By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Jeff Leiker learned to read through comic books.
He started looking at the pictures for comics like Garfield, Peanuts, and Calvin and Hobbs and slowly he began to recognize the words.
Leiker still loves comics at age 31, and he has turned that love into a business, Red Wagon Comics, which opened in Hays in July.
The name for the store came from those innocent times and a desire to encourage young readers just as comics inspired his imagination and drove him to read as a boy.
“I had to get my comics somewhere, and I thought I might as well get them for other people,” he said. “Nothing is better than a comic book shop. You can follow titles you like or find weird, new or different stuff. It makes it exciting.”
The store, 1409 Vine, carries a combination of new releases, vintage comics, graphic novels as well as Japanese comics, known as manga.
Prices range from as low as $1 to hundreds of dollars for some vintage titles. He has a copy of House of Secrets, which includes the first appearance of the Swamp Thing, he has valued at $350.
He hopes to eventually expand into anime, toys, vinyl records and classic video games, such as Sega and Nintendo.
“It is basically a man cave that I have turned into a business,” he said.
As a kid, Leiker liked popular comics like Spider-Man and X-Men, but as he has become older, he said he enjoys more indie comics. His favorite character is Hellboy. His favorite series is Bone by Jeff Smith. Leiker considers a copy of Bone to be his first comic. He purchased it in a pack of other comics off a rack at the local Alco store when he was about 7 or 8.
It took him years to eventually track down the rest of the series, but he now has all 55 issues, which ran from 1991 to 2004.
Leiker receives monthly releases of new comics from DC, Marvel and others, plus is selling from his own personal collection of vintage comics. He will buy other vintage comics, and he offers discounts in the store if someone wishes to trade.
He also offers a free pull service. You name the series you are collecting, and he pulls them from stock and holds them for you so you don’t miss an issue.
Despite the introduction of digital comics, Leiker said he did not think paper copies are going anywhere. Most new comics include digital downloads, but die-hard collectors prefer to have the paper copies.
Although most of Leiker’s customers thus far have been young men and high school boys, he is seeing more women interested in manga and some parents bringing their younger children into the store to try to spark their interest in reading, just as comics helped Leiker.
He said he was made fun of during his youth because he preferred reading comics and liking superheroes to playing football — and he said comic books helped him extend his imagination and come out of his shell.
“Stan Lee said every comic book is someone’s first comic book,” Leiker said. “Just as Bone impacted me, I feel I need to make new readers welcome.”
Whatever youth decide to read, it is important they do learn the skill, he said.
“Whether it is the Twilight series, comic books or true crime, they need that skill set. Everyone needs to have it, and the sooner you get started the better.”
Leiker said he intends Red Wagon to be a second job. He has taken a break from working full time in the month of August to determine the best hours for Red Wagon.
Currently the store is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays. Those hours are subject to change.
For more information on Red Wagon, visit the store’s Facebook page or call 785-301-2265.