Epikos CCG Owner Discusses How AI Might Change the Comic Book Business

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Our unique comic vending machine is now up and running (check it out here!), and it’s filled with rare comics sourced directly from independent shops around the country. Recently, we visited Epikos Comics Cards and Games in Chattanooga, Tennessee – a fantastic store that’s successfully combined comics, trading cards, and tabletop games for the past 15 years.

I’ve been following ComicBook Shop Talk for a while now, and I always enjoy hearing from the people behind my local comic shops. This time, Chris Killian from ComicBook talked to Henry Flood, who started Epikos back in 2011. It’s been amazing to see how his store has adapted over the years – from focusing on individual comics and video games to now being a hub for things like Magic, Pokémon, and the super popular Disney Lorcana. Henry really gets pop culture and collectibles, so he was the perfect person to talk to about how things like AI might impact the comic book world. It was a really insightful conversation!

Before we get to the full discussion, here are some of the standout items we picked up at Epikos.

Do you know a fantastic local comic or game shop? We’d love to hear about it! Tell us what makes your favorite store special and how it supports your collecting hobby. Send an email to shoptalk@comicbook.com – we might feature them in ComicBook Shop Talk or even visit them for a future shopping feature!

Website: epikosccg.com Email: thegreatescapemadison@gmail.com
Address: 5864 Brainerd Rd, Chattanooga, TN 37411 Instagram: @epikosccg
Phone number: 423-531-4184

How Comic Books, Cards, and Games Complement Each Other

Chris asked how the person began working with comic books, and what made them think comics and games worked well together.

Epikos opened its doors in May 2011, so we’re thrilled to be celebrating our 15th anniversary this Free Comic Book Day! I’ve always loved comics and had a passion for collecting. After seven years at Walmart, I decided to pursue my dream of owning a business and earned a degree in entrepreneurship. When the opportunity arose, everything just fell into place and I was able to start the store. It’s actually not that difficult to start a small business. My first store was much smaller, with only about a tenth of the merchandise we have now. Originally, it was a comic book and video game store, and I thought video games would be the bigger draw. But back in 2011, GameStop had such a strong hold on the market, it was hard to compete. Now, with GameStop’s reputation changing, it’s easier to attract customers.

Chris: Yeah, and everybody’s downloading games.

Instead of focusing on other options, I decided to open a store selling comic books and video games. I ran into an old coworker from Walmart at a nearby restaurant, and he asked me about the new business. When I explained what I was doing, he asked if I planned to carry Magic: The Gathering. I wasn’t even sure if the game was still popular, but he assured me it was. He then helped me connect with a group of players, and within three or four months, I regularly had around 40 people coming to my small 1,200 square foot store every Friday night to play Magic.

Chris: Is Magic still the biggest game that you have here?

I’m not just talking about one card game, but the whole category. Games like Magic, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Disney Lorcana are all really popular right now and selling well. Plus, anime-based card games from Bandai – One Piece, Gundam, and others – do great when I can get them in stock, but they’re often hard to find.

Chris is wondering if there’s a lot of overlap between people who come to weekly game nights and those who also buy comic books.

Henry: Not as much.

Chris: You find they’re two different audiences?

Most comic book fans fall clearly into one of two camps, with only about 10% being truly neutral. The majority are typically men, ranging in age from their mid-30s to 70s – we even have customers in their late 70s! While we do get younger customers, it’s harder to engage them with traditional comics. They tend to prefer graphic novels or manga, which are essentially graphic novels.

We were just discussing this a moment ago – how younger people collect things differently. I was mentioning my son, and I realized I have tons of stuff from my childhood stored in about ten long boxes. He, on the other hand, only buys graphic novels and has just three bookshelves full of them.

Henry: Yeah, because you get the whole story at one time.

Chris: Yeah.

Henry explained that today’s younger generation doesn’t understand the concept of waiting for entertainment. Unlike older generations who had to be home at a specific time to watch TV or record it, young people are used to instant access and don’t have to wait for things to be available.

It’s funny how different people watch TV. Sometimes I want to just quickly finish a whole series, like I could easily watch five hours straight. But other times, I actually like waiting for new episodes each week. Though, waiting a whole month for something can be a bit much!

Henry: Yeah. But then could you imagine if comics were trying to put them out every week?

Chris explained that you need to prepare and prioritize tasks in advance. Otherwise, things won’t get done.

Henry: And even when things do get delayed, it’s not happening consistently. For example, people are currently criticizing Jim Lee because the release of the Batman comic has been delayed yet again.

Chris wonders if it would be helpful to have a pre-set release schedule – like publishing a chapter of the book each week as it’s finished. He suggests this could lead to the complete graphic novel being available at the end.

