I recently moved to the area, and with the DC relaunch I was looking to start collecting again. Outer planes seemed the logical choice as it allowed me to take a relaxing walk in-between my classes. However while the store looks very nice, but for every point I tack on for aesthetic appeal are almost immediately removed for atmosphere. When you're in the shop it feels as though the staff don't really care about you unless you're a regular who burns a lot of cash. The last time I went I made some small purchases the cashier seemed almost annoyed to be ringing me up for something so insignificant. I bet he'd change his tune if he knew how much money I spend monthly on comic books.
My walks to Outer planes turned out not to be anything but relaxing, on my last visit I was accosted by some generic homeless or drug addled man (I don't know what his deal was, but he was shirtless and crazy). He was literally standing right in front of the store, on the way out poured his soda in front of me, making a line I had to cross as if marking his territory, screaming insults and threatening me each time I passed. In-between that and the kid who keeps flashing his switchblade a little further up the road, I think I'll pass. Still, I suppose I can't fault the establishment too much for location, but these complaints are overshadowed by my main one. Going to Outer Planes does not feel fun, and the behavior of the staff makes me feel a little immature for liking comics. And for a comic book shop, that's a pretty big problem. I was just going to call this a mediocre comic shop and give it two stars for poor service and location, but then I saw their facebook. I signed up for their facebook because I wanted to be in the loop for in store events like signing and the like. It looks like some high school girls facebook, apparently theirs some drama going on, here are things THE STORE, as in the place of business has written, things like "and bring concerns to me rather than airing dirty laundry on the internet. You have a vested interest in my store? really?" "your misguided opinions into a forum that is not really intended for people to flame me or my store or be trolls. Be a little more mature.." "Anyways i know i'm a little late to the party and i have to say thanks to Corina for trying to defend me. Also thank you Arthur for voicing" What the bloody hell is this? A diary? Is this how you represent your business? I already have a little sister man, she covers the high school chatter. Again, I'm a new customer, I don't really know the context of what's going on, but that's kind of my point. I'm a customer! All I wanted to know from you is when the TMNT signing was going to be!
In summation Outer Planes is a shop with high visual appeal that is let down by atmosphere. This is easy to overlook at first, but each return visit adds up, and the little complaints gradually accumulate to the point of being intolerable. It's staff feels highly unprofessional, and that facebook is a joke. It's a shop built to maintain a community of return customers, but most of all it's a shop that feels immature almost like a kids clubhouse. For what it's worth I came in unbiased looking for a comic shop in my new location, and while I originally favored Outer Planes for it's convenience; I got a very negative impression from everything listed above. I wouldn't go to it again, and I wouldn't recommend you go either.
Edit: I was talking with my girlfriend the other night who has recently gotten into comics. She told me that she had gone over to Outer Planes years ago during a break for aikido. She was transitioning from manga into comics and tried to ask the staff what would be a good comic for her if she didn't know continuity and history. They were very rude to her and treated her like she wasn't worth their time. She walked out thinking "Well, I guess I'm not going to get into comics" and wrote off the genre for a while. In short, it's this shops fault that my girlfriend didn't get into comics sooner. Fuck these people! read more