Books with Pictures

What Books with Pictures does

Books with Pictures is a woman-owned, queer-owned independent comic book retailer founded in 2016 by Katie Proctor in Portland, Oregon. The company operates two physical storefronts — a flagship at 1401 SE Division St in Portland and a sister store opened in Eugene, Oregon in March 2020 — alongside a Shopify-powered e-commerce site serving mail-order customers nationally via USPS. Inventory is curated across fiction, nonfiction, adult, manga, children's, and locally published titles, with an explicit policy of stocking only new (not used or vintage) comics. The business differentiates through an "aggressively inclusive" mission prioritizing queer, BIPOC, neurodivergent, and disabled readers, and through a dense community programming calendar that includes the annual BWPcon convention, a monthly Books with Pals book club, weekly Creators Meetups, Free Comic Book Day activations, and Steve Lieber's Office Hours portfolio critiques. A linked Graphic Novel Library extends the brand into lending services, and the storefront shares its building with My Vinyl Underground (basement record store), Underbite Soups and Sandwiches, and the Short Box food cart pod, forming a destination micro-district.

The underlying technology is commodity retail: a WordPress marketing site with Shopify for transactional e-commerce, mail-order fulfillment via USPS, and community engagement through Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and a Discord server. Revenue derives from four streams: (1) retail comic sales from major distributors, indie publishers, and individual artists; (2) special orders for titles not in stock; (3) subscription and mail-order services shipped nationwide; and (4) vendor table fees at BWPcon, priced at $70 (half table), $140 (full table), and $170 (full tent). The company has no disclosed venture capital or private equity backing; its only known external capital is a $5,000 Comcast RISE grant received in August 2023. Headcount stands at 5 (the founder-owner plus four staff), and the business earned the 2022 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Award, the comic book industry's highest retail honor, which named it "The Best Comic Shop in the World."

Name

Books with Pictures

Legal name

Books with Pictures

Website

https://bookswithpictures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Books with Pictures is a woman-owned, queer-owned independent comic book retailer operating two storefronts in Portland and Eugene, Oregon, serving an explicitly inclusive community of readers with curated new comics, e-commerce, mail-order subscriptions, and a dense calendar of community events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Comic book retail

NAICS

Book Retailers and News Dealers (4592), Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912)

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945), Retail-Catalog & Mail-Order Houses (5961)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRALAAAF

Comic Books, Graphic Novels & Manga Retail

Consumer Products & Retail/Specialty Retail (Hobby, Books, Office, Pet, Toys)/Books, News & Magazines Retail

SECONDARYCRAFADAM

Books, Media & Entertainment Inventory-led Online Retailers

Consumer Products & Retail/E-commerce & Marketplaces/Online Retailers (Inventory-led)

Keywords

• Comic book retail
• Graphic novel store
• Manga retailer
• Inclusive bookstore
• Comic conventions

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Comic Sales: Sales of new comics from major distributors, indie publishers, and individual artists across multiple genres including Fiction, Nonfiction, Adult, Manga, Children's, and Locally Published titles.
2. Special Orders: Custom ordering service where customers can request specific titles not currently in stock.
3. Subscriptions & Mail Order: Subscription services and special orders shipped via USPS across the country.
4. Vendor Table Fees: Fees charged to artists and vendors for table space at BWPcon events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Books with Pictures sells new comics, graphic novels, manga, children's titles, and locally published zines through its Portland flagship store, an Eugene sister location, and a Shopify online shop that ships nationwide via USPS. The business supplements retail with special-order fulfillment, recurring subscriptions, and event-driven programming including the annual BwPCon! convention, a monthly book club, free comic book day, and creator meetups. The curated selection is intentionally inclusive and explicitly excludes used or vintage comics.

