By Matt Stock, Staff Writer
When I was just a young, carefree nerd-in-training growing up in Suburban Pennsylvania, I didn’t have a very daunting list of daily priorities. Days usually began with school or play depending on the time of year, but when those came to an end, it was time for COMICS and CANDY. There was a small, privately owned pharmacy in my neighborhood that boasted an old-school soda fountain and counter in the front of the store, along with a ridiculous selection of candy and racks upon racks of new comics. My friends and I rode our bikes and hung out there several times a week for years on end, gobbling giant mouthfuls of Big League Chew and sipping on homemade cherry cokes. We escaped into the adventures of our heroes, be it Spidey throwing down with Mysterio in Times Square, Daredevil duking it out with the Kingpin in a dark Hell’s Kitchen alley, or our favorite, the wildly dangerous, yet honorable Wolverine taking on a clan of murderous ninjas to protect the honor of the woman who stole his hardened heart.
Of course, we eventually shifted into our teen years and the visits to the pharmacy rapidly dwindled. There were sports, girls, music – new and exciting endeavors that drew us away from the soda counter. Before I knew it, the pharmacy had closed and I missed it immediately. I still do.
Last month I came up to Swampfire Studios for our first Southender planning meeting, and my partner Cranford presented me with a few Batman comics sealed in plastic bags. “Got you some comics, dude!” he exclaimed in his trademark growl.
“Wait, where did you get these? Somewhere on the Island?”
“Yeah man. There’s a candy store in Coligny that sells comics, the place is dope.”
He was right on all fronts. The minute I walked through the door at the Hilton Head Candy Company, I got an instant buzz of nostalgia that I had truly been missing for longer than I even realized. The white walls were adorned with retro, tin pop-art pieces featuring the comics legends of the Golden Age. Iron Man, Wonder Woman, and the Incredible Hulk were bursting from the walls in all their resplendent four-color glory.
Oh, but that was just the beginning. Next, I was drawn to a large cooler case adjacent to the cash register. Filled to the brim with rows upon rows of colorful designer sodas, I noticed both new brands and beloved classics (yes indeed, they have cold Grape Nehi!). And then there was the candy, the glorious candy – the walls were stacked top to bottom with ALL the classics. My beloved Big League Chew. Razzles, the candy that turns into gum! Pez dispensers from all eras of popular culture. A veritable wild kingdom of gummy beasts. POP ROCKS! Crystal clear cylindrical towers filled with Nerds, Runts, Good & Plentys and Whoppers. Towering cabinets full of locally made chocolates and taffy. There are no samples allowed, but I must admit I snagged a lil’ Snickers bite (sorry guys)!
I rounded the last corner of the store and made my way up the wall… and that’s when it happened. All along the bottom shelf, under the Charleston Chews, lined up neatly and standing at attention were all my old friends. The Justice League. Colossus. The X-Men. Batman. The World’s Greatest Detective. Fresh-bagged comics all in a row, ready to take their readers on daring cosmic journeys filled with action, intrigue, romance, and good, old-fashioned two-fisted, guns-blazing, high adventure. My guard was officially dropped as I chewed my pilfered Snickers nugget and leafed eagerly through the pages. For the first time in decades, I was just a kid in a candy store and nothing else mattered.
