ZEPPELIN COMICS ONCE AGAIN FLYS HIGH
Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award winner for 2nd time in 3 years
Zeppelin Comics in Benicia specializes in new comics and stories and the venue is constantly updating its inventory every week.
Although you won't really find any old comics at the First Street establishment, the owners Natasha and Dan Curtis were happy to receive a reprint last week when they learned it is a finalist for the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award for the second time in three years.
The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award is an international level award given out to the best comic book store. There are six finalists — two in California, two in Florida and two more in the United Kingdom. The winner will be announced at the Eisner Award Ceremony at the San Diego Comic-Con on Friday. Zeppelin was previously a finalist but lost in 2021.
Once again, the Curtis couple — married for 26 years — is happy to see its store viewed as one in mint condition.
“We were not expecting it (the nomination), but we do hope for it every year,” Natasha said. “We had received some emails saying we were finalists. We know we take a lot of pride in our store and we know we do everything well — but it's nice to have the recognition to go along with it. We're small business owners, so we work very hard to make sure this store is something we're very proud of.”
The Curtis' are 1996 Benicia High graduates and both Natasha and Dan had a love for comics since an early age. For Natasha it was the Archie comics that drew her in, while Dan was a big fan of the Punisher and Wolverine.
However, finding those comics could be a little tricky as kids.
“There was no real comic shop growing up,” Dan said. “We used to go to this place near the AMC in Vallejo or whatever was in the spinner racks at Rally's.”
Natasha had a similar experience, only hers had a larger proximity.
“Growing up we went on a lot of road trips and we would stop at gas shops,” Natasha said. “So at those shops I would buy Archie comics and then I would read them in the car. By the time we got to the next shop I was ready to buy another comic.”
With all this in mind, the Curtis family aims to make their store more of an experience and not just a shopping method. The couple opened their store in 2015 and it's been a success ever since the first page was turned.
“Our bread and butter for the store is definitely customer service,” Natasha said. “We model ourselves after the Disney brand and other top branded stores. We're open not just for people to shop but to make it an experience for them. We focus a lot on our regulars and we talk about comics and books and find out what they love and we do our best to have them keep coming back to the store.”
When asked if there was a top comic people come to the store to ask for, both Natasha and Dan said that question is like asking “which one is your favorite child?”
“We have 200 new titles every single week,” Natasha said. “So the most rare comic in this store is the one we only have one left of that we got in the previous week. So there is no clear cut winner of what our favorite or most requested is.”
For the competition Zeppe
lin will use a professional media source to take a fiveminute video that shows off the store. This is because the judges are from all over the world and taking a trip to visit in person is out of the question.
Although Natasha and Dan were nominated two years ago, they say they are enjoying this second time a little more — mostly because the ceremony will be in person this time and not over Zoom.
“It's definitely more fun this time,” Dan said. “There are some things you can get in person that you can't get over Zoom.
“We're not nervous because the goal and the work is already done,” Natasha said. “Our goal was to make the finals and we've made it. We're established. Plus I'd say we're very, very good friends with at least half of the people that were nominated. We're happy for all of us. For the judges to select us as one of the best says a lot.”
Zeppelin Comics is located at 929 First Street in Benicia.