Product overview

Books with Pictures operates as a comic book retail business with multiple sales channels and community-focused events. The core offering is the physical retail store in Portland, Oregon, supplemented by a sister location in Eugene, Oregon and an e-commerce online shop. The company organizes several recurring events including BwPCon! (annual convention), Books with Pals (monthly book club), Free Comic Book Day, and Creators Meetup. Additional offerings include a Graphic Novel Library, Steve Lieber's Office Hours portfolio critiques, and a food cart pod. The company positions itself as aggressively inclusive, serving queer folks, Black folks, Indigenous folks, Latine folks, AAPI folks, women, neurodivergent folks, and people with disabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Books with Pictures Portland Flagship Store Physical retail comic book store in Portland, Oregon selling new comics, graphic novels, manga, children's titles, coloring books, mystery packs, and locally published zines to walk-in customers, with an explicitly inclusive mission.
• Books with Pictures Eugene Sister retail store located in Eugene, Oregon offering a similar curated comic book and graphic novel selection to the Portland flagship, serving the southern Oregon community.
• Books with Pictures Online Shop Shopify-based e-commerce storefront enabling nationwide purchase of comics, graphic novels, subscription boxes, and special-order titles, with delivery via USPS.
• Comic Subscriptions and Mail Order Recurring comic subscription service and nationwide mail-order shipping that delivers selected titles to subscribers via USPS.
• Special Orders Service Custom ordering service where customers can request specific comic book or graphic novel titles not currently in stock, with the store sourcing and fulfilling the request.
• BwPCon! Annual Comic Convention Annual free-admission one-day outdoor comic convention featuring local artists and vendors, live music, special guests, cosplay contests, trivia, and panels, with paid vendor table rentals ($70 half table, $140 full table, $170 full tent).

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• My Vinyl UndergroundminorOthersRecord store located in the basement of Books with Pictures' building, sharing the same physical location. Open Wed-Sun 12pm-6pm. My Vinyl Underground provides live music at BWPcon events.
• Underbite Soups and SandwichesminorOthersFood truck located at Books with Pictures location, offering plant-based, vegetarian, and meat-based soups and sandwiches. Uses locally sourced ingredients. Open Wed-Sun with varying hours.
• The Graphic Novel LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLinked organization serving as a graphic novel library resource for the community.
• Short Box Foodcart PodminorOthersFood cart pod on the east side of the Books with Pictures building, featuring multiple food carts. The pod has spaces available for new food cart vendors.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Powell's City of Books: Iconic large independent bookstore headquartered in Portland, OR with a significant graphic novel and comics section. Comparable as a Portland-based independent book retailer, though broader in category scope and much larger in scale.
• Newbury Comics: New England-based specialty retailer of comics, books, music, and pop culture merchandise. Comparable as a multi-location specialty retailer serving fan communities, though broader in category scope than Books with Pictures' comic-focused offering.

Others

• Dark Horse Comics: Independent comic book publisher headquartered near Portland, OR. Comparable as a Pacific Northwest comics ecosystem participant and relevant employer network for staff like Cicely, but operates upstream in publishing rather than retail.

Regional players

• Forbidden Planet: Major UK-based comic book and pop culture retail chain with physical stores and online sales. Comparable as a comic-focused specialty retailer with a strong store-as-community model, though serving a different geography.

Direct peers

• Midtown Comics: One of the largest comic book retailers in the U.S., operating multiple NYC storefronts plus a major e-commerce platform. Comparable as a comic specialty retailer with both physical and online channels, though significantly larger and more commercially oriented.
• Floating World Comics: Independent comic book and graphic novel retailer also based in Portland, OR. Directly comparable as a local independent comics store competing for the same walk-in customer base and indie publisher relationships, though with a different curatorial focus.
• Things From Another World: Long-running comic book retailer founded in Beaverton, OR with a strong e-commerce operation. Directly comparable as a Pacific Northwest comic book retailer with overlapping product mix and a more developed online sales channel.
• Third Eye Comics: Multi-location comic book retail chain headquartered in Maryland with physical stores and online sales. Comparable as a comic-focused specialty retailer serving passionate fans, though operating at materially larger scale than Books with Pictures.
• Bridge City Comics: Independent comic book store in Portland, OR. Directly comparable as a locally owned comic retailer serving overlapping Portland metro customers with new releases, graphic novels, and back issues.
• Cosmic Monkey Comics: Independent comic book store in the Portland, OR metro area. Directly comparable as a small, locally owned comic retailer serving the same regional customer base with new comics, graphic novels, and back issues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/BooksWithPicturesPDX
• Instagraminstagram.com/bookswpictures/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/books-with-pictures-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Books with Pictures