Orlando Has A Comic Shop With A Bar Called Geek Easy Attached To It

It sounds too good to be true: a place where you can grab the latest new issues of your favorite comics and indulge your appreciation for a cold brew on tap. In other words, the kind of comic store that would get Wolverine’s seal of approval.

Happily, it’s very real, and it’s in Orlando. Aaron Haaland added the Geek Easy bar to his store, A Comic Shop, when an adjacent space opened up. This unusual combination of businesses was recently profiled on IGN, and it’s worked out surprisingly well.

The secret, according to Haaland, is that Geek Easy is more than just a bar. It also serves as a geek hub of sorts, hosting everything from nerd trivia to genre-themed karaoke nights to more standards comic shop events like artist signings.

He thinks it would work for other store owners too.

"I would encourage stores to at least entertain the idea of a venue being attached to their store. You know, like the coffee shops that have open mics and venues can compete with the Starbucks because they have that community. They have that thing where, “Hey, I’m going to have open mic this night. I want all my friends to come out and see me,” and they’ll come out and buy the coffee, and most coffee shops like that sell beer too. So it’s just that type of mentality, where instead of spending money on advertising your store — “Please come buy stuff at my retail establishment!” — you can do an event, and then people are wanting to come to your event because they’re getting something out of it, and your event just happens to be at a retail store, and you sell comic books. So it’s a win-win."

Haaland is currently heading up an Indiegogo campaign for Geek Easy. Why? Well, it turns out that the “sports bar for nerds … with no sports” needs more room: for more beers on tap, an expanded kitchen and a second bathroom (that last one is important).

It’s worth a look even if you’re too far from Orlando to visit yourself. After all, maybe more comic shops will catch on — I’m looking at you, Comix Connection of Mechanicsburg, Pa. — and we’ll all be sharing a cold one while discussing the latest mega-crossover event that changes everything.