By Crimson Jordan
Did you know that Houston’s Third Ward is home to a Black-owned, Blasian-owned, queer-owned comic book shop? From now until July 31, Gulf Coast Cosmos Comicbook Co. is operating as a pop-up, with plans to soon be a permanent fixture in the community. The store is creating new comic fans and providing a safe haven for current aficionados.
Representation matters. Comics are for everyone. Everyone has a story that deserves to be told. These are the guiding principles on which Gulf Coast Cosmos Comicbook Co. was founded—and that make it the marvel it is today. These ideas manifest in the storefront—a multicultural mural of posters and books welcome visitors before they even walk through the door. It’s everything founders and co-owners Byron Canady and Sharmane Fury envisioned. “I’m imagining what little me would have felt like if someone had created the space that I wanted,” Fury says.
The shop is a dream come true for the dynamic duo. Their chance meeting in business school—and subsequent “coming out” as comic geeks to each other—led to the endeavor of a lifetime. Growing up as queer people of color, both Canady and Fury were naturally drawn to comics, seeking out stories of out-of-the-ordinary individuals who, in the face of adversity, use their differences to thrive.
Gulf Coast Cosmos aims to create a space for everyone to feel welcome and at home. In many ways, the shop is a love letter to the people who were made to feel that certain spaces weren’t for them. “You’re not as weird as you think you are,” Fury says. “Because some other weirdo wrote something really cool. They got bullied. But guess what? That weird thing that they wrote—it’s here [in our shop]. That’s our mission. It’s for you. It is for us, by us, about us, and whoever else needs to be in here.”
Fury addresses that, while the store’s initial mission was to ensure that the space would be a welcome home specifically for Black and Brown folks, the pair soon expanded that vision to include all identities and intersections. “When am I just queer? When am I just a woman? When is he just a man?,” Fury questions. “We are always our intersections at all times. I am always a mixed-Black, mixed-Japanese, bisexual, polyamorous, atheist, comic book nerd, cat mom.”
The shop is also committed to bringing visibility and representation to characters and creators of color, as well as to other underrepresented people and experiences. This type of representation not only provides customers something to identify with, but also allows for educational opportunities around the topic of identity. For example, you can walk in Gulf Coast Cosmos’s door, grab a graphic novel about the Indigenous band Redbone, move a foot to the left and find a book on the Black comic creators of the Golden Age, then go to the counter and speak with one of the owners about a comic featuring a beautiful, Black, elderly lesbian love story. Canady says it best: “At Gulf Coast Cosmos, we say ‘For the comics, for the culture.’ Whatever culture or cultures you belong to, this is for you.”
Comic book stores, like most good things, can at times be infiltrated by toxic elements—gatekeeping, homophobia, transphobia, racism, and sexism (issues that seem to find their way into everywhere) also seem to seep into comic book stores. In other shops, customers often have to be prepared to encounter someone condescendingly quizzing a woman on her favorite character, or making a comment about the “LGBT agenda” in comics. Canady and Fury make it clear that this kind of behavior has no place at Gulf Coast Cosmos. “When you come in and experience the space, it will definitely be different than any other comic book store you will ever walk through,” Canady says.
The pair notes that it’s often hard to find posters and promotional material for Black and Brown heroes and comics—but Canady and Fury do the intentional work. The pair will spend hours looking for T-shirts for one character, or, at times, they’ll make these products themselves. At the front of the store, you’ll see Black and Brown characters like Miles Morales, Cindy Moon, America Chavez, Static, and Icon & Rocket filling the space.
I’ve been in a lot of comic book stores—a lot of them. I can confidently say that there’s nothing that matches the energy that Gulf Coast Cosmos emanates. It truly feels like our community’s comic book shop. After each patron finds what calls to them—be it comics, a graphic novel, Pop figure, T-shirt, or pins—they are asked to participate in the shop’s customary customer snapshot. You can find many of them on the store’s Instagram. Reminiscent of a family photo album, you’ll see wide grins and bright-eyed expressions on the faces of folks ages six to sixty-five. It affirms that the Gulf Coast Cosmos experience is made of moments. Moments they hope you’ll share with them. “We plan to always be in Third Ward,” Canady says. “After the pop-up, when we get our brick-and-mortar store, we will still be here.”
Gulf Coast Cosmos Comicbook Co. will be operating as a pop-up at 2320 Elgin until Saturday, July 31, 2021. Hours of operation are Friday, July 30, 1:00–7:00 p.m.; and Saturday, July 31, 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
The store is currently raising money to secure a permanent, brick-and-mortar store located in Third Ward. You can donate here. Gulf Coast Cosmos also has an online store with a wide selection of comics, graphic novels, clothing, merch, and access to pre-orders.
Keep up with Gulf Coast Cosmos Comicbook Co. on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
