Nur AisyahJoin NUR AISYAH as she takes a closer look at Singapore’s tenacious comic book scene, where a handful of stores keep the culture alive against the tide of digital convenience.
At its height in 2011, Comics Connection, a Singapore-based comic chain store, ran 25 outlets across Singapore. Just five years later, none remained. The shuttering of Singapore’s largest comic store chain marked the beginning of an end that would leave the local scene with barely a handful of independent stores standing.
If you walked down King George Avenue today, you might stumble upon an unassuming store tucked away in a corner unit. Inside, shelves are overflowing, walls are lined floor-to-ceiling with comics, and comic characters drawn by various artists adorn the walls. You might find people flipping through the latest Spider-Man issue, looking through short boxes, or hear them discussing storylines with one another. Thankfully, it seems that the comic book scene has not disappeared entirely from our retail landscape
Where Community Finds a Home
Meet Bryan Ku, 26, who co-founded Comic Grail Vault, with his business partner, Randolph Tan, during the pandemic. Starting out by selling comic books from Randolph’s personal collection through Facebook livestreams, they later transitioned into a physical retail space, officially opening Comic Grail Vault at Roxy Square in 2020.
When asked why he chose to open a physical store in an increasingly digital world, his answer was immediate: “We wanted to give our customers a place where they could feel they belong.”
“The comics community in Singapore is such a small group of people,” Bryan explains. “We wanted them to have a place that they can come, look through our whole inventory, and pick stuff up instantaneously,”
This sentiment was echoed by Sean Molenberg, 25, who works part-time at the store. He first came in as a customer, visiting weekly to pick up comic books. Over time, his interactions with the owners blossomed into a close relationship, and they eventually trusted him enough to offer him a part-time position.
He shares how he enjoys engaging in “traditional nerd talk” with customers and how he values the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the people he typically interacts with online.
Stories You Can Hold
In an age where nearly every title is available digitally, why do readers still choose physical comics? Comic book publishers like Marvel and DC both offer subscription services that grant access to thousands of titles. Yet comic store shelves continue to empty and restock.
For Bryan, it comes down to a feeling of ownership. “Owning a physical cover, you can get them signed, [and] graded,” he explains. “There’s so much more that you can do than just read… you are able to actually have the physical [copy] at home.”
Sean draws a similar parallel to a dying medium that is seeing a resurgence.
“Streaming has gotten a little bit of a flak with their decreased memberships because nobody actually owns anything,” Sean says. “The company owns [the] rights for a period of time then they remove it, [and] you don’t own that media anymore.” As a result, he has observed a growing shift back towards physical media, with more people choosing to own Blu-rays or CDs again.
Not to mention there’s another layer too – the art itself. “Looking at it on your phone… you wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate the art,” Sean further adds.
The Community Inside the Store
Comic book stores attract people from all walks of life. Sean shared that he could not pinpoint an exact demographic that frequents the store the most, because there isn’t really one.
Its customers range from readers revisiting the hobby for major crossover stories, to longtime collectors who have grown alongside Comic Grail Vault since their days at Roxy Square. There are and even newcomers discovering comics through popular new titles like Absolute Batman.
What connects all these customers is the culture of the space. Comic stores have long been places where nerdy debates flourish, staff recommendations flow freely, and finding that one issue you’ve been hunting for feels like striking gold.
Sean reflects on how refreshing it is to have a physical space where people are open to hearing different perspectives and exchanging differing opinions, even disagreeing over whether a storyline is good, without it escalating, unlike in many online spaces.
The Risks and Rewards
However, running a comic book store in Singapore means navigating challenges like rent, staffing, and managing over 10,000 comic books, which requires significant labour and elbow grease to inventory.
“We took a very calculated risk,” Bryan explained. “But thankfully, we had a very strong community that was always very supportive towards us.”
This support isn’t abstract, for comics it translates directly to sustainability. When fans buy physical comics instead of reading digital scans, they’re voting with their wallets, which helps keep the industry alive and their favourite comic run going.
“Even if you do like it but the sales don’t support it… [the publishers will] definitely cancel the run,” he states.
The Next Chapter, Not the End
Five stores. That’s roughly how many fully dedicated comic book shops remain in Singapore today.
When asked about the future, Bryan hopes more people will come to appreciate what these books represent, and dreams of expanding internationally someday. But for now, he’s mostly focused on keeping the doors open.
The community may be smaller than it once was, but walk into any comic store and you’ll find people gathered around what they love, sharing recommendations, debating storylines, and discovering new favourites.
In a digital age where so much feels temporary and disposable, there’s definitely something grounding about holding a book in your hands. And as long as people are willing to keep walking through those doors, Singapore’s comic book culture will keep turning its pages.
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