been open ever since, although its location has changed a few times in the shopping center as other merchants would buy out his rent.

While Kangas isn’t sure how many customers the store has had, he has 200 subscribers on his mailing list.

The best part of owning a comic book store is living out the little boy fantasy he had as a kid, he said.

“Reading comics for free is nice. You don’t have to pay, and you get to read them all,” he said.

Getting to know his customers is also nice, he said. They frequently debate which movies adapted from comics are good.

Alex Gross of Glen Burnie is one of those regular customers. He was in the store Thursday picking up a couple of comics and estimated he’s been coming to Empyre for 15 years.

“I’m not a hard-core collector. I come in to talk to Kevin,” Gross said. “I guess I’m going to miss the conversation about which movies are terrible.”

Kangas said with Facebook and email, he’ll still be able to stay in touch with his customers. He plans to focus on teaching video editing, his other job, in Silver Spring.

The store’s last day will be in early July, but it’s dependent on how quickly he can sell his merchandise. Although the shelves are full, Kangas has been pulling out boxes and boxes from storage.

“Through 16 years, you buy and collect stuff and think, ‘Oh, I should put that out,’ and it never happens,” he said. “Life gets in the way.”

But merchandise is being sold, another sign to customers Kangas isn’t kidding this time. He’s sold 30 long boxes of comics in two weeks.

Some items in his personal collection are coming home, including a 50-pound concrete gargoyle, to his wife’s chagrin. He also won’t sell a hologram poster of The Punisher, although several people have offered to buy it.

And Kangas has new comics coming in. The last day he’ll receive a shipment is June 29. He expects some items at that point will be sold at or below cost.

“The 29th and 30th, I’ll be open like normal, and then it’ll get crazy,” he said.