New trader hopes shoppers will marvel at his comics

Boro born and bred Paul Arbuckle says he wants to do his small bit to revive the town centre after opening a new shop.

He has even paid tribute to his home town with its name – Steel River Comics – and is confident that fellow fans and collectors of all ages will visit the Dundas Indoor Market business.

There, they’ll be able to marvel at his range of British and American superhero comics and graphic novels, books and films.

It is big business.  Earlier this year a 1938 copy of the first Superman comic, once owned by actor Nicholas Cage, was sold for more than £11m.

Steel River Comics is concentrating on a more modest range, with comics priced between £3 and £40 for some rarer editions.

But at Paul’s home, amongst his collection of 5,500 comics, is a copy of Daredevil from 1964 which is valued at £2,500.

Paul, 47, has read and collected comics since he was a boy and thought about opening a shop for a while.

In January he was made redundant from his job on an IT service desk and decided to invest his pay-off into the new business.

“It was very much a double-edged sword but it allowed me to go ahead with this,” said Paul who was a regular customer of InterSteller Comics when it traded at the Indoor Market.

“People talk about the decline of Middlesbrough town centre and I want to do something, in my small way, to do something about that.  I want to give back to my home town.”

Paul said his main priority is to support his family – he is married with a teenage step-son – and hopefully grow the business and move to a bigger unit.  The only downside is that the Boro season ticket holder will be working in his shop on Saturdays and miss the match.

Dundas Indoor Market Manager David Harris said Steel River Comics fits in perfectly with some of the other independent traders. “We’ve got PM Toys and Collectables, a music shop – Picks & Sticks – ASB Football Shirts and Alta Ego, which just about sells everything under the sun.  They’re all doing really well despite such a difficult time for retailers both in Middlesbrough and all over the country.”

He added: “I’m convinced that any revival of the town centre will be as a result of the hard work of the independents and their connection with local people.”

The Paws & Treats pet shop opened in the market in February, Party Pop Balloons will start trading in the next few weeks and on Saturday March 28 the Dundas Shopping Centre is hosting this year’s Tees Zine Fest.