A Twitter Conversation with Larry Doherty, owner of Larry’s Comics in Lowell, MA

26 Comments on “A Twitter Conversation with Larry Doherty, owner of Larry’s Comics in Lowell, MA”

1. 1 Phill said at 7:56 am on December 13th, 2009:

   Man, I didn’t think my opinion of a comic shop owner I’ll probably never meet could slip further, and yet…

2. 2 Euge said at 8:45 am on December 13th, 2009:

   This is also good for any potential people who might do business with Larry to know that he doesn’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re.”

3. 3 Chris said at 9:19 am on December 13th, 2009:

   Okay look. Everyone knows fatties have a code of conduct that requires you to uncontrollable desires grab at free snacks when offered. I thought everyone knew this.

   It’s part of the jolly code or something. Also upsetting is that you didn’t go all “tex avery” with the eyes when you saw the cake food.

   Shame on you, Kevin.

4. 4 Zak said at 9:55 am on December 13th, 2009:

   I say this: I met @BeaucoupKevin at NYCC a year or two ago, and he was an outstanding fellow. I would probably walk away from meeting @LarrysComics

   And he returns with: @Zakkajj he was a delight in person today as well Zack. It’s when he got home, locked his door. Chubby grew balls

   I’m rather glad I haven’t encountered any shop owners in my area that are as big a jerk as Larry has come off over the past 24 hours. It might actually be interesting to keep an eye on his business from this point.

5. 5 Nate said at 11:18 am on December 13th, 2009:

   Larry made it pretty clear that Kevin made a mistake when he opted not to jump the table and shove that snack cake where the sun don’t shine. I hope Kevin learned his lesson. Next time, rather than expressing annoyance via twitter, he needs to go ahead and lash out violently when insulted.

6. 6 Sallyp said at 11:47 am on December 13th, 2009:

   Yeah. Between Ragnell’s encounter with him, and your run-in, this guy comes off as a real peach.

   Unlike MY comic book store owner, who is a sweetheart.

7. 7 Roel Torres said at 12:14 pm on December 13th, 2009:

   I’ve shared many meals with Kevin. And I’ve spent many hours with him, both reading his work over the internet, and in person. I just want to point out that I have never seen him act like a jerk when food was offered. And I have actually found him to be much more of a personality in real life than over the net. I don’t really feel like Kevin needs much of a defense, but I just wanted to add my personal experiences to the conversation.

8. 8 Wrye said at 1:27 pm on December 13th, 2009:

   I was reminded of a time years ago when some then-friends of mine dangled a piece of fudge on a fishing line in front of me, (a balcony over a comic store entrance was involved) and then were all pretty offended when I didn’t instantly grab for it. (Mouth first, I presume) Because that would have been high-larious, don’tcha know.

   Larry puzzles me. I’ve encountered his type in business, too, and they’re just as baffling there as well.

9. 9 Les McClaine said at 1:37 pm on December 13th, 2009:

   One time I offered Kevin a Ding Dong. He gutshot me and left me for dead.

10. 10 Chris Sims said at 2:08 pm on December 13th, 2009:

    I cracked a joke about Larry contacting his congressman and hauling Kevin to Internet Court–for those of you who don’t know, after Ragnell, who is serving in the Armed Forces overseas, called him an idiot, he threatened to sue her for libel and call his congressman to have her punished–and he responded with some sycophantic nonsense, so I told him to fuck off.

    Then he threatened to “fill the ear” of Scott Wegener about me next time he sees him.

11. 11 Doc Arkham said at 8:29 pm on December 13th, 2009:

    “@BeaucoupKevin your from new England chump. You know damn well how my shop ranks, and what it stands for. Ask YOUR retailer what they think
    about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin.”

    I asked my retailer what he thought. He shook his head and laughed.

    He thinks Larry is a laughingstock among retailers nationwide. He’s considered to be something of an idiot savant of comics retailers – light on the savant, heavy on the idiot. He thinks it’s amazing that he’s still in business.

    Perhaps Larry may want to consider another focus group to survey…

12. 12 Maxo said at 12:28 am on December 14th, 2009:

    How is this guy still in business? He’s immature, obviously insecure and apparently completely unaware of the kind of impression he makes.

    Kudos for keeping your end of the conversation on the high road, Kevin!

