The Best Comic Book Store in the World is Located in Seville, and It Opens Its Doors to Us

There are several requirements that a comic book store must meet to earn the most prestigious award worldwide, the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, which is annually presented by Comic-Con (the San Diego International Comic-Con in the United States). To win the award named after the famous artist of The Spirit (who himself wanted to recognize the work that comic stores do to connect creators and audiences), the store in question must meet the following criteria: have diverse and innovative material, create opportunities for the creators' content to reach the public, possess knowledge about the comic book business, promote an active community: that is, maintain social and business relationships with customers, organize events in-store, have an aesthetically creative shop, and adhere to ethical practices.

Did the store that won the award this year meet these requirements? Yes, and it is Spanish. It is located at 11 Zaragoza Street in Seville (in the city center, very close to the Giralda) and is named Nostromo Comics. They managed to surpass 20 other candidates for the Will Eisner Award a year after being nominated and positioned themselves among the six best in the world.

Its owner, Sergio López, kindly attends us from Seville to tell us about the history of Nostromo, named in homage to the ship from Alien (if you visit, you'll see that there are two eighth passengers in the decor, but they are not for sale).

Additionally, Sergio explains how creativity in the events organized in the store, promoting visits from renowned authors, and even their effort to have comics in other languages for foreign visitors have helped them earn the award.

Have you received many calls regarding the award?

Yes, but it's great because we just launched our website [you can visit it here], which we've been working on for a long time. The timing is ideal. Recently, people have come from Valencia, Elche, and Murcia to meet us.

What is the history of the store?

We opened in April 1997, if I remember correctly. Opening this type of store was a risky business at the time. Back then, people went to kiosks for comics, and this opened as a specialized store, but bringing in other types of products, such as role-playing games, themed board games, merchandise from movies, series, and video games... It was a risky bet, but in a short time, it began to work well, and over the years we have become a nationally recognized store. Gradually, similar stores started opening in different places in Spain, and now, with the award, we have gained international recognition. We are trying to process it.

How does one apply for the Eisner?

Any professional in the comic book sector can present your candidacy, or even you can present yourself. The first year we tried was last year, and we got very close, making it to the finals. We were among the six best in the world. The feeling was enormous, and seeing ourselves so close, this year we wanted to try again. We sat down to see what small improvements we could make; in the end, this is motivation to improve your business. This year we won the award, but it was tough because the difficulties of the pandemic added an extra effort to achieve it. The deadlines were shortened, and there was a moment when Comic-Con considered canceling it, but in the end, they decided to hold it online. We were able to present and benefited from it.

What improvements have you decided to make: updating the store, the catalog?

Yes, it's really a bit of everything. It's also about how to get information out there because we have limited space to showcase everything we've done, our trajectory, all the activities held over the last year, and all those little things. The information was presented much more comprehensively and better, knowing how to summarize and highlight the strengths of the store, and obviously, we need to do creative things. How can we promote the spread of comics in our community?, which is something they valued highly, so we invented new activities. Many projects fell through due to the pandemic. We had an amazing May because Free Comic Book Day was celebrated; we had a tremendous number of activities planned, and all were suspended. The application could have been better than the one we submitted.

It's quite a feat to win it just in the year of the coronavirus...

Yes, last year also had greater difficulties than usual. It was the 50th anniversary of Comic-Con in San Diego, and there were almost double the nominees: usually around 20, but 38 were presented. It was a more special edition, so winning was much more challenging.

What kind of activities do you do?

We always try to improve them. For example, on a national level, there is the Free Comic Book Day activity, where a group of stores voluntarily give out promotional materials related to this year's upcoming releases, but we always complement it with other activities, such as having entertainers. Last year, we had a dothraki specialist from Game of Thrones who participated in the filming and was here teaching people how to handle the weapons they used in the series. We usually hire a magician, dressed as Harry Potter, who leaves visitors in awe. We also invite comic authors, who always dedicate their copies. We also did a special event to celebrate Marvel's 80th anniversary, many guests attended, we made cakes featuring some of Marvel's most famous covers, and we held raffles... What we have been working very hard on in recent years is hosting presentations with renowned authors, such as Paco Roca, who has also won the Eisner and visited us multiple times, David Rubín, one of the big artists succeeding in international comics, Albert Monteys, who directed El Jueves for many years and now has very significant international recognition...

It takes a lot of effort...

Yes, and additionally, Andalusia has always been excluded from that circuit of events, and it has taken a lot of work to secure the first signing, but the response from the public has been very positive from the beginning, and today we are one of the principal showcases in Spain for major presentations.

And with the pandemic, how are you managing it?

The key word now is improvisation. We are in a phase where we don't have an instruction manual. We are improvising a lot, aiming to improve or adapt to what is happening outside. We comply with all current regulations; everyone must enter wearing a mask, maintain social distance, and have hand sanitizer... I think people have adapted well.

What does the award consist of?

It is a plaque, a trophy, which we still have to receive, as it has yet to be sent to us. Last year we could not attend the ceremony even though we were nominated, and we had the honor of Paco Roca representing us at the ceremony. It is prestigious that Paco Roca picked up the finalist award for us. Next year we should attend as guests to be part of the jury. We hope we can fulfill that second dream, which would be to attend the convention.

What comic recommendation would you make to the reader of Viajar?

Nostromo has always been an attraction for international visitors, who often ask for comics by national authors. We have put in significant effort in recent years to bring in a lot of material in English and also in French by these Spanish authors in those languages. To the general customer, we recommend comics by national authors because we are living in a golden age of Spanish comics. There are so many great authors succeeding in international comics, and even Marvel and DC have a legion of artists working there. Many of them are core artists, such as Carlos Pacheco, Salva Espín, Salvador Larroca... And then I would also recommend the names I've mentioned earlier, Paco Roca, Juanjo Guarnido, who is Andalusian but has lived in Paris for 20 years... We try to promote national comics. It has been so successful that in the past few years, the figures have shifted from American or Japanese titles to having six or seven titles by Spanish authors always in the top 10.