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There’s something truly magical about a comic book store. Sure, online retailers might have the entire catalog of a specific publisher available to be shipped at the click of a button, but can that really compare to what can happen when you least expect it at an actual store. Not nearly, according to comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick.

“We’re all thinking about algorithm life right now because we really don't have a choice,” DeConnick said during her keynote address to the first RCCC Retailers Day at Rose City Comic Con 2025. “But the algorithm cannot provide you with the serendipity of standing in line behind someone who is buying a book and somebody says, ‘Oh.’ The clerk who is checking them out, says, ‘Oh, if you love this, you got to hold on. I got to show you this,’ and then you're like, ‘What is it? I'm sorry. I would like to see what that is. Do you have another one of those?’ That kind of serendipity, the serendipity of meeting somebody in the comic books shop because you see something that they have in their hand and you're like, ‘Oh my God, you guys, that's really good.’

The Captain Marvel and FML writer continued, “Sometimes people think that they don't like comics, and that's like being like, ‘Well, I don't really like music.’ No, you do. Maybe you don't like metal because you don't have a soul; that's okay, there is music for you. We just have to find the right music for you. The right comic is out there for everyone. Saying you don't like comics is like saying you don't like stories. You love stories. We're human beings. Our brains are wired for stories and community. We're wired for art. From my experience with stores, the thing that makes the difference is that sommelier experience — that, ‘I am going to help you find your way, give you a place where you know that you can go and find a story that's going to light you up. And I'll help you find it in a way that no code is ever going to be able to make happen.’”

Ultimately, she announced, “That’s the kind of thing that Amazon is never going to provide. Amazon can’t make friends for you. Amazon cannot be your comic book sommelier.”

If you’ll excuse me, I kind of want to go to my local store to see what’s out there right now. Just in case I find something cool I've never heard of.

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