Midtown Comics - in Media

In Media

As Manhattan is the location of the Big Two of the American comic book publishing industry, Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and the setting for much of the former's stories, Midtown Comics Times Square and its staff have been utilized for local news reporting relating to comic books and popular culture. The New York Daily News interviewed Midtown Comics co-owner Gerry Gladston for a 2006 story on vintage comics selling for large amounts of money at auction. Gladston was later interviewed by the Daily News and CBS News for a 2009 story on the return of Captain America after Marvel Comics had killed him off two years previously. Midtown's staff were also consulted by major media outlets in 2009 regarding the appearance of President Barack Obama in an issue of Spider-Man, and again later that year regarding the anticipation of the release of the film Avatar. The media also rely on Midtown as a source for reaction to industry news and events. Publishers Weekly relies on them for their annual survey about the state of the comics and graphic novel marketplace and for their coverage of Free Comic Book Day, while Comic Book Resources quoted Gladston for reaction to Axel Alonso's 2011 promotion to editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Gladston was consulted by multiple publications on the effects on new readership of DC Comics' 2011 relaunch, The New 52, for which Midtown Comics held a midnight signing on August 31, 2011.

Midtown Comics Times Square was the location of the December 21, 2010 press conference in which Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada and Executive Editors Tom Brevoort and Axel Alonso announced the 2011 company-wide crossover storyline "Fear Itself". It was later the location of the March 31, 2012 New York City Launch Party for the Disney XD TV series, Ultimate Spider-Man, where Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada and series writer/producer Joe Kelly presented a sneak preview of the series' pilot episode for small audiences of fans.

The store has also been mentioned in comic book stories themselves. In Ex Machina #12 (August 2005) by Brian K. Vaughn and Wildstorm Productions, the main character, Mitchell Hundred, laments the closing of a beloved comic book store in Lower Manhattan following the September 11 attacks, and a friend mentions some real-life comics shops that are still open, including St. Mark's Comics, Jim Hanley's Universe, and Midtown Comics. Comic book writer Mark Millar explicitly references the store in Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #2 (October 2010), in which Nerd Hulk requests permission from Captain America to attend a book signing there.

On July 13 2012, the National Geographic Channel premiered Comic Store Heroes, a reality television program set at the store, and starring Gladston, Marketing Manager Thor Parker and pricing expert Alex Rae. Like similar series such as Pawn Stars and Comic Book Men, the program focuses on the interactions between the store's staff and its devoted comics aficionado customer base, as well as the conflict among its staff as it prepares its booth for the New York ComicCon. Parker explains that Comic Store Heroes is distinct from filmmaker Kevin Smith's reality series, Comic Book Men, saying, "We’re fans of Kevin's show and what it brings to the table, but we wanted to take things in a different direction. We wanted to try and work the typical stereotypes about comic book fans and show that comics and the comic community have the ability to help people find acceptance, become part of an extremely welcoming family, and really make a difference in people’s lives."