The inside story of a Black-owned comic book shop on Indy’s west side
(MIRROR INDY) — Ramone Edmundson has known for a long time that there’s power in the printed word.
His first experience with it — his origin story — happened at age 5, when he was exposed to a plastic tub full of Marvel Comics given to him by his mother’s friend. From the moment he opened the cover page of his first issue of “The Mighty Thor,” he was unable to put the comics down, reading them until they almost fell apart.
The bold, hand-lettered words and the colorful art on each page gave him the power to open up new universes where everything is possible — people can fly, technology can solve every problem and good triumphs over evil.
That power has guided Edmundson, now 51, throughout his life, helping him succeed in both of his passions: comics and education.
Edmundson is the assistant principal at Daniel Webster School 46 in West Indianapolis. He also is the proprietor of Prideland Comics & Collectibles in Speedway, which he believes is the city’s only Black-owned comic book shop.
Edmundson is helping to pass on the power of comics to others, including his own son.
“(Comic books) don’t just expand kids’ vocabularies but also their horizons — how they see the world,” he said. “They’re exposed to different scientific theories and can go to outer space, different planets, galaxies and things like that.”
Bringing more color to the comic book world
Edmundson has thousands of comic books and dozens of collectible figures for sale at his store. Some are books from major publishers, such as Marvel Comics and DC Comics, starring characters most people are familiar with, including the Avengers, Spider-Man and Batman.
Others are from lesser-known imprints, such as Latin American variants of U.S. comic books that are printed in Spanish or Portuguese, and unique titles such as Space Negro, a book about the intergalactic adventures of the last Black man in the universe.
Edmundson believes his Black-owned store helps bring in people from communities that would otherwise be left out of the comics world.
That includes customers like Edgardo Vasquez, 49, who moved from the west side of Manhattan in New York City to the west side of Indianapolis four years ago. He says having a minority-owned comic shop helps him feel more comfortable while shopping. As a Puerto Rican man, sometimes he feels like he’s being watched in other shops more than other customers.
“I come from Hell’s Kitchen, and we have all kinds over there. We all meld. We all try to survive. There’s not that much diversity here,” Vasquez said. “This place has a better vibe. It’s like a coffee shop or a barber shop.”
Potential puns about Daredevil, the hero of Hell’s Kitchen, aside, that feeling is important to Vasquez because to him, comics aren’t just about the stories printed on the page. They’re also about the memories associated with characters he’s known for decades.
“I remember when I was watching my cartoons on Saturday mornings, then reading my comics and eating cereal. When I open up one of those comics, I’m just like, ‘OK, that was a great moment,’” said Vasquez while wearing a shirt featuring another childhood favorite, the Goonies.
Using comics to teach
Edmundson graduated from Ben Davis High School and Purdue University, where he studied English.
Comics, though, were never far from his mind. While he was in college, DC introduced the Milestone Universe, four new series about Black heroes created by Black authors and other artists of color.
Characters such as Hardware and Static, superpowered Black men who used their powers to help make their communities better, inspired him to do the same.
Edmundson taught English for 12 years and used comic books to teach kids to improve their reading skills.
“The great thing about comics is that they have pictures,” Edmundson said. “So if you can’t read, most people can still follow those stories and get an idea of what’s going on. And then it also motivates them to want to learn more about what the characters are saying.”
Besides the mechanics of reading, comic books also helped him explain other educational concepts, such as themes and archetypes.
Edmundson taught his students about the monomyth, the template in storytelling that is essentially the blueprint for all adventures. The themes in Greek mythology and, later, in stories featuring Beowulf and King Arthur were adapted into modern tales with enough twists and other changes to make them feel like they’re new.
He went back to school while teaching and earned a media specialist degree, which allowed him to coordinate the types of materials students would be exposed to in libraries and media centers.
“It gave me an opportunity to marry the things I love as far as writing, literature and technology all in one and bring graphic novels and other things like that into libraries,” Edmundson said.
A family business
Edmundson decided to open what would become Prideland Comics & Collectibles about seven years ago.
He began by selling some of his personal comics and collectibles online on eBay and then set up small, temporary booths at flea markets and other places around the city. He would also attend local conventions such as Indiana Comic Con and PopCon Indy and other regional conventions in Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois.
His business was booming, so he set up a semi-permanent store at the Washington Square Mall in 2017. Prideland Comics & Collectibles was based there for about five years before relocating to Speedway. He also found success in his day job and was promoted to vice principal a year later.
But the commute, along with the taxing schedule of his day job, gave him little time to run the business. Edmundson brought in his son to help. Damani Edmundson was introduced to comics at a young age and quickly developed a love for the art form. Now, at age 28, he sells art based on the comics he grew up with at conventions around the country while also working at their store.
“I can’t remember when I wasn’t reading comics,” Damani said. “Being involved in pop culture all my life has been pretty beneficial to me.”
He remembers his father introducing him to some of his favorite comic books from his youth — comic versions of cartoon series featuring the Transformers and G.I. Joe. He also went with his father to conventions around the Midwest. And he acquired his father’s passion for art and studied it at Ivy Tech Community College and received his associate degree in fine arts.
“My father inspired me to become an artist,” Damani said. “I would watch him draw and started drawing for myself.”
For Ramone Edmundson, working with his son is a dream come true.
“It’s a great experience,” he said. “Helping people complete their collections is a great feeling. You can see the joy that they have, the gratitude.”
Location and hours
Prideland Comics & Collectibles, 5668 Crawfordsville Road Suite D, Speedway, is open noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
You can also find it online. For more information, check the Facebook page and the eBay shop.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @heyEnriqueSaenz