The biggest challenge is cost. Most of my customers have a budget – usually around $100 a month – which gives me about $25 a week to work with. Since most books cost around $5, that means I can get about five books each week. But if I start adding new ones, I have to choose which ones to drop from my existing order. It becomes a trade-off – do I stick with what I have, or spend a little extra, maybe cutting back on other things like eating out, to get that extra book? When I was growing up, I was a big X-Men fan in the 90s. There were so many X-Men comics coming out each month – eight to ten! I could afford all of them, but I had to skip other titles like Spider-Man, Punisher, or Batman because I didn’t have the money. I focused on getting every X-Men comic instead.

Chris: Yeah. Are those still your most prized books now, the X-Men, just as far as childhood stuff?

People always ask if I kept any of my own collection when I opened the store. It’s a bit of both, actually. I brought almost everything, but there were a few exceptions. I held onto my copy of the Age of Apocalypse storyline from the early 90s – it was just a fantastic story, and what I loved about it was you didn’t need to know years of backstory to jump in and enjoy it. I also kept my very first comic, a Richie Rich issue, and a book my high school friend illustrated. He always dreamed of being a comic artist, and he actually did one book, but then realized it wasn’t for him. I wanted to support him, so I kept that one. Otherwise, I brought everything – all my X-Men books and everything else. You have to be willing to invest in a business if you want it to succeed. I’ve heard terrible stories about owners who see a valuable book come in, like a Fantastic Four #1, and use store money to buy it for themselves. That’s a quick way to ruin things! Honestly, my personal collection is everything you see on the walls of the store. I own the store, so those books are mine. Now, if something really special comes through, I might keep it. I’m currently working through a G.I. Joe run, and we recently got a collection with three number one issues. One of them is now on my shelf – it’s worth about a hundred bucks, but I didn’t feel bad about keeping it. At this point, taking one or two books for myself doesn’t really hurt the business.

Chris: Do you have any current titles that are your favorite?

I don’t read as many new books these days as I used to. I get really excited about starting a new release, but with my ADHD, it’s hard to stay focused and keep up. It can be overwhelming – there are so many books coming out every week, and I feel like I need to read them all, but I just don’t have the time. That’s why I often end up choosing graphic novels instead.

Chris: You’re going to have to learn how to speed read.

I recently learned my daughter has dyslexia, and it made me realize I do too. The doctor described the symptoms, and I was surprised to find I identified with almost all of them. My wife confirmed she’d suspected it for a while, and we discovered my mother has similar struggles. It turns out dyslexia runs in the family, so I’m accepting the fact that I’ll likely never be a fast reader.

Will AI Become Part of Comic Books?

Chris wondered if comic books, which currently mainly appeal to men aged 30 to 50, could ever regain popularity with younger readers.

I’m not sure about the future of single-issue comics. While graphic novels are definitely popular, I’ve been wondering for a while if we should focus less on a large number of weekly comics and more on original graphic novels released weekly. I think I could sell fewer, but more complete stories just as well, if not better. People are willing to spend around $20 without hesitation, so getting them to buy a $6 comic shouldn’t be much harder than getting them to spend $15 on a full story. It’s all about how you present it. The benefit of individual issues is that they bring customers back regularly – like the guy excited about the next issue coming out on Christmas Eve. However, shifting away from individual issues hasn’t happened yet, and it might not for another 20 years. Hopefully, things will change eventually.

Chris thinks they’re getting into a very detailed discussion, specifically about how artificial intelligence might impact the comic book industry.

It’s strange – AI is really popular and useful in all my businesses except comics. People see it as the future everywhere else, but mention it in a comic book store and you’d think I’d committed a crime! I’m not sure where things are headed, but I really hope AI doesn’t take over the world of comics. Comics are made by people with passion and emotion, and that’s something AI just can’t replicate.

I think AI could be helpful for artists, similar to how they already use 3D models. If it can speed up their workflow, that’s a good thing. But it won’t replace the need for actual artistic work.

Henry is questioning what constitutes ‘art’ when using AI. If an artist repeatedly uses the same pose or image generated once, is simply copying it still considered creative work? He feels there are tricky ethical considerations. While he doesn’t believe AI will fundamentally change the comic book industry, he anticipates comic shops might use it for tasks like advertising. He recently had a marketing professional show him an AI-generated commercial, but Henry felt he couldn’t use it due to his personal principles, highlighting the different perspectives between creatives and marketers who are already embracing the technology.

I have a friend who creates short videos using AI, and he offered to make one promoting my book. I told him I couldn’t use it, even though I appreciated the effort. He’d only spent about ten seconds creating it, but it just wasn’t right for what I needed.

Henry: I mean, that’s the fastest way to get thrown out of the industry. Embracing it.

Chris: Yeah. So Henry, thank you so much for your time, man. Appreciate it.

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If you have a comic book or card shop and think we should film a shopping spree there, or if you’re a customer with a great store to recommend, please email us at shoptalk@comicbook.com. We’re building a list of shops across the country – and even around the world – that we’d love to visit!

Meanwhile, give the Vending Machine a spin. We wish you the best of luck in your pulls.

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2026-06-03 18:13