Woonsocket Call - It’s comic book man!

Ernie Pelletier, owner of Friendly Neighborhood Comics in the Bellingham Commons Shopping Plaza, in Bellingham, stocks shelves in the new comic book store on Thursday. The store offers more than 10,000 comic books, which Pellitier says have become increasingly popular these days. Call photo/Ernest A. Brown

BELLINGHAM -- If Ernie Pelletier Jr. were a super hero, his name would be Comic Book Man. He’d have a big flowing cape, a capital C stamped on his chest and he’d be Bamming! and Ka-Powing! super villians Dr. Fredric Wertham and Sterling North, a couple of guys who wrote some very nasty things about comic books a few decades ago.

Wertham was an influential German psychologist and crusading author who thought comic books were bad for kids. His efforts in the 1950s to have comic books censored led to a U.S. Congressional inquiry into the comic book industry.
North, a Chicago Daily News book reviewer, wrote an editorial in 1940 that publicly bashed comic books and accused parents of being “guilty of criminal negligence” for allowing their children to read them.
“Badly drawn, badly written, and badly printed - a strain on the young eyes and young nervous systems — the effects of these pulp-paper nightmares is that of a violent stimulant,” North wrote. “Their crude blacks and reds spoils a child’s natural sense of color; their hypodermic injection of sex and murder make the child impatient with better, though quieter, stories. Unless we want a coming generation even more ferocious than the present one, parents and teachers throughout America must band together to break the ‘comic’ magazine.”
It’s enough to make a hardcore comic book fan like Pelletier wince. The 49-year-old lawyer-turned-comic shop owner — he recently opened Friendly Neighborhood Comics on Mechanic Street — is trying to undo the damage that has reverberated from those statements over the years and promote the legitimacy of the comic book as both a literary art form and a tool for young readers.
“If you have a kid who is struggling to read, try a comic book,” says Pelletier, who served on the Bellingham School Committee for six years and works with local schools and libraries to get more comic books on the shelves. “Today kids are using the Internet and video, which has made learning and education a very visual experience. And that’s what comic books are.”
It was pretty much what got Pelletier, a graduate of Providence College and Suffolk University Law School, reading as a kid. His voracious appetite for comic books soon turned into a passion and his personal collection today stands at more than 20,000 books.
Pelletier practiced real estate law for more than 20 years, but his dream of opening his own unique brand of comic book store was never far behind.
“I had been thinking about it for a long time because I felt comic books as a medium and as an art form were not as popular as they should be,” he says. “There are a lot of mom and pop-type comic book shops out there, but most of them are run like small hobby shops, which is fine. But I wanted to do something different. I wanted to open a store with a ‘book shop” atmosphere. It’s a comic book store, but the secret identity of my store is to promote literacy.”
Walking up to the glass door of his store at 191 Mechanic St., the first thing you notice is the large decal of Captain America — one of Pelletier’s all-time favorite comic book heroes.
“The Captain America stories written in the 1970s really spoke to the times and resonated with the values of the country and what it meant to be an American,” says Pelletier, a comic book historian and expert. “There was a lot of meat to those stories. I think Marvel Comics are popular again because the stories are reflecting the social, economic and political climate of our world today.”
Pelletier’s store is not like the comic book shops you’re used to seeing. It doesn’t have hundreds of dusty cardboard boxes filled with plastic-wrapped comics to wade through while some creepy guy with tattoos and a cigarette stares you down from behind the counter. The shelves at Friendly Neighborhood Comics are neatly stocked and the way it’s structured makes it feel like you’re taking a leisurely stroll through the local Barnes and Noble — minus the cappuccino and espresso.
Whether you’re a casual comic book reader or hardcore collector, Pelletier’s shop has it all, from all the latest DC and Marvel Comics to indie comics and graphic novels, even a kid-friendly, non-violent section of superhero comics. Friendly Neighborhood Comics also boasts one of the largest Manga (Japanese comics) selections in the area.
“Manga appeals to a whole demographic of readers, mostly teenage girls, that most stores don’t tap into,” he says.
The store has a huge selection of graphic novels, which are a type of comic book usually with a lengthy and complex storyline similar to those of novels. The term also encompasses comic short story anthologies, and in some cases, bound collections of previously published comic book series.
And you never know who you’re going to meet at Pelletier’s shop. On Saturday, veteran comic book artist Craig Rousseau, who has illustrated Spiderman for Marvel Comics, visited to sign books for fans. Rousseau is the artist and co-creator of The Perhapanauts, a supernatural investigative team, and will soon have a Captain America special published in Marvel Comics.
The artwork and storylines in today’s comic books have come a long way. They’re printed on better paper and the writing and artwork is more sophisticated, all of which appeals to a new target audience these days – mostly adult professional males (although there will always be the geeky teenage boy looking for the latest edition of the Dark Avengers).
“There’s a level of craftsmanship in today’s comics that you wouldn’t have seen 20 years ago,” says Pelletier.
Comic books, however, are still doing what they’ve always done. The stories they tell often tie into the times and resonate with what people are feeling. During World War II, comic books were big business, since the super hero was often seen as a symbol of America.
“In times of war and economic depression — kind of like today — people look for entertainment and escapism and comic books provide that,” Pelletier says.
Comic books have enjoyed a surge of popularity over the past 10 years or so due to the recent Hollywood fad of comic book adapted movies such as Spiderman, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Sin City and Hellboy, to name a few. Computer video games also have helped the comic book industry.
“Comics have a long history of being in the movies, but what’s happened recently is that CGI and special effects have caught up with comic book story images,” Pelletier explains.
As for super heroes, there will always be a need for the likes of Captain America, Batman, Spiderman and Superman, he says.
“Spiderman will always be the most popular super hero next to Batman, because Peter Parker is just an every day guy like you and me who just happens to have some cool powers. He’s the classic guy who can never catch a break yet he keeps trying to do his best. Batman, on the other hand, is just cool. He’s got the gadgets and he’s got the looks. He has no super powers, but he has a real presence. He’s the tragic hero who is haunted by his past. Who of us can’t relate to these guys?”
Friendly Neighborhood Comics is located at 191 Mechanic St. (Route 140). Store hours are Sunday, Monday and Tuesday from noon to 6 p.m.; Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays from noon to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 508-966-2275 or visit www.friendlycomics.com.