The bright red façade of Comics vs. Toys is hard to miss, right where Townsend Avenue meets Colorado Boulevard. Inside you have to sidestep to pass a life-size Silver Surfer statue, toys that are stacked to the ceiling and enough comics to last anyone a lifetime.

Up until the last week of November, the shop was called Mini Melt Too–same staff, same inventory, same everything, except that the owners, Ace Aguilera and Tracy Morgan (no, not that one), decided it was time for a change. As it happened, Mini Melt Too, the previous shop, had a rough start.

For a time, Eagle Rock had two comic shops, side by side, with only a few feet separating their doors. This is the tale of how Another World Comics, a staple of Eagle Rock for 27 years, closed down and how one former employee found a job right next door.

In January 2006, Another World Comics was closing up shop–the original owners were going to sell the store and retire the business. Tracy Morgan worked for the original owners, Mr. and Mrs. Costas, who gave him a job when Morgan was just 14 years old. Morgan was not only a bit sentimental but also concerned that Eagle Rock wouldn't have a comic shop anymore.

So Morgan, who is now 25 years old, approached Phil Lacson, from Pit Stop Hobbies, a store just two doors down, and in turn Phil contacted Ace Aguilera, who was a co-owner of another comics shop. The plan was to open Mini Melt Too, located between the about-to-close Another World Comics and Pit Stop Hobbies. But a new owner bought Another World Comics, including the inventory, in an attempt to keep the business going.

Lacson and Aguilera had already gotten the ball rolling on securing Mini Melt, and so for a time there were two comic shops, sitting right next to each other.

"It must have been so confusing for people," says Morgan about the fact that there was one trusted comics shop, next to a new, modern one. If there was any animosity from the neighborhood, it was directed at Mini Melt. Morgan was fired from Another World when the new owners stepped in, but all he had to do was walk next door for a new job.

"Customers were going to stay with Another World," Morgan says. "I'm sure there are a lot of people who still hold a grudge—it's very clear what happened, though."

Both stores were side by side for a little less than a year, and in the end Another World Comics closed down for the second time. It is now Another World Chronics—a medical marijuana collective.

"I was there for so long, and then I wasn't," says Morgan, adding: "But you move on."

Morgan can guess a person's comic preference after a few minutes of conversation. He says he reads almost every new book that comes in, which is a lot to digest, but for someone who has been in the business for so long, it's hard to doubt the guy.

Aguilera on the other hand is a ball of energy. Whenever I stop by his store, he's running errands for Comics vs. Toys. His comic preferences lean towards the slice-of-life stories. He's not exactly talkative and avoids media exposure. (For his part, Morgan has a strategy for dealing with people who walk into the store asking if he's the owner. He tells them he just works there—to avoid solicitors who "get really annoying.")

Customers Raphael and Billie are milling about when I stop in, and they're picking up Thor and Shadowland, both from Marvel Comics. "We used to work down the street, this was the closest comic shop and we would come down on our lunch break," says Billie, who lives in nearby Pasadena.

The question of why they continue to come back to the same shop, even though they no longer work in the area, comes up. Raphael, who lives in Burbank, shrugs and says: "It's a good shop."

Comics vs. Toys, 1613 Colorado Blvd., 323-258-2300. ‎
Mondays and Sundays: 12 noon-7 p.m.
Tuesdays: 12 noon-5 p.m.
Wednesday-Saturday: 12 noon-8 p.m.