Independent comic book stores don’t get much more independent than Deadhead comics Edinburgh. We had e-mailed the store before recently taking a trip to Edinburgh in regards to stocking our comic in the store. After a brief reply stating that; yes they would be interested pending a brief look through the comic.

The e-mail was signed off by Gafin. After a small amount of research we found this to be the infamous Gafin Austin who, amongst other things was the inspiration for Dylan Moran’s portrayal of Bernard Black in the sitcom Black Books. Needless  to say we were trepidatious of approaching Gafin after reading online tales of his ravings at customers. What if he thought our comic was shit and didn’t mind letting us know about it?

We found the shop on West Nicholson Street relatively easy. Two men stood smoking outside and we walked into an empty shop. A head poked in from outside and turned the shop light on for us as we continued to browse the store to the sounds of The Stranglers and Hawkwind. The shelves were stocked with a healthy mixture of new and classic commercial comics alongside small print independent titles and not a Pop Vinyl in sight to take up valuable shelf space. 

Eventually we were greeted by by Gafin whom we nervously approached ready to hold up our e-mail from him lest he be angered by our audacity to solicit him into stocking our work. We were pleasantly shocked however to find him approach us with a giddy enthusiasm and a genuine interest that is rare to find amongst  comic store staff. He was more than happy to take all the books we had with us and was happy to trade copies of our comic for his own stock. He was a massive help in recommending which Scottish cons to attend as well as which other cities also had thriving independent comics scenes. 

If you’re a comic fan and should find yourself in Edinburgh be sure to pay Gafin a visit at Deadhead Comics.