There's nothing else like it in State College. College students, young children and professionals shop there.

In an industry where stores fizzle as quickly as they pop up Comic Swap, 110 S. Fraser St., has stood the test of time.

Before Comic Swap came into existence, it was a used bookstore called Book Swap that was started in 1976 by former owner Lane Carpenter. Book Swap carried comic books in addition to the assortment of used books but did not focus on the comics until 1992.

According to Kris Boose, current owner of Comic Swap, half of the current store space was an old camera store. When the camera store left, Carpenter bought the space and created two separate stores with two separate entrances. One still sold books, while the other sold comic books.

In 1993, Carpenter was diagnosed with cancer and offered to sell the comic store to Boose, his then employee. Boose bought the comic store and the owners of Webster's Bookstore Café, 128 S. Allen St., bought the bookstore. Boose was then able to expand the comic store to its current capacity. This past January, Comic Swap became incorporated.

"I've seen half of a dozen other stores crop up and disappear," Boose said. "We have a history here and a good customer base spread by word of mouth."

Seth Blazer (senior-film and video) shops at Comic Swap because he is happy with the selection and service he gets when he shops there.

"They're very friendly there, and everyone knows your name," Blazer said. "And they keep an eye out for things you like."

Comic Swap has a very personalized subscription policy. Customers fill out a list of titles they are interested in and Boose creates a folder for them. When an order comes in, customers can simply come in and pick up their already sorted order.

"Hopefully it makes it easier for the customers," Boose said. "We're dragging the store into the computer age kicking and screaming by streamlining all of our information into a database."

Although primary customers are male college students like Blazer, young and old alike of different ethnicity shop there on a regular basis.

According to Boose, Penn State professors even frequent the store.

Both Boose and Blazer were first exposed to comic books at a very young age. Boose's father gave him his first comic when he was about three or four years old and would read to him at night.

"I would buy them with my allowance and just read the pictures at the time," he said. "I loved the colorful characters in them."

Blazer read them since he was very young, but didn't really become an avid reader until he was about 13 years old. He had recently cut back on his collecting of comic books, as he doesn't even really know how many he owns.

"I probably own anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 comics," he said. Now Blazer focuses his attentions mainly on the comic book Martian Manhunter.

Boose tries not to focus on collecting comic books but prefers to make the store more of a newsstand where books are shown for their readability instead of a price they can fetch if held onto.

"I like when customers come in and pick up a comic book and roll it up and shove it in their back pocket or give it to their friends," Boose said. "It should fall apart from use."

Superheroes like the X-Men, Spiderman and Batman are still fairly popular, but Boose said that more and more independent or small press comics have become popular.

According to Boose, these comics are more diverse, creative and appeal to a broader base of people.

History comic books and Goth comic books have also been on the rise.

Recently, publishers have been releasing short periodic series or book forms that have struck a popular note with people who want to "pick it up and be done with it," Boose said.

"I relate it to reading a soap opera," Blazer said. "Comic books are very episodic and hook the reader into the characters' lives."

Comics have been around in some form since the 1800s. Today the world of comic books is very much a pop culture niche and has expanded its traditional superhero plots to include fantasy tales and real life portrayals.

"The stores that are left are the ones that really enjoy what they do," Boose said. "I think comic books will be around to stay."