Jack Malve
Audio By Carbonatix
After a few years in the Phantom Zone, Atomic Comics is set to return to metro Phoenix this fall. The longtime Valley comics retailer will reopen in September in Chandler.
Last month, Atomic Comics founder Michael Malve announced on social media that he’s relaunching the store after a three-year absence from the Valley.
“Yes, it’s true … I’m reopening Atomic Comics! After many, many years of thinking about it and dreaming about it, the time is finally right! And honestly, I couldn’t be more excited,” Malve wrote. “There’s still a mountain of work ahead of me, but that’s part of the fun. At the end of it all, I’ll be opening the kind of comic shop I’d want to spend all day in.”
On Friday, Malve revealed Atomic Comics will open in September at 2974 N. Alma School Road, #5, in Chandler. The space previously housed local bike shop Ronin Cycles.
Atomic Comics’ return is the latest chapter in the store’s history, which stretches back decades and has more plot twists than a multiverse crossover.
Provided by Michael Malve
The rise, fall and rebirth of Atomic Comics
Before it became one of Arizona’s best-known comic book retailers, Atomic Comics was a single shop called Bubba’s Comic Store in Phoenix that Malve, a lifelong comic book fan, launched in the mid-1980s. He later moved the business to Mesa and renamed it.
Over the next several years, Atomic Comics grew into a chain of four stores in the Valley, including a location near Metrocenter mall. By the 2000s, it had become a favorite among local geeks and a nationally known brand.
“Those were the glory days of Atomic Comics,” Malve told Phoenix New Times in 2021. “People came to us to get their comics. We had artists from Marvel, DC and Image coming in for in-store appearances. When Public Enemy had a comic book out, they played a concert at our Metrocenter store.”
Then came the plot twists. In fall 2006, a 16-year-old uninsured driver plowed through the front window of Atomic Comics in Mesa, breaking a water main and causing more than $1 million in damages.
The next few years brought the Great Recession, a downturn in the comics industry and increased competition from online retailers. Together, the issues compounded Atomic Comics’ financial struggles. Malve eventually declared bankruptcy and closed all four stores in 2011.
“It was a very sad day for me personally when we shut our doors, but also for all the people who shopped there over the years,” Malve told New Times in 2021. “Things kept changing and we tried keeping up, but it was too much to absorb.”
A decade later, Atomic Comics was revived at Gilbert’s SanTan Village in 2021 by Malve and then-business partner Joe Furman. More than 1,000 people attended its grand opening, but their partnership eventually ended. In 2023, Furman rebranded the store as Strange Adventures.
Malve retained ownership of the Atomic Comics name and still had a desire to reopen his own store one day.
‘This isn’t just a business. It’s what I love’
Malve stayed involved in the Valley’s comic book community over the next few years. He vended at local events like the Scottsdale Comic Book Show and Arizona Toy Con while planning to relaunch his own store.
In a post on social media last month announcing Atomic Comics’ latest revival, the 55-year-old Valley resident says he didn’t have any other life goals besides continuing his lifelong love of comics.
“Everyone keeps asking me when I’m going to retire. Retire and do what? Chase a little white ball around a golf course? Take endless cruises? Learn pickleball? Watch daytime TV? No thanks,” Malve wrote. “I’d rather spend my days digging through comic collections, hunting down key issues and talking comics with fellow fans. I’ve been doing this since I was 19 years old. This isn’t just a business. It’s what I love.”
Malve stated on social media that Atomic Comics’ new location in Chandler will be aimed at “comic book fans, collectors and pop culture enthusiasts across the Valley,” much like its predecessors.
“We’re working hard behind the scenes to build a store worthy of the Atomic Comics name,” Malve wrote. “And we can’t wait to welcome both longtime customers and a whole new generation of fans.”
