Welcome to PunkRockComics.com! My name is Eric and I’d like to introduce you to the comic “hobby” business and character, Punk Rock Robot, that I created in 2022, and give you a little history about the concept and character that was born out of it.
Punk Rock Comics actually started in the summer of 2022 as the name of my “pop up shop” – a small vendor room I rent – inside of the wonderful used book store in Woodstown, NJ called Barney Loves Books.
As a life-long comic book, toy/action figure, sports card, and music fan, I for years toyed with the idea of one day having a retail store of my own – my “retirement” store where I could surround myself with all the silly things that put a smile on my face.
Growing up I was a huge comic book and toy collector, and almost purchased a store at the age of 18 (I had no clue what I was doing). As I entered my 20’s and I became obsessed with tech and becoming a “real” entrepreneur, I grew out of my collecting years and sold all of my “silly” toys and comics.
Over the years I would continue to visit comic shops here and there and stay somewhat connected to my hobby – I never lost the love for it – and in 2004 actually started designing my own action figure line, all based on the concept of nostalgia – that’s the key to really understanding what would eventually spawn the idea of Punk Rock Robot.
Anywho, in the summer of 2022 I started selling comic books and toys (a wonderful collection of toys loaned on consignment from a local friend) and began “toying” – pun intended – with ideas for what to call the spot. I called the room “Punk Rock Comics & Gifts”.
My concept was simple – I wanted to treat the location like a “gift shop” – something that would make more sense in my little small town community – a place where one would go to find a gift for fans of pop-culture collectables. From the jump this was never considered to be a “business” that I would make money from – it was just something fun for me to do, a way to enjoy my old hobby with my community. I really don’t “collect” these things much any more and it was a way for me to find and curate cool stuff and have a place for me to put it, enjoy it for a week, and then hopefully find a home with another local collector.
As someone who has 20 years of digital media experience, I love developing concepts for businesses and brands, and changed the name quickly to “Punk Rock Robot” (and back again to it’s current name later!). Over the next several months I worked on a design – I wanted something I could slap on t-shirts and merchandise – and after working with several designers had a pretty neat logo.
If you look closely, you’ll see it’s a mashup of Batman, the Spawn “skull”, and silly robot antenna from old cheesy 1950’s robot toys / designs. You’ll also notice the “ribbon” behind the logo again to drive home the “gift” concept.
With the logo in hand, and the holidays around the corner, I started making little DIY packages for the toys I was selling in the store – harking back to my love for action figure packaging. For Christmas of 2022 the store was filled with fun “Christmas” packages for loose action figures, which were placed in clam shells with the Punk Rock Robot stickers. I also put little gift tags on larger items and decorated the store to really give it a “gift shop” vibe.
In addition along with some help from friends, I came up with the first “X-Mas Mystery Box”. About 10 boxes hit the store before I got sick with Covid, and never really got to promote or sell as many as I would have liked to. I invested a pretty penny on all the supplies to create the boxes, which were hand painted, but the idea never really took off the way I wanted to. It was still fun working on the project which again is the whole point of this entire project!
During a little break from worrying about (and spending money) on the store, I jokingly came up with a loose idea for a Punk Rock Robot character based on the logo. I did some doodles over Christmas of a robot character dressed up like Santa, but by spring I had a legit concept – a robot that travels back in time to learn the true meaning of punk rock, with the idea being that in the comic book (and eventually a cartoon / movie / etc) the Punk Rock Robot character lands in London in the 70’s punk rock music scene, and continues to time-travel around to experience the different decades of punk rock music and influences.
The concept is again one of nostalgia – both in the art and the music – using a story and characters to re-visit music and art from the 60’s – present.
It was during this time that a friend of mine put me in touch with a professional comic book artist, and I had 2 different designs commissioned. The artist took my concepts and created some really awesome looking pin-ups, which brings us to where we are today – putting together a team of investors and partners to help pitch the Punk Rock Robot concept and get an initial comic book series created, with an eventual goal to further develop the IP into possible film, TV, and merchandise.
In the meantime, if you’re local to Woodstown, NJ, stop by the pop-up shop to again feel the nostalgia of all the neat comic books, toys, vinyl records and more that we have for sale. It’s more of an art installation in itself than a bustling store, but we do have new X-Mas Mystery boxed going out for sale this Christmas along with gift bags for your nerd loved-ones.
Stay tuned for more updates on the IP and developments in our comic book launch!