>>81000410There was a few I knew of in the city I used to live in, but one of them really took the cake!
I remember going in for the first time (2002) and I left thinking that the people running the place really must hate comics. Hanging from the ceiling where hand made signs with stupid things written on them, one saying "Don't ask about Resident Evil Comic! They do not exist!!!". They where not lighthearted jokes. In one room there was a massive table in the center (giving you little room to move around). On top of the table where boxes filled with comics in plastic pouches. While this is a common thing to see, they had packed the boxes so tightly, you had to remove a good chunk of comics before you could even see what they where. The moment you did take some out, they put them back before you even had a look. I grabbed the first thing that looked interesting (a No.1 issue of Bastard!! from Viz, for £2) and made my purchase. They put it in a brown paper bag like it was a dirty magazine and barely a word was spoken. While not the worst place you ever heard of, being there was a different story. The shop itself was well hidden and I only knew about it because my mom's boyfriend told me about it. He later told me that the shops main source of income was selling old porno mags (that answered the question about the brown bag) and he shared his interaction with the staff.
He found a comic marked at 5p, he already had this one, but the 5p one was in a better condition. When he went to the counter they asked for 10p. He would not pay over the asking price and the staff member decided to rip the comic in half to his face. He says that it was nice of them to increase the value of that comic for him.
