As someone who grew up playing board games and collecting comics, Brendan Greenwood jumped on the opportunity to open his own store, Bat City Games & Comics, last year.

He and his business partner noticed there were few comic book stores in South Austin compared to up north. Greenwood said he wanted to open an inclusive store with dedicated space for gameplay and community.

“People who play Warhammer are a lot different than people who play [Magic: The Gathering],” Greenwood said. “[They] are a lot different than people that collect comics. There is a Venn diagram where we have a crossover of a lot of that geek, nerd space, and that's what we try to fill. “

The inspiration

Greenwood said he started collecting Batman comics as a teenager and continued into adulthood. He stopped for awhile, but said his old collection quickly became part of the store collection.Bat City Games & Comics opened in Sunset Valley on September 30, 2023. Greenwood said it was important for them to be able to offer a variety of comics, including ones from the Silver Age, the time period between 1956 and the early '70s.

He estimates they currently have 125,000 comics in storage. They bought most of the store collection from someone in San Antonio who was going to open a shop and never did.

“To have people come in and say, ‘I'm missing this issue from 1994’ and to be able to go fill in their run, or to [have people] peruse through comics someone my age might have seen when they were five or six years old,” he said. “It's an important part of nostalgia.”What’s special about it?

Bat City Games & Comics sells a variety of board and card games, from intricate ones that take five hours to play to smaller party games. There are also puzzles, trading cards such as Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh, Funko Pops, graphic novels and plenty of comics.

Customers are also free to grab a game from the shop’s demo wall and reserve a free table to play in-store.

Greenwood said community interaction is an important part of Bat City Comics.

“We really push [from] our employees up to myself and the store managers and all to engage in the community,” he said. “Say hi to people walking around, make sure we’re answering questions, trying to give them that personal touch that they need to help them buy a gift for somebody or get into a hobby.”

Check it out

A monthly calendar on the Bat City website shows weekly game nights and gatherings where anyone can get involved or learn more about a game. Those interested can also join the shop’s Discord.

• 5001 Hwy. 290, Austin
• www.batcitygc.com