First Aid Comics

Hyde Park's First Aid Comics has served neighborhood locals and University of Chicago students from this bi-level 55th Street storefront since 2011 (it was previously located in a hard-to-find second-floor space on 53rd). Keeping with the shop's name, owner James Nurss, formerly a manager at Graham Crackers Comics, will diagnose your comics needs wearing a doctor's lab coat. In addition to current issues, First Aid carries a healthy inventory of trade paperbacks and hardcover collections, and Nurss has an impressive collection of back issues. First Aid offers a free subscription service, "The Doctor's Orders," that gets you 10% off new comics and supplies and 20% off back issues. The shop also carries plenty of action figures, gaming supplies (with regular Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! nights) and clothing—including, appropriately for the ’hood, a sizable supply of t-shirts featuring Alex Ross's Superman-inspired portrait of President Obama.