Multiverse
8026 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia
May 22, 2024
Outside a Germantown window front full of comic books stands a sign reading: Enter the Multiverse. That’s the name of a newish store selling “curated nerd stuff,” aka a collection of comics, graphic novels, games and associated merch.
“We try to curate authors and artists that you maybe wouldn’t find at any other bookstore,” Co-Owner Graylin Hughes Jr. told the Review Crew during our recent visit to the shop. “In science fiction, the idea of the multiverse is that of multiple possibilities, that anything can happen. We thought the name was cool because we want this to be a space of stories showing those multiple possibilities — that anything can be seen in the story, and it’s all about representation and ultimately seeing yourself.”
That rang true for Deadline Poet LindoYes, who had stopped by the store in his neighborhood to slam a poetic review of the scene, highlighting a few of his favorite visually-rich stories stocked at Multiverse, including the comic series Saga and black-and-white graphic novel Incognegro, while finding a new novel to read: Akogun. Watch Lindo freestyle a poem live from the scene above, or check out his written review below.
I wonder, then wander into a new comic book store: Multiverse
After years, of feeling abandon
Like the buildings of so many closed comic shops in Philly during lockdown in 2020
I too caged this desired to be in space with blerds, geeks, and nerds
Unlike 2020 vision I couldn’t see it
Near to home
Near to Germantown
Near to my heart
But here
A new comic shop
Near to home
Near to Germantown
Near to my heart
Filled me with glee
A joy only captured
In the pages of a comic book
When you see your favorite character defy the odds
Odds familiar and unfamiliar
Being marginalized
Because of my race and my learning disabilities
Comics provided me access, when I felt denied
So that excitement that filled me up with joy
Was pouring over to others
As I shared my thoughts on familiar comics
While desiring more selections
I wanted more books
I wanted more books on the shelf
I wanted more options to feel empowered with choice
Why so selective? Then I realized
How the selection was curated
How many books with queer, black and people underrepresented
That’s empowering
I grabbed Akogun off the counter
A comic I wouldn’t have
Otherwise
It may have been other
It may have been wise
To not stock it on a shelf
Because only the big 3 sales
DC, Marvel, Image
Only big name sales
Authors, Characters, Artists
Only big never small
Small indie prints like OniPress
But here stood Akogun
As proud as I have felt, welcome in and accepted
As proud as I felt, permission to see more characters like myself
As proud as I have felt, invited to be at events and to gather
With friends and strangers to be
To be in the store I didn’t want to leave
Because I felt this feeling would flee with my departure
I wanted to lounge
I wanted to stay with the books longer
And read, and chat, and enact
This joy
But there was little seating
No space to or lounge
With homies to geek in store
But even in the limited aisle
There was space to sit with a book
I felt more presence than I had in past year
In the multiverse
Where all versions of myself exist
In the Multiverse
NEXT:
Multiverse is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and closed Sundays and Mondays. The store, co-founded by Graylin Hughes, who hails from Germantown himself, and spouse Sara Zia Ebrahimi Hughes, carries popular comics like Doom and Watchmen as well as artwork from local creators, like comic writers Sara Sciacchitano (Dusk) and Andrew Loder (Marching through Georgia). They even stock one game called Capital Punishment, where you get to assign imaginary consequences for real-life offenders (think Elon Musk), which was designed and developed by Philadelphians Julius Aldrich, Brian Bonner and Derrick Skipper.
Multiverse also hosts all kinds of community events, like zine workshops, book talks, and regular modular synthesizer music nights. Check out their calendar here to track what they’re up to.
