Comic book-shop owner thrives with popularity of comics

Ralph Mathieu is owner of Alternate Reality Comics, one of the most popular shops in Las Vegas.

Nestled in a plaza across the street from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Alternate Reality has been a go-to haunt for comics enthusiasts for more than a decade.

Question: How did you get into comics? And what inspired you to open a comic shop?

Answer: I’ve been reading comics since I was about 13 years old back in 1975. I’ve always wanted to do something within the comic book industry, but I quickly found out that I didn’t have the chops to be a writer or artist. So when the opportunity to have my own comic store happened back in 1995, I jumped at the opportunity. I’m the third owner of Alternate Reality Comics, which I’ve now owned for 19 years. The store was previously called Dungeon Comics and the two previous owners just did the store on a part-time basis. I live and breathe comic books, so working my store full time is a dream come true.

Question: How would you describe the business of comics? What’s it like being a go-to guy in the comic community?

Answer: The business of comics is pretty great right now and has been especially strong the last few years with better comic book superhero movies and television shows introducing more people to the comic book medium. I’m always elated to be one of the go-to guys in the Vegas comic community because I love sharing the many wonderful aspects of this industry with everyone.

Question: How big is the comic book scene in Las Vegas?

Answer: Las Vegas has a really healthy comic book scene, with about 15 stores across the valley and Henderson. About a year ago, on an online news site, Vegas was voted among the top 10 nerdiest cities in the country, largely based on the number of comic stores we have per capita. This is a badge of honor for the Vegas nerd fan base. And with superheroes and fantastical fiction being more popular than ever, being a nerd is chic. The past few years, in addition to the ever growing Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival that happens on the first Saturday of every November at the Clark County Library, we’ve had actual comic book conventions that are also growing in attendance and ability to attract the big guests.

Question: What’s your favorite comic and why?

Answer: My favorite comic book is “Afterlife With Archie,” which involves the entire Archie Comics cast of characters, such as Jughead and Betty and Veronica, who become involved in the zombie apocalypse that is taking over Riverdale. This comic is rated teen plus, so it doesn’t have the adult situations of the Walking Dead, but as anyone who looks at the art can see, this is not the simplistic humor of the Archie Comics you may remember, rather it has great moments of horror involving iconic characters, but there’s also great sad moments too.

Question: Do you have a favorite superhero?

Answer: I’ve always been a big fan of the Flash, mostly the Barry Allen incarnation, but I also have liked the Jay Garrick and Wally West Flash characters. I think I’m attracted to the character because I like speed (not the drug). Ultimately though, who is writing and drawing any given superhero will change as even the worst character can be good if the right creative team is at the control switch.

Question: You proposed to your wife using a comic book. Can you share that?

Answer: I proposed to my wife, Katherine Keller, in 1997 in Vertigo’s Preacher No. 26. Kate and I got to visit with the Preacher writer, Garth Ennis, at a couple of San Diego Comic-Cons and when he did a cross-country tour of the U.S. back in 1996, we hung out with him after store hours. In November of 1996 I wrote Garth a letter asking if I could propose to Kate in the letters page of Preacher (this was before the Internet as we know it today and a comic books letter page was the main means of feedback to any particular comic). Garth calls me two weeks later from Ireland and told me that my proposal letter would be in the April 1997 issue (No. 26) as it took four or five month from the time a letter was written until it saw print if it was selected. The day the issue came out, Kate picks up her books, takes them home to read, and about an hour later she returned to the store after reading the issue and letters page and answered yes to my proposal.

Question: Are comics as popular as they used to be?

Answer: Comics are really popular right now and being a comic book reader-fan doesn’t stigmatize one as it did not too long ago. Are comics as popular than they used to be? Well the truthful answer is that no, comics aren’t as popular as they were before the 1970s because comic book circulation used to be much higher, but today there’s way more entertainment choices then there once was. The comic books and comic book stores haven’t been disappearing like music and DVD outlets is testament to the endearing fondness many still have for what this medium has to offer that other entertainments cannot duplicate (and or they supplement the entertainment that people are getting from these characters after being introduced to these characters from other mediums).

Question: How would you pitch comics to someone who has never read them?

Answer: I’ve always been a big proponent that there’s a comic book or graphic novel for anyone who likes to read. Comics represent every genre that other entertainments offer beyond the obvious escapist superhero and fantasy-science fiction titles, including biographical, crime fiction, horror, and humor. There exists a comic book for people from all walks of life, male and female, and for the entire age spectrum.

Question: With digital technology sweeping through the publishing industry, how do you view the future of comics?

Answer: A few years ago with more people accessing entertainment through digital formats, there was a concern among comic store owners that comic stores might go the way of music and DVD stores. But this hasn’t happened at all, I believe that people like the comic book physical format kind of similar to how more people are going back to vinyl records. And I’ve found that people are checking out comics digitally and then getting the rest of the series they like in the traditional comic book format.