Since I have moved back into the area. I have been poking around and finally thought of going looking at the three of the four Comic Book stores within about 30 min drive from my home. Comic book buying is more of a quick dash out and buy impulse buy item for me. So, a long drive to go get them would kind of kill the mood for me to buy them. I have 4 in my local area.

Screaming Monkey Comics (11 Ridge Rd, Munster, IN 46321)
3 Keys Comics (595 W Exchange St Crete, IL 60417)
Zone Comics and Games (18107 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430)
10th Planet (1686 US Highway 41, Schererville, IN 46375) The only one out of the 4 I haven't been to yet is "Zone Comics and Games", for no other reason being the last one I copied to my list of places to visit.

10th Planet

The comic book store I been to the most is the 10th Planet, for the simple reason it is the quickest and easiest for me to get too. The 10th Planet stocks new comic books and has a backstock of older comic books. But the comic book portion of the store feels very cramped to me, and I personally do not like the feeling of being crammed into a corner. The backstock items they do keep are mostly DC and Marvel related. When I spent time hunting for transformer comic books I found none, from IDW, Dreamwave, or Image books, which was a bummer for me. The backstock’s are crammed into boxes so they are hard to pull out and look at, they are roughly in alphabetical order. I don't expect stock to be in perfect order as customers are going though it regularly and just dropping stuff back where they feel like it. But it does feel like the limited space they are giving the backstock is making it harder to find what you want. This store was in a previous location which was much bigger, and I think they found a location they could afford and use so it was a tradeoff. They do have card/playing tables in the back room. The staff do not leave the desk/counter area from what I can tell you, I am not sure if it’s a rule for them or what.

Screaming Monkey Comics

I have only been to this store once. This one is a bit of a drive to get to, which is close to the IN/IL boarder, with a lot of stop lights between my home and it. It didn't help but I went around when the school busses where dropping kids off for the evening, so there was extra traffic. So, this was my problem not the business in this case. This store was large and spread out, I did like the feel of the store, it felt more open and inviting. The front desk person (Woman) was very nice and greeted me and answered my questions. They carry new and backstock comic books. They do have a large backstock area which is easy to go though. They are broken into major Company, then alphabetized, so it is much easier to find comic books. The books are not very tight in the boxes, so it does make taking them out much easier. They do have gaming tables and video games in another part of the store. I like this store more in general as things are just more open. They do offer free Wi-Fi you will need to ask for the Wi-Fi from the front desk.

3 Keys Comics

I have only been to this store once, mostly to just see what they had. This is a converted multilevel house. The business is on one level. I am not sure what are on the other levels if anything. Being a converted house, the different areas do have steps or little floor differences, so you will have to watch your footing. Being a converted house makes me think of this more of a hidden hole in the wall type place that you would pass without much thought on it, even though it’s on one of the major streets in the town. They do not sell any newly released comic books, they are a backstock only store, they do sell comics and cards. I was able to find Transformers & Green Lantern comic books which I didn’t have, which I did grab a few. They do offer free Wi-Fi, which I used because my cell coverage was weak. This feels like a place where you might find a comic book that others do not have in stock. They purchase comics and sell comic books. So, if you want to sell your comic books this might be a place you go to.