By Jenna Jarrah
Julio Galvez never thought he’d have a comic book shop when he was a stay-at-home dad raising his son. But as a comic lover since childhood, he basically “kept himself alive” sellingcomic books online during the time.
His wife, who asked him about going back to work when their son was seven years old, gave him the idea to open a comic book store.
And in October of 2019, that’s exactly what Galvez did.
“I’ve been buying and selling comics for over 30 years, and I just never thought it’d get to what it is now,” he said. “I always thought that one day, if I ever opened a shop, it’d be a1,000 square foot store, not something as big as it is now.”
His shop, We Can Be Heroes, on 9449 DeSoto Street in Chatsworth is 7,200 square feet with two stories.
Galvez, a huge David Bowie fan, got his shop’s name from a line in Bowie’s song “Heroes,” which he says has “worked out really well,” for his brand.
In addition to selling comic books, he sells card games like Pokemon and Magic the Gathering, hosts trade shows and entertainment networking events, hosts weekly Instagram shows, and is partnered with the multimedia entertainment company Abysmal Entertainment to shoot films, music videos, and commercials, and he even threw a block party last year for 6,000 people.
“The store is not like anyone else’s shop,” he boasted. And his customers would agree.
Michael Santiago, 48, is a professional compliance officer at a bank and resident of Chatsworth, who gets his comics at We Can Be Heroes. “What drew me into making it the space that I go and buy my comics is the community that’s there,” Santiago said.
Santiago and his kids, who have also started their own comic book collections, frequent the shop together in what Santiago describes has become a “family affair.”
“It’s a safe space for the kids where they can have fun and enjoy trivia night or movie night. There’s always something that’s going on, and it’s family friendly,” he added.
Brandi Manzano, who goes by the name Baby Pokey Brandi, is a product development specialist at a hair care brand who also volunteers at We Can Be Heroes in her free time.What drew her to the shop was the customer service and welcoming atmosphere that makes “everyone feel like family.”
“I’ve been to other shops and as a woman, it’s hard to feel like people take you seriously. When I stepped foot in We Can Be Heroes as a customer, I didn’t know them at all but theymade me feel very welcome and included. That’s what I love about them,” said Manzano.
Manzano’s interest in comics started as a child when her dad would take her to buy Pokemon cards. Now at 32, she’s a content creator and Pokemon vendor for the store, andhelps them facilitate their trade nights.
“I think the trade nights are the best, because they really bring the community out. We Can Be Heroes has the best fan base,” she added.
The trade shows bring out over 150 people, and take place every other month. Vendors sell collectibles like Pokemon cards and Funkos, comic books, and old VHS videogames. The next show is taking place on June 20th.
But that’s not all. The shop frequently hosts parties and events celebrating writers, artists, and actors, for popular comics, like the comic book artists from the Ninja Turtles and thevoice actors from X-Men 97. The shop just hosted a 40-year anniversary party for James Cameron’s The Aliens with actors Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein, Paul Reiser, and Mark Ralston in attendance.
“I’ve had to do a lot of crazy things to stay in business,” Galvez admitted. But that hard work has certainly paid off. The shop, which has only been in business for seven years, has been nominated for the Eisner Award, which recognizes the best retail shop in the world, for the third time.
And they are a staple at San Diego Comic-Con as well as other conventions throughout California, and frequently travel to Las Vegas, Texas, and New Hampshire where they are“demanded” at all the popular conventions.
“I can wear a We Can Be Hero’s T-shirt anywhere and somebody knows what it is,” Galvez said. “I had a friend who made a logo for our shop, and put it on a T-shirt. I started sellingthem online, and before I knew it, there were people in Russia, Sweden, and Australia sending pictures of them wearing the We Can Be Heroes T-shirts to our Instagram.”
We Can Be Heroes has a vibrant Instagram page, where weekly shows are held every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Their big show on Wednesday nights, Two Guys One Box, is where Galvez interviews comic books artists and writers and is a “little more adult-oriented.”
The weekly shows started during the pandemic, and were an experiment on how to navigate selling comics online in the world of COVID-19.
“It ended up saving our business, and it took us from a 1,000 square foot store to a 3,500 square foot store, to the space that we have now,” Galvez said.
The shop, which has a clientele range of five to 70 years old, has a selection of comics from the Golden and Silver Age of comics, starting in the 1940s to today. Most notably, there is a major influence of the 80s and 90s in the store, which Galvez points to his own upbringing in those years, and also there being “a lot of culture during that time.”
The pandemic proved to be good for business. People, who had so much more free time, started cleaning out their garages and reselling their book and video collection to We CanBe Heroes.
“I buy a lot. We buy every single day,” added Galvez.
Galvez, who was the president of the Northwest Valley Chamber of Commerce for close to three years and on its board for five, cites the importance of the American dream andgiving back to his neighborhood and community.
The American Dream, he says, is about “owning your own home and your own business.”
But over the last ten years, he thinks that’s changed.
“The whole extra part of owning your business has disappeared out of the vernacular, but I fight for that every single day. As part of the Chamber, we do everything we can for thissmall business community in Chatsworth,” he said. “I have to do these things, it’s in my shop’s name.”
Whether it be disaster relief from the Palisades fires, or donations to pet shelters, children’s hospitals, and mental health causes, community is at the heart of everythingGalvez does.
Santiago, the customer of the shop said, “From a business standpoint, I believe in what they are doing at We Can Be Heroes. For them, it’s not just about selling things, but building acommunity where people can come in at any point and time, and have a place to belong to.”