The former owner of Journey Comics in Macomb had one final wish before passing away: for the store to remain open. It appears that will happen for the late Paul Astrouski.
It is somewhere for kids to hangout, to do something without bugging their parents or getting into trouble.
Comic book fans have been coming to Journey Comics for almost 35 years and Astrouski knew they would not be ready to say goodbye anytime soon.
That is especially true for long-time customer Brandon Thompson, who has been an avid customer since he was about six years old.
Astrouski's death last month appeared to be the final chapter for the store until Thompson and a partner purchased it, thus saving it from a bitter end.
Thompson said it was an important place to him while growing up.
"When you're a kid and you say, 'oh, we're out of school, what do we do now? Let's go read comics, or play games,'" Thompson said. "It is somewhere for kids to hangout, to do something without bugging their parents or getting into trouble."
Thompson said Astrouski had one more wish: that the name Journey Comics die with him. Thompson said he and his partner will change the name of the store, but he would not reveal it to build suspense.
The new owners have almost everything together so they can officially re-open the store with its new name. They are waiting to receive a business license before renovating some of the store's fixtures.
Thompson said one idea is to mainstream the store, a little bit, so they can target not just comic fans, but more families.
The store is located in Macomb on North Lafayette Street.
