Couple moves innovative comic book shop from Austin to downtown Bradenton
From Austin, Texas, to Bradenton, Florida, Bat City Comic Professionals is spreading the joy of comics one copy at a time.
The unconventional nonprofit is part comic book shop and part education lab. It recently took up residence in a two-story wood frame building, vintage 1880, at 915 Manatee Avenue East.
Bat City joins a flurry of businesses bringing new life to the historic area, casually referred to as Old Manatee.
Inside, visitors will find comics for every age level and taste, from traditional super heroes and classic “golden age” comics to modern editions in unlimited genres. Fantasy, mystery, music, romance, comedy, vampires? Check.
If you think there’s not a comic for you, think again, say Bat City founders Shannon and Matt Live. And they will happily help you narrow in on the perfect one.
The comic book shop welcomes diehard collectors and total newbies with equal enthusiasm. It also offers professional comic cleaning, pressing and grading services.
Despite launching in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bat City had a successful start in Texas. The shop built a loyal following as it transformed from a delivery-only service to a brick-and-mortar shop.
After a chance visit to Southwest Florida earlier this year, the couple decided the time was right to relocate their passion project. Bat City’s flight to Bradenton followed, and the doors of the new shop opened on Sept. 17.
The shop has thousands of backstock comics, a young adult section and a kids section, plus a classroom where kids can read, color and play. And like they did in Texas, Bat City hosts events like comic book workshops and “Superhero Storytime” that allow students to hone reading, writing and imagination through the world of comics.
And there’s more to come.
“I’m really excited to get connected to the community, especially for our nonprofit goals,” Shannon Live said. “I’m excited to be able to start that programming for kids to come in and have something to do with their families.”
Why Florida?
You might be asking why a comic book shop would move from Austin, frequently ranked among the best and hippest cities in the U.S., to Florida.
As it turns out the reason is three-fold.
- As Austin has evolved into a tech industry hub, the rents have gone sky-high, even by Florida standards. Rents for small business storefronts were spiking to over $10,000 a month, Live said.
- On a recent trip to Sarasota, the Lives were enchanted by Anna Maria Island and surrounding areas, where Matt often visited for family vacations as a kid.
- Bradenton happens to be conveniently close to Certified Guaranty Company, a professional comic-grading business in Sarasota. For the Lives, that means no more shipping comics back and forth from Texas to Florida for grading.
“The community here is so incredible,” Live said. “Everyone has been so friendly. We actually had a laugh because we didn’t realize that the motto of Bradenton is ‘the friendly city.’”
New fans and old
How loyal are Bat City Comic fans? It’s like a family, says Live, who refers to the shop’s biggest followers as the BatFam.
A couple BatFam members even decided to make the move from Austin to Bradenton along with the shop.
One of them is Philip Allen, who occasionally appears on the shop’s weekly “Wine Down Your Weekend” show — a livestreamed, happy hour comic book review aimed at adult comic fans.
Bat City still maintains its original subscriber base in Austin through mailings.
And the shop is already gaining new followers in Bradenton.
“It’s a really nice shop with lots of selection,” said Bradenton resident Christopher Fernander, 34, who was waiting for Bat City to open on a Wednesday afternoon.
If he had to pick a favorite comic, Fernander said it would be “Batman.”
How do you start a comic shop?
Bat City took flight from a happy accident early in 2019.
“A friend called us and said he had come into a comic collection from a store that had closed,” Shannon Live said. “He asked if we wanted to open a comic book store.
So we were like, OK. Who says no to a comic book store?”
How do you teach with comics?
Live, a former reading specialist, saw another exciting potential for their new trove of comics — using them to teach.
“We were talking about the community impact we wanted to have as a store. So we kind of built out this idea that I could take comic books and use them to create curriculum for teachers to use. Either in their classrooms or in our own workshops.”
Shannon incorporated key elements of writing into the curriculum, which Matt then designed into a book.
Now, every kid that attends one of Bat City’s workshops gets a copy of the comic book creation guide.
In Texas, Bat City also partnered with schools for field trips and in-classroom workshops; donated comics to school libraries; and helped establish a comic book creation badge with the local Girl Scouts organization.
“I’m excited to build that same community here and expand it,” Live said.
How are comic books suited to teaching?
“There are so many ways to use comic books. It’s an easy way to get students excited,” Live said.
“Not only that, but the fonts are made to help with dyslexia. The pictures help them with inference and evidence. They are absolutely perfect for visual learners. It’s huge for English language learners because they can see the action that goes with the word.
We need to get kids excited about reading, and then they’ll learn the concepts and they can apply them to anything.”
What’s with the name Bat City Comic Professionals?
Austin is home to more than barbecue, tacos and indie musicians.
Another curiosity has put Austin on the map, and it flaps. Around 1.5 million bats live under the city’s landmark Congress Avenue Bridge, and the colony amazes tourists and locals alike when it comes soaring out at dusk each night for a good part of the year.
“Yeah, so Austin’s the bat city,” Live said. “We thought between that and Batman it was a great fusion for a comic book store.
And we use the term professional because we do offer those preservation services and the CGC grading. And being a 501c3, it reminds people that it’s not just a store, it is a nonprofit organization.”
Fun and creativity for all ages
Bat City invites people of all ages to enjoy the world of comics with events geared to kids, teens, families and adults.
“I’ve heard from so many parents that have come in that they’re very excited because there’s not a lot for families and kids to do in the area,” Live said.
Keep up with Bat City Comic Professionals on Facebook or Instagram or at batcity.org.