Help Gulf Coast Cosmos open our Store Front
Hey y'all & Howdy,
We are Byron Canady & Sharmane Fury of Gulf Coast Cosmos Comicbook Co.
Gulf Coast Cosmos (GCC) is a Houston-based comic book retailer who believes comics are for EVERYONE! Our mission and philosophy are to balance the cosmic vibe of the comic book industry/culture for comic book lovers everywhere. Our motto is "For the comics. For the culture."
We hope you will join us in the campaign to raise funds to convert our current e-commerce store to a friendly neighborhood brick-and-mortar shop.
Towards the end of 2019, we began working on our plan to create what we believe to be the FIRST and possibly ONLY Black, Blasian, and Queer-owned comic book shop in the state of Texas (for sure) but probably of the whole cosmos. With support from the Emancipation Economic Development Council and the University of Houston, we were getting ready to open our doors in the summer of 2020... but then daRona hit!
The vital COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place mandates created a lot of uncertainty last year and as with many businesses, it impacted our ability to stay on plan to open our shop for summer 2020. So what did we do? We went back to the drawing board, re-tooled our plan and launched Gulf Coast Cosmos on time but as an
e-commerce business instead. On August 15, 2020, www.GulfCoastCosmos.com went live!
What is Gulf Coast Cosmos all about?
For the comics. For the culture.
For the comics: We sell an extensive collection of independent & major publication comic books, fan art, gift items, apparel, and collectibles.
For the culture: Whether you're a Brown human, Green Mutant, Black demigod or a Red metahuman YOUR representation truly matters here. Gulf Coast Cosmos Comics provides quality, one-of-a-kind products, and events in a fun and inclusive atmosphere.
Who are the Gulf Coast Cosmos Cosmic Leaders?
BYRON CANADY -Founder, Co-Owner, CEO
Superpowers: Visual Content Creator, Big-headed Idea Projection & Cosmic Connector of the Dots
Origin Story: From the first Spider-man comic book multi-pack given to him by his dad, eight-year-old Byron was immediately bitten by the comic book bug. Since then Byron has actively sought other blerds like himself to be super friends with. Through his uncanny ability to network and see the good in every outcome, used his powers for good by empowering others, and for comic book collecting. With each opportunity, Byron hones his skills as a dream builder all while watching...empowering...connecting...
When he’s not reading comics, Byron enjoys digital content, television shows and movies -comic book related, of course.
SHARMANE FURY - Co-Owner, COO
Superpowers: Audio Podcaster Supreme, Twelfth level Multi-tasker & Mystic Wielder of the Reality Check Stone
Origin Story: As a child, Sharmane was transported to an alternate universe by picking up a comic book from the spinner rack in the local Korean corner store. In this alternate universe, she was imbued with incredible superpowers. Yet, because society is dumb, she knew could not reveal her true identity, not even those closest to her, as a comic book fan...That was then and lessons were learned. With great power comes great responsibility and so Sharmane became the quintessential champion and official speaker-upper of all things underrepresented in the comic industry.
The walls of Sharmane’s Fortress of Blerditude are reinforced with Comic fan art, collectibles, and cosmic portals.
How much are we trying to raise? What will the funds be used for?
We are asking for $5,500 to get started. We know that sounds like a lot of money but it is actually just enough to secure the lease for our store front while we continue to seek alternative funding opportunities for the basic build-out for our comic book shop. Byron and Sharmane are personally investing a lot in this Gulf Coast Cosmos because having a comic book shop is a dream-turned reality for both of us, but we still need your help for the GCC mission to be fully realized. Coming out of the heaviest part of the pandemic, it’s a scary time to open the brick + mortar but we are committed to being a safe and inclusive community place. We want this to be a place that we all build together.
Your support will help us:
+ Secure our permanent location
+ Paint a mural
+ Build displays
+ Build a register and purchase a point-of-sale system
+ Design and build signage
+ Purchase furniture and lighting
+ Purchase and prepare our inventory
+ Purchase inventory from other sustainable, women, LGBTQ+, and minority-owned small businesses
+ Purchase non-glamorous necessities like packaging, shipping, and cleaning supplies
+ Purchase things we haven’t thought of yet but will need
+ Support our effort to go plastic-free!
What will we do if we raise more than our original goal?
If we are able to raise more than our base goal, we will be able to increase inventory, purchase additional equipment, and add the S.T.E.A.M and Reading Literacy through comics programming that we are eager to bring to the community.
What is our timeline?
We are looking to secure a great location on Emancipation Avenue by August 1st with the hopes of having our grand opening in the Fall of 2021. This is a reasonable timeline because we have been running Gulf Coast Cosmos online effectively for 10 months now. And not only have we been running our e-commerce shop for the last 10 months, back in March we began hosting POP-UP shops at the EEDC offices (2320 Elgin Street) and Day Six Coffee Co. (910 Prairie St ). Finally getting to see our customers in person has made us even more excited about securing our own location this summer.
March 2021 Pop-Ups
We thank you in advance for your donation and for joining our mission to bring comics and culture to the cosmos!
Byron & Sharmane
