Some stores still do pay workers only in trade, so aside from the questionable legalities, you get the devoted fans who find that a good deal. The better stores do things like train workers, have standardized processes and expectations, and so on.

I’ve noticed over the years, at least in the shops I’ve frequented, that the owners are rarely in the store and it’s basically manned by the type of people who probably couldn’t get a job at McDonalds. That lack of supervision and training and quality control regarding service would seem to be the main factor in getting employees that would say and do those kinds of sexist things. That and the pay. Most comic shops aren’t exactly the kind of job you’re going to retire on and you get what you pay for.

I worked at a comic shop in the late 70s. The owner looked and acted exactly like the Jack Black character in High Fidelity.

Some stores don’t know how to treat anyone, and some stores… well, one retailer once waved me over to the checkout to tell me he admired how my butt looked in my jeans when I was bent over the back issue boxes. I suspect a lot of guys didn’t get that same treatment. Creeped me out, though, knowing I was being observed as something other than “customer”.

I was surprised to see the Wonder Woman story “Sacrifice” listed in the Superman section.

I did not know that Wally West had retired.