BY GLEN MASON
KEMPSVILLE — Entering Trilogy Comics in Virginia Beach is like walking into a comic book reader’s Batcave.
Tucked into a strip mall along Princess Anne Road near Newtown Road, the comics and collectibles shop has an unpretentious facade that opens into a cavernous space that can whisk you back to halcyon days of childhood. There is the scent of old paper, cardboard boxes and aging ink, as well as new and ever-expanding stock from floor to ceiling.
Instead of bats, gadgets and stalactites, there are figurines. Stacked boxes contain catalogued, alphabetized stock.
It is a virtual pulp paradise, with every inch designated to the multiverses of DC, Marvel and independent publishing companies.
Trilogy, which started more than four decades ago, was one of Hampton Roads’ first stores dedicated strictly to the comics genre — the “funny books” of old – as well as collectibles and games. There are two locations now — the Kempsville shop and a location along East Little Creek Road in Norfolk.
A store that began with the adventures of Gerald Hogan, Rick Fifield, Dan Lupton and the late Gary Edmondson has grown into a seasoned source of encountering new writers and artists and the “multiverses” that have grown from a niche interest into centerpieces of American entertainment.
Fifield, one of the original owners, fondly recalled that fateful day when Trilogy Comics first opened its doors on Princess Anne Road in Virginia Beach.
“I figured four or five years, and I’d move on to something more legitimate – what people would say, a real job.” said Fifield, a veteran who runs the Norfolk store.
After more than 40-odd years, Fifield and Gerry Hogan are still filling subscriptions, changing racks and shelves every Wednesday, which is revered nationally as new comic book day. Lupton has retired.
How have customers changed?
“They have gotten older,” Fifield said. “When we first started, we served mostly teenagers. Those sales were the core of our business. Adult customers were relatively few and far in between. As time went on, the kids kind of dropped and adults took over a majority of sales. Today it is less than ten percent that are teens. …
“We’ll be an antique shop in ten years if not sooner. The market for paper is dwindling each year. It will all go to animation eventually.”
The Trilogy name comes from the three original owners. The store opened in 1981, when Hogan was in college and doing comic book conventions.
“I started selling comics while I was in junior college at conventions,” said Hogan, who runs the original store in Kempsville. “Then conventions and flea markets. I started to compete with (Trilogy) in sales. … Later, when they started to grow, they asked me to manage a store.”
“I’ve been in this for so long, I don’t see myself being anywhere but here,” Hogan said. “I’ll be doing conventions into my late sixties. I still have people point at me and say it’s the book man.”
Comic books are no longer the exclusive, escapist realm of adolescents. They’ve become big business, and technology is changing the medium, but there is still a spot in Virginia Beach where fans can pick up the latest books and go on a treasure hunt through box after box for a book they remember or never had a chance to read before now.
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