Comic shops diversifying, creating community atmosphere
(World News USA)

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. (AP) - Unless you read the sign out front, you might not know where you`re at when you first walk inside. Men sit at long tables with stacks of trading cards resting beside them. Pop culture-inspired figurines - 4 inches in height - are displayed in thin plastic boxes; some holding wands, others wearing crowns and even more sporting capes and masks. Thousands of graphic novels are tucked in bookcases, lining an entire wall with serialized comics contained in one cohesive book. Comic book and graphic novel enthusiasts - mostly men - were once the main folks who called New Dimension Comics along Lawrence Avenue home, as well as at the hundreds of similar shops throughout the...