Every Wednesday, regulars at Crooked Dog Comics rush into the store to pick up the new issue that dropped. Owners and married couple Chris and Jessica Hayth put the new issues out on the shelves for people to buy along with keeping issues in the back for subscribers. Recently, the box of subscriptions has been fuller than ever.

“This week, the box I usually fill for [subscribers] was overflowing,” Jessica told Spark. “It’s exciting to see that. It’s just continually growing.”

Crooked Dog Comics, located in Middletown, Ohio recently won the Middletown Small Business Alliance Small Business of the Year Award. There are around 60 to 70 regular customers and 40 subscribers to different comic series. The cost for a comic subscription at Crooked Dog Comics is no more than the cover price of the issues being reserved. According to Chris, the name of the store was inspired by Seamus, a dog they had in the past who had a crooked nose.

Regular customer Blake Tolliver has been going to Crooked Dog Comics since July 2024, and now goes to the store at least once every other week. Before going to Crooked Dog Comics, Tolliver did not know the owners, but now that he is a regular, he says that he has gotten to know them so well that they have become friends.

“They are incredibly kind and loving people. They are very welcoming to everyone who walks in their door,” Tolliver told Spark. “I’ve gotten to know both of them to the point that I basically consider them family.”

Tolliver is subscribed to eight comic series at Crooked Dog Comics including “Absolute Batman,” “Uncanny X-men,” and “The Hunger and The Dusk.” He started reading comic books right before the first time he went to Crooked Dog Comics.

“I realized that comics and graphic novels aren’t solely about guys in tights with special powers,” said Tolliver. “I fell in love with the format and I’ve spent the past four months catching up on all the stuff I missed out on over the past 30 years.”

Jessica also fell in love with comics once she realized that there are many independent comics other than simply the mainstream characters from the publishers Marvel and DC. She said that while she enjoyed watching Marvel and DC movies, she was never really interested in comics until discovering independent comics such as “8 Billion Genies,” which was the first comic series she ever read. Then, she got into some of the more mainstream comics such as Wonder Woman.

After reading more comics, Jessica became more interested in the art because she is also a photographer. Because of the way comics tell stories through pictures along with words, Jessica said that they are better for visual people who have a hard time sitting down to read a whole novel.

She said that the many different types of stories that can be told with comics means that “there’s something for everybody.” Any genre such as romance, fantasy, or sci-fi can also be found in comics. There are also comics based on movies, television shows, or other stories.

Crooked Dog Comics also offers many items other than comics such as books, toys, card games, and even some pet supplies. According to Chris, they supply a “very wide lake of product, but very shallow.”

Deciding to open up the store in Middletown came with some benefits and drawbacks. Chris said that the downtown Middletown area has cheap rent, so they do not need to sell many books to cover that cost. However, there are also less customers in the area compared to somewhere like downtown New York city.

“The good news is that most comic fans are mobile and they’re willing to drive,” said Chris. “If they like the place that they go to, they will drive a decent distance.”

Their location also inspired the Friday Night Magic events because Crooked Dog Comics is the only store in the area that sells cards for games like Magic the Gathering and has game nights. Rather than only selling comic books, Chris and Jessica wanted to provide an experience in which community members can meet new people and spend time with them.

“They just [have] a common purpose to sit there and have fun, no judgment, no discrimination, no bullying whatsoever, which is not tolerated by our zero tolerance policy on bullying,” said Chris. “It’s just awesome to see people just come together.”

Usually there are around 10 to 12 people who attend these game nights, and it is a place where people can have fun with others who have the same hobbies and interests as them. Being a part of the community at Crooked Dog Comics, Tolliver also started attending some of the Friday Night Magic games.

“At Friday Night Magic, I was worried I would slow them down and cause a fuss because I haven’t played in about 15 years, but everyone was so friendly and so helpful,” said Tolliver. “I felt very welcome and definitely gained some new friends.”

Crooked Dog Comics is also very involved in the community through collaborations with local businesses. Recently they did a one dollar comic day along with other stores in the area. The event was a way to get many of these damaged or old comic books sold along with getting more people in the store.

“We try to do a lot of collaborations in the community,” said Jessica. ”We’re doing a grown up book fair at New Ales Brewing behind us.”

In order to set up these collaborations, the staff at Crooked Dog Comics first brainstorm ideas, then reach out to the other local businesses. They also collaborated with a pizza place called The Slice when “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” came out to create a marshmallow pepperoni pizza. Jessica said that a possible idea for a collaboration event in the future is to do a “comic shop crawl” where Crooked Dog Comics and other comic book shops in the area set up a map for comic book fans to follow to many different comic stores.

Whether it is within the store or throughout the surrounding area, Chris and Jessica say that Crooked Dog Comicsstands for community and connection. With the slogan, “Welcome Home,” customers know that they belong and can be themselves.

“All of the folks I’ve met are great people and they’re all from different walks of life,” said Tolliver. “I really feel like it’s a place where all are welcome.”

Chris said that this welcoming environment was inspired by a comic store that he used to go to as a kid. He said that finding a place where he could talk to people with similar interests with no judgment was an important part of the formation for Crooked Dog. He wanted to pay this forward to anyone who shops at Crooked Dog.

“The comic book shop I would go to, which is still there in my hometown, was always a very welcoming environment. I could walk in and talk about Batman as a 10 year old kid with the adults there, and they made me feel like it was okay to be me,” said Chris. “That is something that has stuck with me and for my entire life, 40 years later, and it is something that I want to pass on to the next generation of young people.”