While I could get upset and P.O.ed (or maybe even heartbroken) about your basic dismissal of me and my generally lousy opinion of manga, I realize that you really are entitled to your own opinion. I also get the feeling maybe you're only doing your best to promote one of the ways in which the manga and manga-influenced comics published in this country today can hopefully aid what looks like a dying form of entertainment. Or maybe just a form in serious trouble. Either way, I feel that the future looks fairly cloudy at present.

Though I may not have used the term "genre" correctly (and I apologize for that), I guess cute little figures with eyeballs bigger than their hands have reminded me too much of something an eleven-year-old girl might draw on the back of her tablet. Or what might be found on a grade-schooler's Valentines Day card.

As a reader/fan of Wendy and Richard Pini's various "Elfquest" projects, I guess the manga-influence isn't all that bad. But that still does not mean I'll consider spending ten bucks or so on what appears to me to be a collection of pre-teen post-it note drawings. And it doesn't matter to me whether the drawings are of pirate ships, spaceships, or sailing ships. Sorry, but I'll pass.

I own and operate a comic shop in Tyler, Texas. I read your column regularly and enjoy it very much. I take great pride in my shop, so it was with interest that I read your comments concerning comic shops.

A good letter would clearly state right off the bat whether I agreed or disagreed with you, but neither is the case.

Would my shop pass your criteria of what makes a good comic shop? Sadly, it likely would not. I love the various publications from TwoMorrows. I always order a copy of them for myself and also order copies for my two customers who have it on their comic saver list. Beyond that...

For a fairly long time, I would order one extra copy for the stands. Eventually, I gave up on this as that extra copy never sold, no matter how much I pushed it on new customers. I still order an occasional extra of one of their titles on a rotating basis, just to see if the interest might eventually be there. Once in a very great while, someone, usually someone from out of town, will buy a copy. Already my shop would not score very many points with you.

As to stocking comics not on Diamond's Top 100 list, I would again not score many points with you here. I have a difficult time selling LOVE AND ROCKETS, a book that I love very much. My orders for this book is always three copies: one for me, one that I sell, and one copy left over every issue. This is bad business, but I keep hoping I will eventually add another fan to that book.

There have been other modest successes. I was selling fair numbers of THE GOON long before it went to Dark Horse and made the Top 100 list. I always manage to stock (and sell) a few copies of HSU AND CHAN, THE NORM, POISON ELVES and a few others. But, for the most part, I order a small smattering of indy titles that just sit on the shelves.

When Top Shelf had its financial difficulty the year before last, I dutifully ordered a couple dozen books from them - mostly Eddie Campbell books plus BOX OFFICE POISON and a few others. Almost all of them still sit on my shelves. In fact, when the one customer who bought THIEVES AND KINGS each issue disappeared, that made another excellent title that I cannot sell a single copy of.

You'll have to pardon my being long winded here. Thoroughness is my chief failing. I'm simply trying to show we make an effort to stock some indy titles, but, for the most, this effort is rewarded only with unsold copies.

I think it's a shop's responsibility to attempt to expand its customers' tastes into new material, otherwise that same audience stagnates. But frankly, there is a lot more profit in stocking what people want to buy.

On to your third listed criteria: customer service. As you may have gathered from the bulk of this e-mail, my store is not in a metropolitan area. Tyler has approximately 85,000 people. So my clientele is a familiar one. I'm here every day and I know each regular customer by name and greet them using it.

What kind of service would you get as someone who is not a regular customer?

I'd like to think I would give the same courteous service that I give my regular customers, but I have to grudgingly admit this might not be the case...depending on what you asked for.

There have been many times someone has asked me to help them find a comic, for example, a Superman issue. They'll describe what they are looking for. Maybe one that has Superman in flight. I'll pull out issue after issue, removing each from its bag.

After a few dozen issues that don't have what they are looking for, they finally tell me they are getting a Superman tattoo and have this certain pose in mind. Maybe this one was close, but can you find one that has his cape bigger? Finally after 30-45 minutes, we find one that is perfect.

"$5.00? No, no, I'm not going to pay $5.00 for one. Can't you find one a buck or less?"

Courtesy usually begets courtesy. Sadly, I find the opposite can be true as well.

I don't say all of this in an attempt to change your opinion or criteria of what you desire from a comic shop, but rather simply as food for thought.

For a small-town shop, we pride ourselves in our selection. In fact, people come to the store from Dallas, Houston and other Texas cities and say how impressed they are at the diversity of items we have. However, invariably, right after those compliments, someone else will come in and ask for a copy of something we do not have and remark, "What? Is this ALL you have?"

Too many customers expect us to have every book sitting on the shelves waiting for them. Unfortunately, this is simply impossible. Not to mention really bad business. I listen to each request for product and factor them into decisions on what we stock. Of course, we offer comic savers and always have a copy of PREVIEWS available for special orders.

In this day and age, it's getting tougher and tougher. We're open seven days a week and I'm here at least six of them. There is little way to compete with large chains on their own terms. We simply can't compete with their longer hours, convenient locations, and often discounted price.

We attempt to compete with a more cutting edge selection and better service. But there is only so much service a $3.00 purchase can really feasiblely warrant. We acknowledge that each sale is to a potential repeat customer and try to treat them as such. Do I fail occasionally? I'm sure that I do.

Why this letter? I think I run a very nice shop. I'm proud of what we are able to offer, considering the size of our city and the limits the industry places on us. But, based on what I read in your column, I'm afraid I wouldn't meet your standards of a good comic shop. This is eye-opening to me, and there are things that I will address as to how we can improve even more. I will, however, put to you this thought:

Instead of just expecting a shop to automatically stock the TwoMorrows Publications or smaller selling comic titles, ask them to order them for you each month. If you are not willing to buy it regularly through their store, is it entirely fair to expect them to regularly offer it? In the end, all shops depend on customers to keep their doors open and walk a very fine line between offering a wide product selection and still maintaining an acceptable profit margin.