The comic book adventures of the NeoTokyo couple
Jason Paige, the 24-year-old owner of NeoTokyo, a
new comic book/anime/manga store on Amherst Street between Pine and
Union, is pointing to a comic book titled "Shanda the
Panda."
"The worst comic book ever," he says as
Sara Arnold, his 23-year-old wife and co-owner, looks on. "It's a
relationship comic about lesbian pandas."
Among NeoTokyo's 150 titles of new American comics,
all-new manga (Japanese comic books, or "graphic novels" if
you want to show respect), a host of anime (Japanese animation) to buy
or rent, toys, model kits, and even some card games like Magic, one can
learn many things from Paige and Arnold:
To begin with, do not refer to anime as cartoons,
it makes the diehards very upset.
The reason old comics are worth money is that
during WWII comic books were the first things mothers recycled for the
war effort. Fewer comics survived, so their price went up.
More and more people are looking to buy soundtracks
to videogames.
And there are Manchester artists producing comic
books, like Greg Erskine's Captain Yaar, not to mention "Jeremy
and Greg" by Erskin and Jeremy Westphal, both on sale at NeoTokyo.
Then of course, there is the latest offering from
Manchester's own national comic by Rich Woodall and Matt Talbot,
"Johnny Ray Gun, The Menace of the Mighty Moog."
The store has all the markings of a business in its
infancy: the comic books piled in the back in preparation for a 25-cent
bin; the TV that only picks up ABC, driving Sara crazy with its
constant football; the fluorescent bulb that needs to be turned so it
will stop randomly blinking.
They had originally wanted to open a rock club, a
space for rock and punk bands to perform.
"I wanted a business of my own," Paige
says. "But then came the Rhode Island nightclub fire and one or
two venues opened in Manchester so we just put the idea away and
started saving money. Then Sara drove by this place and saw it was for
rent and we just did it."
The timing was ripe. With the closing of The Comic
Store on the West Side last summer there was room for a new store.
Double Midnight by Gil Stadium is the city's other true comic book
store.
They took over the space in September without any
loans. They used their savings and their personal collections to start
the store.
Paige and Arnold met when they were both attending
Central High School. They were friends but nothing more. Paige went off
to Plymouth State and Arnold to Smith College.
"It wasn't my thing," Arnold says.
"It's mainly a lesbian, femi-nazi
school," Paige adds.
"I didn't think poorly enough of men to
stay," Arnold says.
She transferred to UNH Durham. When she and Paige
met again, Paige says, "It was fireworks."
"Well, we met on Memorial Day," Arnold
says with a hint of a smile.
"Oh, yeah, there really were fireworks. I
didn't even think of that."
"We went out a few times," Arnold says.
"And it stuck."
They've been married for about a year-the exact
length of time is a bit in dispute-and Arnold is expecting their first
child in the spring. They will find out its sex on Monday.
"I painted the baby's room blue but that
doesn't mean anything," Paige says.
"It's more of an aquatic blue than baby
blue," says Arnold.
They've been adding shelves and signs to the store
bit by bit, making the store more their own.
Paige works as a social studies teacher at Memorial
High School and Arnold is a teacher's assistant at Bakersville. When
the baby comes Arnold will work full-time at NeoTokyo while watching
the baby.
Though it's Paige who has been reading comic books
ever since his cousin sent him a box of old DC comics when he was in
the fourth grade, Arnold shares a love of the Japanese drawing and
story style. She got into it while taking Japanese in college. The
trend is reversing, as some people are learning Japanese in order to
follow anime.
Arnold prefers the fantasy while Paige likes
anything he can't think of himself.
When the Wachowski brothers pitched The Matrix to
the studios they described it as live-action anime.
As Arnold explained it, "To Jason, who's been
reading comics a long time, the storyline of The Matrix was no
surprise."
"When I was little I wanted the flashiest
art," Paige says. Many people become entranced with the Japanese
style of drawing. "Now I'm getting more into the story. American
comics are pretty much dominated by the superhero storyline. But anime
and manga have a wider variety of genres. There are stories for
12-year-old girls and 80-year-old men. Usagi Yojimbo is writing stories
adults can enjoy. They're Akira-Kurosawa- type samurai stories with
anthropomorphic rabbits."
They are looking to expand their business to
include more videogames and videogame and anime soundtracks. Arnold has
a friend from UNH who is back in Tokyo and helping with imports. They
also want to carry local artists, more independent comics and
hard-to-find things. The Goth kids enjoy comics like "Johnny: The
Homicidal Maniac."
They are fighting the pull to get into card games.
"Comic book stores make all of their money
today in card games like Magic," Paige says. "Comic book
stores used to be quiet places where you'd go to read back issues. Now
they're full of loud kids who play card games all day."
"We have a few tables in back if people want
to play card games," Arnold says. "But this is a hobby shop,
and that's not a hobby of ours."
"You get nothing out of a game," Paige
says. "A comic book is a new story every month with new
characters."
"We play videogames," Arnold counters.
"Even videogames have stories," Paige
says. "What's the point of just buying more packs of
cards?"
Though they are starting to carry more card games
and are getting display cases for them, Paige insists they will not
hold tournaments.
"I don't think it will be our focal
point," Arnold says.
She pets their dog, Menace, half Pit bull and half
Lab, who was abused and was going to be put down until they found him
on the Internet. With the baby on the way they stand in the beginnings
of their basement shop, a young family finding their place.
"I'm just hoping to survive for a while,"
Paige says.
"It's fun to do, so it's not like work,"
says Arnold.
"And it's a job for Sara," says Paige
with quiet love in his voice.
-Judah Pollack
