Cedars, December 2018

December 2018 13 OFF CAMPUS more of a socialist,” he says. “It’s a much more achievable goal. Communism would definitely be my ideal system. So I’d call myself a communist.” But, he doesn’t like to talk about politics very much. There are other things to worry about. While he may not enjoy talking about politics, it’s preferable to some of the more pressing topics in his life. Tony is stressed and on edge today. Sales are down, and they’re hard to get back up. Since Super-Fly is such a niche store — they sell almost exclusively com- ics, high-end figurines and board and card games — located in a small town, it can be hard to gain consistent customers. In Yel- low Springs, a town that is built almost en- tirely on the local tourism generated by its reputation of being friendly and quirky, a rainy weekend can throw Tony’s plans into a tailspin. People don’t like to walk around in the rain. However, he likes it here, in this small Ohio town. The store is in considerable amounts of debt, but that’s been the case since day one. Tony has actually hired an accountant for the first time, to try to figure out and start fixing the mess he’s in. It’s the main thing on Tony’s mind. He has his second meeting with that accountant today. “I fell in love with comics a while ago and that’s why I opened up this shop,” Tony says. “Nobody ever told me it would be this stressful.” Soon after Tony arrives, his manager, Jared Whittaker, rolls in. Jared is a tall Afri- can-American man in his mid-40s who usu- ally dresses in black jeans and professional wrestling T-shirts. He’s passionate about comics, just as Tony is. He started working part-time at Super-Fly several years ago, while he was employed full-time at HaHa’s Pizza, a job he lost after skipping one too many shifts to help out at the shop. Tony took him on as the store’s first — and to this day, only — full-time employee, giving him the title of store manager, partly out of pity and partly because he needed the help. The two have been nigh inseparable ever since. Tony and Jared are called “The Dy- namic Duo” by some, and it’s true. The two often spend eight or more hours with each other five to six days a week — seven days if they’re selling product at a weekend convention. Many people who frequent the shop think of them as one entity, “the guys from Super-Fly” or something similar. One semi-frequent customer admitted that he thought they were a gay couple for some time. “Sometimes people think we’re the same person,” Tony says. “They couldn’t be more wrong. We’re actually quite different.” Jared laughs at this remark and agrees. “One of our part-timers calls me Tony all the time,” he says. “I think it started out on accident and now it’s just a running joke.” The men do share quite a bit in com- mon. They both like odd and experimen- tal music. They’re passionate about liberal political causes. They enjoy puns, especial- ly ones that are a far reach and induce the largest groans. And, obviously, they both love comics with all their hearts. As Jared enters the shop and takes his place behind the counter, the two men be- gin talking about a recent comic release that has ballooned in popularity. While the con- versation starts there, it quickly goes down many rabbit trails, including social media drama and Yellow Springs troubles and what they want for lunch. As much as these men like to joke around, they’re both obviously worried about today. While they are discuss- ing things as they normally do, there are strained looks on their faces. Super-Fly is struggling harder than ever before. Accord- ing to Larry Stanton, one of the store’s part- time employees, this says a lot. “These guys have been through it all and somehow come out on the other side unscathed,” Stanton said. However, the current situation is so bad that they often have to scramble for money every Tuesday to get new product in the door. Jared says he knows one reason why they’re in such money trouble. “When the Marvel and DC movies first started coming out, there was a big boom for comics,” he says. “Now, people are get- ting tired of the movies. People are getting tired of Marvel’s antics and all the reboots. Plus, some of those dudes are racist.” Jared is referring to several incidents over the last two years that involved racist art or messages being published in Mar- vel books. Marvel has since apologized for these incidents, labeling them as accidents and a failure on the part of editing and qual- ity assurance. Tony grabs a pair of nunchucks made out of two rolled up comics and duct tape. He starts swinging them around in a flurry of moves. His mind is still on the accoun- tant. “I’m used to doing a lot of things around here myself, and that’s usually in- cluded the accounting,” he says. “I haven’t done well enough on that front. It’s hard for me to admit that I couldn’t do it. But, everything is messed up, so it’s gotta get fixed.” Jared adds that he isn’t looking for- ward to the meeting, but what needs to be done needs to be done. As the afternoon stretches on, the meeting with the CPA comes and goes, as do a few customers. “It doesn’t look very good,” says Tony. “The taxes are worse than I originally thought they were.” He looks down at his to-do list from the accountant. It’s long. He looks at the list of sales for the day. It’s short. He’s over $500 behind where he wants to be for the week. But, at the end of the day, Tony is opti- mistic for the future. He’s made it 11 years in this business and this is just another rough patch. He’s 36. He’s living his dream, run- ning a comic book shop and surrounded by his friends. “I just keep saying to myself, ‘Just gotta get past this hill,’ because the punches will stop eventually, right?” he says. “You have to be constantly optimistic, or else you’ll never make it in this business.” Callahan Jones is a senior journalism major and the Digital and Design editor for Cedars. In his free time, he enjoys making coffee, be- ing overly critical about music and playing games with friends. (937) 766-9852 105 W Xenia Ave, Cedarville, OH 45314 From oil changes to brake jobs we have proudly served the Cedarville community for over ten years. Free shuttle service for University students!