| By now the news will be all over the place that local comics shop Planet X Comics will be shutting its doors by the first of January 2024. It has been internally announced toward the end of October 2023 that it will no longer have a physical presence in its current form. It took a while for the announcement to make it official, but here it is from the management.
For those not from the Philippines, Planet X Comics is one of the small businesses catering to comic books and graphic novels as well as collectibles and merchandise that has been around as far back as 2007. |
This is not the original Planet X Comics shop in the Makati CBD, but it does find a niche. To look further into its history, Planet X Comics is a spinoff of Comic Odyssey going back to 1997. There’s a little bit of “Secret Origin” to how Planet X Comics came to when it started to open its stores up to the announcement that the physical store is now shutting down for good leaving regular visitors finding a new comic shop to call their ‘second home’ or a hangout to appreciate the stuff most fans have of the years of its existence.
Planet X Comics provided that void that its sibling Comic Odyssey could not have provided in this part of Makati City. It is indeed the “End of an Era” for this comic shop that hardly mainstream comic readers have heard of. A LOT of comic shops have opened in the last decade or so, but did not last longer than Planet X Comics have outlasted them only to announce today that they are closing by the start of the New Year.
In the Beginning…
Little is known about Planet X Comics and where it came from. The owner who manages this store used to be the one who is the store proprietor of the original Comic Odyssey that was located in Robinsons in Ermita, Manila as far back as 1997 even before Sandy Sansolis and his family had finally moved back to the country by opening the second branch in the original location in the second level of the Robinsons Galleria in October 2006.
By 2007, Eric Baga who used to handle the Robinsons Manila branch moved on and opened his store, which became Planet X Comics at the Ayala-owned Trinoma Mall in July 2007 followed by opening a second branch in September 2008. It was a different time for comics fans and creators. It was not the same as things have been a challenge for this shop until today when management has finally decided to go full online store.
The Good, the Bad, and the Pandemic Times
Of course, trials and tribulations are part of managing a comic shop, and it was the toughest one yet when the Covid-19 pandemic happened. There are life changes too to most of the store’s customers with some migrating to another country or moving to a province is been the most difficult time not to mention the rise of the cost for a comic book was not helpful to the ones with low income that forced some to quit.
But Planet X Comics stood its ground and kept focus on maintaining the remaining regular customers. But also the change in the management on how to deal with their other customers was both controversial and somewhat strange towards the end. There is always the end and sometimes you won’t see it coming. It was a great run for this shop to even last this long to even celebrate their anniversaries every year to finally have this announced today,
Going Full Online
Sometimes going ‘Full Online’ is like unlearning to have social interaction with your customers and just removing that part of humanity to just deal with it like it is “Just Business” and it will be more challenging to even keep the “regulars” if you are operating a comic shop from WFH (Work From Home) it kills of the interacting, and it is going to be a challenging one for Planet X Comics moving forward with this type of business portfolio now that the physical store will no longer be there.
But that is the nature of business nowadays, and kudos to the management for this path they are taking may they find success in this phase of their life existing only online and not gaining any new readers from this next endeavor. Managing a comic shop is a hands-on business with A LOT of patience to keep things in order.
Comic Odyssey has kept that side of social interaction for the reason they are growing every day. Of course, you can’t compare apples to lemons. Another comic shop has shuttered its physical plane of existence. But to the Makati residents who get their comics at a physical store, there is still Filbar’s in the same location.
It is just unfortunate for the two employees who have been dedicated to being there at the store day in and day out. Hopefully, they will find work after this company closure. For now, pick up all the discounted titles they are clearing off from Planet X Comics, and for those who have been there for the longest time, you may still get in touch with management from their social media via Facebook and Instagram.
Planet X Comics will be closing by 1 January 2024, for those who have their subscription and will no longer continue to visit the staff at their store before they finally close down.
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