Red’s Comics and Gaming

This is probably the worst comic shop I’ve ever been to. Walked in to a tiny ship (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but it was completely unorganized. Random Transformers toys on the wall, a few bins of comics showcasing ones featuring cartoon shows, some card game stock, old ToyBiz figures, and hardly any new comics. Seriously, the only new comics were from the new Marvel run of Star Wars comics up to issue 8. They’re up to 12 now. My friend and I went to a back room where there were about 10 long boxes with back stocked comics. Most of them were not very good, random ones from the 80s and 90s; but I did find a few Buffy comics I was interested in. I brought them to the front and the employee said he had to look up the prices on eBay. I’ve never seen that happen in a comic book shop, someone who didn’t know the prices of their comics, but I went with it. While making small talk, the employee mentioned that he had no idea who Jessica Jones was, let alone there was a television show based on her. He also didn’t know about the Daredevil show. What comic shop owner doesn’t know about comics?! The final straw was when he couldn’t get the Internet to work to look up the Buffy comics and needed to grab another computer that didn’t work either. I said I was just going to leave and he apologized for the internet problems. I can’t see this place staying in business too long as the shop isn’t organized, has no new books, and they don’t know the prices for their old ones. A comic shop owner should know about what they’re selling.

Red’s is a great place to play Magic. While they offer competitive tournaments with some very high level players, there are also a lot more casual and intermediate tournaments available as well. Red, the owner, is almost always present and loves to play magic himself, so he knows what he’s talking about. The players here tend to be much friendlier and willing to help younger/​newer players learn more about the game and get better. If you are sick of playing in a huge store where you’re just a number or are intimidated by sharky, nasty players and rude employees, Red’s is a great place to go where you’ll find a more supportive group of players that feels more like a community. After not playing Magic for years, I was happy to find this place as it offered me an easy transition back into the game.

What a gem! I was visiting a friend in Rochester and stumbled upon this store when I was shopping for Christmas Gifts and desperately in search of Magic the Gathering Cards. Knowing nothing about comics and gaming in general, I was so fortunate to have Red help me pick out a few gifts for the nerds in my family. He was so patient, answered all my questions, and gave me really good recommendations on the latest releases.
If I lived here I would definitely come back!