Great store for comic lovers! My boyfriend and I stopped by…read moreon our way to lunch to check them out and we liked their selection of comic books and manga! I loved their selection of comics created by local artists as well! Everyone working there was helpful and friendly! You get a super welcoming vibe. It's nice! Don't forget to stop by

Awesome comic shop, my favorite in the city. Great selection with fair prices for back issues and a…read morenice 50 cent bin. A nice guy named James helped me out at the register and was super helpful and welcoming.

This is a very cute, cozy book store. I stopped in looking for a book for a friend's baby shower…read moreand an employee helped me easily find one. The selection is smaller but it offers a lot. I liked seeing that they additionally offer crafts, games, and puzzles. They had a lot of DND stuff! Happy to support a fun, local book store. Definitely stop in and explore!

One of the best selections I've seen so far! Their TTRPG section was full of games I've never even…read moreheard of, and they had a ton of art from local artists. Their craft classes seemed really unique, and I signed up for next weekends. The staff was very knowledgeable and answered all my questions easily, which helped a lot!

It has been some time so I stopped in to Challengers Comics, I just finished working in the area,…read moreso I made my stop on the way home. I was greeted as soon I walked in, very friendly staff which is plus. The sele are is extensive and the price point is great, so much to choose from I did pick up a few items. I will make another stop very soon. Thank you Challengers Comics.

I have been visiting Challengers Comics + Conversation since their opening day and to this date,…read morethis is my spot. From day one the service, the selection and the whole atmosphere is something that I haven't found anywhere else! The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, they don't walk around behind you watching your every move like they do in most of the other places I have visited in Chicago and other states. They have a great selection of books, collectables, art, large selection of older comic books at great prices, love attending their events as much as possible, never miss the anniversary, only missed their FREE COMIC BOOK DAY once, I was out of the country! I could not say enough great things about MY FAVORITE COMIC BOOK STORE!

This is my local comic shop. The service is always friendly and welcoming. I started collecting…read morecomics about a year ago and even when I had questions that some readers might consider stupid, the employees never hesitated to explain or help out! The place is always well stocked, well organized and easy to navigate. New readers or comic connoisseurs, you'll find this place on your list of favorites.

The comic store we usually frequent is Challengers Comics on Western and Armitage. We were over on…read morethis side of the river, so we decided to stop by. Graham Crackers has a HUGE selection. We weren't looking for anything in particular during this stop. I'm sure if we were, management would help us right away. Thousands of comics and figurines lined the store. Great first experience. PS Talk of another Graham Crackers location!

Adore Quimby's - it is always such a joy to stop in here…read more Support Smaller Artists!! So much love!

After a recent visit, it's safe to say this is my favorite bookstore on earth and the best example…read moreof why physical bookstores matter and should be supported. Tons of titles -- and especially self-published/indie zines -- that you will literally not find anywhere else and are worth your time and dollars. A feast for curious people looking for truly unique and interesting reading material. If you want to be reminded what raw creativity and non-corporate book culture looks like, this is the place to come.

Edit (Sep 28, 2025): I went back and they gave me a cash…read morerefund, even though I originally paid by card, which I really appreciated. That made things right on the surface, but the experience itself still left a bad impression--especially for a store that specializes in cards. Here's what happened: I went in asking for sleeves to fit standard-sized Magic: The Gathering tokens--just regular cards, but double-sided. I explained that I already had sleeves for the rest of my deck, but those had colored backs, so I specifically needed clear sleeves on both sides to show both faces of the token. I picked out clear baseball card sleeves (which are the right size for MTG), but the staff told me they wouldn't fit and pushed me toward something else. The pack they sold me turned out to be 60mm x 87mm, which is too small. That's where the frustration came from. They were more concerned about whether I was using a "gaming" sleeve vs. a "sports" sleeve for feel, but they completely missed the basic form factor--which is way more important. I would've been fine with a sports sleeve if it fit. Instead, I left with something physically incompatible with the cards I clearly described. I don't expect every store employee to be an MTG expert, but this is a card shop. Knowing the standard MTG card size (91mm x 66mm) should be a given--especially if you're giving product advice. It's frustrating because I went in expecting the kind of help you get from a local face-to-face shop, but I ended up finding the right sleeves on Amazon after getting burned in person. I want to support brick-and-mortar shops like this. But when they miss something that basic--and then misguide the customer--that's a trust issue. The refund helps, but the experience still leaves me unsure whether I'll be back.

