Bellmore comic book storeowner owes a debt of gratitude to the medium

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Raymond Grandville is a human comic book encyclopedia. The 50-year old lifelong Bellmore resident said that he could recommend ten titles to anyone based on their favorite character.

“You like Harley Quinn?” He’d say, “You’d love Deadpool.”

Grandville opened Revolution Comics, in Bellmore, in October 2016 after working for most of his life as a salesman with various companies. “I wanted to do something I loved as opposed to something just to make a paycheck,” he said.

Grandville’s passion began when he was a first-grade student at Newbridge Road Elementary School and had his reading material replaced with a stack of comic books. Grandville knew how to read before entering kindergarten, but he stopped paying attention to his course material when he started first grade. “The stories they were giving me to read were really boring,” he recalled telling his father after receiving a note home from his teacher about his unsatisfactory grades.

Raymond Sr. did not admonish young Grandville, but responded by purchasing ten comic books. He told his son to spend the night reading them and Grandville finished the stack in an hour and a half, making sure to tell his father what he had learned before he went to sleep. “So my dad had me write an essay on Captain America for my teacher.” Grandville said that his teacher was impressed by the essay and allowed him to choose any book at the library for the subject of his next report.

According to Grandville, comic book writers have an obligation to educate the youth of America in the same way they educated him. “They sparked an imagination in me,” he said, adding that he would not be an avid reader of various news sources, Cosmos Magazine or classic literature without them.

Grandville added that modern comics have the power to promote universal truths such as the importance of helping one’s community and accepting diversity. He added that such a truth could be found through the character arc of Harley Quinn, a villain on her path to reformation in the Batman universe. Grandville’s daughter, Julia, is a senior at the Meadowbrook Alternative Program and avid Harley Quinn fan.

In addition to comics, Grandville’s store Revolution Comics offers various card game tournaments and its Free Comic Book Club, in which customers who spend $100 in comics one month get a $20 gift card.

“I’m very happy about [my job],” said Grandville. “I get to talk about comics and play games all day.”