Your Guide to Big Planet Comics’ Month-Long Anniversary Sale

The U Street location’s store manager gives us the down-low on Big Planet Comics’ local history and anniversary sale.

One of the District’s longest-running independent bookstores, Big Planet Comics, will be celebrating its 37th year of business this July with a month-long anniversary sale. 

Founded in 1986, Big Planet Comics now has three locations in the DMV — one in Bethesda, Vienna and on U Street in D.C.

The anniversary sale will escalate, with items marked at 20 percent off the first week of July, and the discount increasing by 10 percent every week, ending at 50 percent off marked items the week of July 22. 

“It’s the kind of thing where if you come in the first week, you’re going to have better stuff to choose from,” U Street Store Manager Miranda House says. “If you wait till the end, you might not. The thing you wanted might be gone, but you will get a better discount.” 

House has been with Big Planet Comics for nine years. 

“I like to try and make a space that anyone can walk into and feel comfortable,” House says. “I don’t want anyone to ever have an experience where they walk in here and they feel like they’re going to be judged. I want someone to come in here and have an experience where when they leave, they saw something that they thought looked cool, or they felt that [this was a] welcoming spot.” 

Big Planet carries everything from the Marvel and DC classic superhero science fiction genre to literature-based graphic novels, nonfiction, autobiographies and comics independently published by the store. The store also publishes a biennial comic anthology featuring artists from the DMV area. 

The stores are family-friendly, and hope to serve adults and children alike, as well as the specific communities they live in.

“We have a lot of members of different communities that like to shop here,” House says. “Part of that is just the location in and of itself. U Street Corridor is a historically Black area.”

House adds, “We’re also the only Big Planet that’s in downtown D.C., so we get a lot of people who are visiting from other states, sometimes other countries. So, it’s really cool to get to be like, ‘This is the U.S. comic book store that people experience.’” 

Founder Joel Pollack retired earlier this year, leaving the stores in the hands of several customers-turned-employees-turned-owners, a theme in the chain. 

“My love of the comics medium was a driving force in Big Planet’s creation,” Pollack told Mike Rhode of the Comics DC blog after his retirement. “But it was the wonderful people I got to meet through my business that sustained me all of these years.”  

Photos by María Mónica Cortés.

The anniversary sale starts July 1, and you can shop the sale at all three of Big Planet Comics’ locations. Learn more about Big Planet Comics at bigplanetcomics.com and follow them on Instagram @bigplanetcomics.

Want to discover more of D.C.’s literary culture? Join the District Fray community for exclusive access to artistic experiences citywide. Become a member and support local journalism today.

Mariah Jallad