Comic Relief. Photo courtesy of Allan Ferguson.

Comic Relief, the iconic comic book store on Shattuck Avenue, closed its doors yesterday. The closing has been likely for months, with reduced business and staff turnover following the death of founder Rory Root two years ago. Berkeleysider Christopher Allen pointed us to a tribute to the store on Shannon A’s blog. Shannon suggests that science fiction specialist Dark Carnival plans to reopen the store under a different name if they can secure the lease.

Lance Knobel (Berkeleyside co-founder) has been a journalist for nearly 40 years. Much of his career was in business journalism. He was editor-in-chief of both Management Today, the leading business magazine...