‘My Comic Book Country’ Opens on VOD April 7

Director Anthony Desiato has been chronicling the culture of comic shops through documentaries and podcasts for the past decade.

While attending law school, Anthony fulfilled a long-held ambition by turning the camera on Alternate Realities, the New York comic book store where he worked. The result, My Comic Shop Documentary, screened at film festivals across the country and garnered press in multiple media outlets, including The New York Times. Anthony followed up his debut with the award-winning short By Spoon! and the feature-length Wacky Man: The Rise of a Puppeteer.

With the Kickstarter-funded My Comic Shop Country, Anthony has widened his focus to comics retail across America, shining a light on an oft-overlooked side of the industry.

As a podcaster, Anthony hosts the My Comic Shop History series.

“Comic book stores: they are clubhouses, time capsules, gathering places, and destinations. They are—individually and collectively—a community. At a time where face-to-face interactions, let alone meaningful ones, are increasingly rare, comic shops are struggling but enduring by remaining part of people’s routines. My hope is that the documentary inspires its viewers to reflect on the places and rituals (comic shops or otherwise) that have given them a sense of belonging, as my comic shop did for me.”