A great comic book store, one trusted by hard-core collectors, wouldn't work with an absentee or indifferent owner. Sure, it'd be a place to pick up the latest issue, but it wouldn't satisfy expert readers whose questions and collecting needs go much deeper. Warren Jaycox at Galaxy of Comics is clearly a comic fan himself, and his cheerful little store in a quiet strip mall is covered with racks announcing “New this week!” and “New last week!” — so specific are the collecting habits of his habitués. In said racks, you'll find such au courant illustrated titles as Walking Dead, Thor's Daughter, The Infinity Gauntlet and Ant-Man vs. Wasp, the latter sounding like an obtusely named sociological treatise on modern ethnic relations. The friendly Jaycox also stocks HeroClix figurines, table games and T-shirts. Best of all, he will honestly tell you if that yellowing Fantastic Four issue sitting in a box in your parents' attic could buy you a new Lexus — or if it's better put to use as emergency toilet paper. 17306 Saticoy St., Van Nuys. (818) 578-8559, galaxyofcomics.com.

—Adam Gropman

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