This place is alright. Stopped in on a Saturday afternoon and there were a good amount of people…read moreplaying TCG stuff which was cool to see. Lots of good singles and boxes to choose from, they really have a solid selection of everything. Have noticed the handful of times I've been in though that they don't have many new releases sports wise. Still a large selection though which is great. The reason for three stars is because of the prices for some items. For example, they have the WNBA Monopoly Prizim priced at $60(!!!) a box which is just insane. I can go down the street to Target and get a box for $30. A 100% markup on a readily available retail product is absurd, I understand a high markup on boxes that are harder to find, but that product is literally at every Target in the city. Noticed a lot of the other boxes were pretty expensive as well and priced higher than what you see online or in general retail. Overall it's a decent place, but there are better sports cards stores in the area. Also, idk if I've just caught the guy on a bad day the few times I've been in but the guy at the counter is always so stand off-ish. I know he's not the owner but it always feels like he's just waiting for me to leave when I've had questions about things.

I'm not a big comic book nerd at all or know what I'm really talking about in regards to comics,…read morebut I took my son here to peruse. They had a lot of comic books and everything looked to be well organized. There was a DC section and a Marvel section (Marvel FTW) and even a $1 comic section (cheap FTW). The staff here was super nice and friendly, and the vibe I got from this place was that this is the place to come and hangout with friends. There was a DnD informal tournament that was taking place and I thought that was pretty good.

You find some great stuff here like a Daken chesspiece or a X Men Wolverine comic you've been…read moresearching for! You'll find something if you dig a lil bit. And dig you will! They have a good amount of $1 comics that are cool and you're bound to find fun stuff. Great location also as it's near the legendary Old Town School of Folk Music and Laurie's record store and toy stores like Quake Collectibles that's cool. Also a bit close to all 3 Replay barcades either by car or foot thought it's a bit of a hike. Most of all, they have a customer bathroom!

Scalper pricing...they try to rip you off if you come to sell and run your pockets if you try to…read morebuy. You would think the local gaming store would be different than online scalpers....this one is not.

This store is pretty shady. They sold my son fake Pokémon cards that another card store quickly…read moreidentified as a fake. They were clearly taking advantage of his age and being new to Pokémon.

Fantastic comic book store, tucked away, but also right in the heart of Andersonville. A wide…read moreselection of comics, graphic novels, comic book statuettes, and related items make this a worthy destination for anyone who loves superheroes -- and loved to hate supervillains! A knowledgeable and friendly staff rounds out this welcome addition to the Chicago comic bookstore scene. Do yourself a favor and check it out. You won't regret it! :)

Still a very comprehensive comic shop (you've just gotta find it...and not be claustrophobic…read morebecause it requires going down a narrow alleyway to reach the shop [hence the name]). I'm glad that it's still going after so many years (& with a chain shop not far down the block). Shop local!

This is a great small business to support and nice stop before I leave Chicago. The selection of…read morebooks is wonderful but I especially loved the handwritten recommendations by the employees. We did not shop the sale items so paid full price for the books. The cashier was very courteous as well. Shop here instead of Amazon if you are in the area.

I have very mixed feelings about this bookstore…read more If you're a big reader of fiction, as I am, you'll find the selection to be first-rate. There are large sections devoted to Penguin Classics, Modern Library, NYRB, and so forth, and a good selection of mystery, horror and science fiction novels. But the non-fiction side of the shop is pathetic. The guiding principle seems to be, "we only stock books that will make our readers comfortable. Books that will tell them what they already think they know. Books that won't challenge them. Books that will teach them nothing new." The entire purpose is to offer customers only those world views that they're already in agreement with -- uniformly Leftist, naively "socialist," anti-capitalist, and anti-Western civilization. And, needless to say, there's a heavy emphasis on sentimental Palestinianism. It's a suffocatingly narrow-minded approach. A bookshop should be a place to discover new ideas and new perspectives. Not a place to have one's dated orthodoxies and narrow-minded perspectives confirmed. If you're in search of books that will confirm your biases and comfort you in your prejudices, it's the bookstore for you. If you want to be intellectually challenged, you'd be better off going to Barnes and Noble, which carries a wide range of authors with differing viewpoints. (Yes, a "big chain" bookstore is more indie than the indie competition!) It has wider aisles too, and friendlier and less condescending clerks.