We had the privilege of visiting Ontario Comics in Port Richmond for our Anime & Comics week here at Portside. We were very warmly welcomed by the owner Bill Fink, and he gave the Pirates a tour of the space as well as a rundown on the history of the establishment. The shop was originally opened by Fink and his wife as a flea market in 1989. Now the large 7,000 square foot space is home to a vast collection of comics, action figures, and movie memorabilia. There are vintage Adam West Batman movies continuously playing in the shop as customers browse the long aisles packed with treasures, including many comics as old as from the 1940's. Fink runs the store along with his wife and their two sons.
Everyone was surprised and delighted to learn that scenes from M. Night Shyamalan's movies Unbreakable (2000) and Glass (2019) were filmed in the store! The scene from Unbreakable involves Samuel L. Jackson's character discovering a comic entitled The Sentryman. The Pirates posed for a photo in which they are holding up that same copy of The Sentryman, along with a film still of Jackson holding it. Aside from selling comics and memorabilia, Ontario Comics does quite a few things to promote literacy and art through comics. They have generously donated comics to the Webster School, Port Richmond Library, among other places. They also hold Cosplay events throughout the year. Fink explained to the Pirates that he thinks of himself as a crazy 216 year old Pirate (his words!), so our Pirates all gave him their best "ARRGGGG's" as they left the store. Each of them also bought a comic book or two to bring home with them. We hope to visit this fun and quirky family run business again in the future!
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