It all began in 1988 when comic book fan Michael Malve opened Bubba's Comic Store in Phoenix. Following a successful opening year, Mike moved the business to Mesa, renaming it Atomic Comics and forever changing the face of comics retailing in Phoenix. Instilling Atomic with an attitude of helpful customer service and product diversity enabled Mike to build and offer a new kind of comic book store, wholeheartedly different from the traditional "Android Dungeon"-type store. This fresh new attitude allowed the mainstream public to experience the thrill and adventure of comics and gaming without having to enter the dreaded "comic store."
In the spring of 1993, Atomic Phoenix opened in the outer loop of the Metrocenter Mall in north Phoenix, making Atomic's services easily accessible to residents of the northwest Valley of the Sun.
Atomic Chandler was opened in the fall of 1997 in the southeast part of the Phoenix area. This location, being based in a very heavy residential area, quickly came to focus on a much younger crowd and families. This has enabled the entirety of the company to learn and expand upon its ability to seek out and get new fans into our wonderful industry.
The most recent addition to the Atomic family was opened in the fall of 2001 in the Paradise Valley area. The new PV store presented Atomic with the opportunity to start off with a modern approach to displaying its merchandise and the experiment has been extremely successful.
In December of 2002 the Chandler store was relocated to the upscale Chandler Fashion Center mall. Investing considerable dollars, Atomic Chandler presents an even more professional and stylized image to the mainstream public the goal: prove that comics are fun for everyone!
Since the beginning, much of Atomic's effort has gone into refining our services and product selection, and we now take pride in the fact that we are the southwest's largest comic superstore chain. We invite everyone of all ages from all walks of life to visit any of our stores -- we promise that we have something interesting for everyone.