CORNWALL, Ontario – You’ll have to forgive Randy Sauve, he forgot his Spider-Man underwear at home.
The owner of Fantasy Realm, the Cornwall version of Mecca for all things superheroes and alter egos, is instead wearing the prototypical guise of the comic book store owner – black jeans and a black short-sleeved shirt.
His hair is a little shorter, and there are a few more lines on his face, but after 30 years of selling comics, sports paraphernalia, magic props and the odd Pokemon card, one would concede that things are bound to change a little.
Fantasy Realm has been a fixture in downtown Cornwall for three decades, rolling with a landscape that has changed literally (Pitt Street was a mall when the doors opened) and figuratively (the World Wide Web back then was spun by his beloved Spider-Man).
Sauve’s encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes, and his comic books, are some of the few constants in a business that has evolved over the last 30 years.
So is the passion for his craft.
“I knew there were comic book readers out there, I just had to find them,” he said of the early days of Fantasy Realm, in February 1985, when he worked full-time at another job and opened the store as a way to feed his, and others’, addiction to the genre. “Word of mouth was all I had to go by.
“When I opened I didn’t even have parking. But it didn’t matter, because most of my customers were coming in on their bikes or skateboards.”
Perhaps the biggest thing that has changed over the years is that, for all intents and purposes, today it’s cool (or cooler?) to be a nerd.
TV shows like the Big Bang Theory and The Walking Dead, and the film series attached to the Marvel universe have made comic books and superheroes more popular (and lucrative) than ever.
Sauve has been able to capitalize on the demand for Superman, Captain America, the Fantastic Four and The Flash, while also supplementing his business with other hobbies and collectibles.
In 1980s Dungeons and Dragons was popular, by the early 1990s it was sports cards…then a few years later magic…and then Pokemon…now people reach out online to feed their addiction – but comics have been a fundamental part of his business all the way.
“That’s always been the passion,” said Sauve.
Things have now come full circle. Saturday’s at Fantasy Realm are known informally as “Family Day” because the men who were children in the 80s when his store opened, are now returning with their own kids to swap stories about the good guys, the baddies and the adventures they enjoy.
Sauve has been steeped in discussion since being a child himself.
“As a teenager as I delivered my paper route I would pass the apartment complex on Fourth Street and I envisioned this comic book shop, with multiple rooms that had different themes,” he said. “And then when I was working at Carl’s Smoke Shop, Carl used to let me hang some comic books on the wall. That really opened the door for me.”
To be certain, like any other businesses there have been ups and downs. At one point there were three stores affiliated with Fantasy Realm, including locations in the Eastcourt Mall and another in Brockville.
Things were restructured in the late 1990s and shoe-horned back into the Pitt Street locale.
The Internet has also helped Sauve’s business, both locally and around the world.
“I have customers in Belgium and Puerto Rico,” Sauve gave as examples. “I get stuff in, set it aside and then send it out to them.
“But with the Internet I wanted to think small, not big. If you’re a guy in Morrisburg, you have to drive almost an hour in any direction to find a comics shop. But now, you can just point and click.”
Which character does a self-confessed comics junky identify with the most?
The answer is simple: Spider-Man. Spider-Man. Spider-Man.
“It always has been,” said Sauve, particularly the storylines of the late 1970s when he was a teenager. “He was a regular person when he was Peter Parker – he was picked on and bullied.
“But as Spider-Man he enjoyed doing right by people.”
Even the name “Fantasy Realm” is a reference to Spider-Man.
“With great power there must also come great responsibility … and so a legend is born and a new name is added to the roster of those who make the world of fantasy the most exciting realm of all,” reads a line from Amazing Fantasy Number 15 – the first appearance of Spider-Man.
“I could never see myself doing anything else,” said Sauve, 53. “I don’t have any regrets about any of the stuff that I have done.
“I enjoy what I do. I’m not planning on retiring.”
Music to the ears of local comic book fans who put Sauve on the same pillar as some of the greats…like Spider-Man.
