Over the weekend I went down to Birmingham for a comic con at the NEC and to see some of the local sites. Being the comic geek that I am, I was on the lookout for anything pop culture related and I was happy to discover a comic shop called Nostalgia & Comics near to my hotel. The shop looked inviting and seeing I was in town for a comic con, it only seemed right that I went inside.
Nostalgia & Comics is one of the oldest comic shops in the UK, being created in 1977. Having become a part of the Forbidden Planet chain, there was a similar vibe to the Forbidden Planet in Manchester. This came down to the size of the place, with shelves upon shelves of comics as far as the eye could see. The layout of the shop had its own unique arrangement, with the main area on the first floor and a smaller second floor.
I was impressed with the large range of graphic novels for sale, particularly because there were a lot that I hadn’t seen sold anywhere in Manchester. For example, they had a lot of classic graphic novels from before the Rebirth and New 52 reboots. I think I spent a good twenty minutes browsing through the A – Z section that was helpfully mapped out across the shelves. I ended up buying two Green Arrow graphic novels: Green Arrow: Crawling Through The Wreckage and Green Arrow: Year One. Together they worked out at a reasonable price.
Along with comics, the shop stocks a good supply of pop culture figures and memorabilia. A glass case filled with statues caught my attention, due to the characters that were on display. I noticed a Red Hood figure that I already owned, but probably would have bought it otherwise. There’s also an aisle dedicated to popular Funko Pop! figures that’s sure to please dedicated collectors.
In terms of location, Nostalgia & Comics is easy to get to. It’s situated close to Birmingham Grand Central train station on Smallbrook Queensway, so you can’t miss it. I was glad I stopped at Nostalgia & Comics and recommend comic fans should drop by if you’re in the Birmingham area. Be sure to check out their Facebook for merchandise details.
The Comic Vault 
So great to see Nostalgia & Comics featured 🙂 This shop was my regular Saturday morning haunt back in the mid 80s to the late 90s, and I still have my copies of 2000 AD, Judge Dredd, Groo and others purchased from then. Whenever I go back to the UK I always make a point of visiting, and in recent years make sure I catch up on my Doctor Who figures. Back then for us N&C wasn’t just a place to pick up our reading fixes but also a place to hang out for an hour or two and arrange the weekend social events with friends and bands. Being a big store you could get away with hanging around, and the bosses were always cool. Thanks for posting this and bringing back some nice memories. Please check out my post on the original Forbidden Planet comic store in Denmark Street London if you get chance: https://thevintagetoyadvertiser.org/category/forbidden-planet-store/
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This sounds like my kind of place!
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