13. 13 Rich Handley said at 10:30 am on December 14th, 2009:

    Holy cow…this guy sounds like a complete and total douchebag.

14. 14 mightygodking said at 3:17 pm on December 14th, 2009:

    Is it just me, or does this dude sound like the real-life version of Comic Book Guy? I mean, yeah, on some level we’re all Comic Book Guy, but this guy is really Comic Book Guy, you know?

15. 15 Bill D. said at 4:41 pm on December 14th, 2009:

    At first I thought if maybe everyone just ignored the guy, he’d go away, but the more I read, the more I’m convinced he’d just assume he won and then get even more obnoxious somehow.

    So right. Smart, clever, grammatically correct public humiliation it is then. As you were, people.

16. 16 Scott said at 4:55 pm on December 14th, 2009:

    From the sound of it, Doherty wants to become the comics world’s go-to guy for fuckneckery.

    I wonder how long it’ll be before he gets arrested for something. His kind always seems to be pulling some illegal scheme under the table…

17. 17 Michael said at 5:22 pm on December 14th, 2009:

    “for those of you who don’t know, after Ragnell, who is serving in the Armed Forces overseas, called him an idiot, he threatened to sue her for libel and call his congressman to have her punished”

    Sounds like Larry is unaware that truth is a defense in libel cases.

    “Never argue with a fool; onlookers may lose the ability to tell the difference.” – Mark Twain

18. 18 Paperghost said at 6:02 pm on December 14th, 2009:

    I had a really long and involved post, but frankly I’m still baffled by the whole thing and God only knows what the person Kevin was with was thinking (aside from wtf is going on, of course). Kudos to you for dealing with a really bizarre and unnecessary “event” the way you did.

    All I can say is I’m 110% convinced whose recollection I believe, and it’s not the comic store guy with the surreal line in WORST. MARKETING. EVER.

19. 19 Alexa said at 7:29 pm on December 14th, 2009:

    Yeah, I had a minor confrontation with him on Bleeding Cool recently. He just plain doesn’t understand the concept of “representing your business” and “acting professionally”.

    I’ve talked to my Boston-based LCS guy about Larry, and he just said “You know, he’s not that bad in person.” Guess I’ll need to point him in your direction.

20. 20 Superecwfan1 said at 1:34 pm on December 15th, 2009:

    I don’t really know this Larry or his stores. Or the stories that have came out recently. So all I can judge by this is the insanity involving a snack cake.

    In all its doubtful I’ll ever be in his stores . But I’m shaking my head puzzled why this SNACKGATE situation happened.

21. 21 Raman said at 3:46 pm on December 15th, 2009:

    I’m sorry to hear that you were faced with such rude behavior and then *this*. I personally wasn’t put-off by your response, for the most part you were fairly level! Moreover by including the “shithead” comment and then acknowledging that this was bad form I respect you even more now. It takes a lot to step back and check yourself in situations like these. Rock on Kevin, and brush your shoulder off.

22. 22 William Gatevackes said at 7:08 pm on December 15th, 2009:

    A couple of comments:

    1. The whole exchange reads like an Abbott and Costello routine gone horribly wrong.

    2. Not that it matters, but I knew of you way before I even heard of him. I’d image the same goes as well for a lot of people. So, if anybody is getting fame from this little encounter, it’s him.

    3. The more I hear about the guy, the less I ever want to every come near his store.

23. 23 D Senosco said at 11:56 pm on December 15th, 2009:

    Satan knows nobody asked, but you used 21 tweets VS. 13 to “win” this comic-snack-Fatfest-royale. Comedy.
    Next time take a neutral/Swiss like stance from Homer J. Simpson’s Brain: “Keep looking shocked, and move slowly towards/(away) from the cake.”
    Why make this post? Well, I think it’s one part I agree with Michael’s Mark Twain reply and one part life’s too short etc.
    But one part to vote for further escalation. This shit is 100%, uncut, pure grade AA, GOLD to read

24. 24 Garth said at 8:18 am on December 16th, 2009:

    I wasn’t on Twitter when you posted all those comments, but I wish I had been so I could have chimed in.
    I was at my table, just a few down from you, and he offered me some snack cakes too. Ding Dongs maybe? I didn’t want them, whatever they were. I said “No, thanks.”, but he kept prodding me, saying “C’mon man, I know you want it!” until I said “NO!” forcefully.
    He didn’t outright call me “fat boy”, but it was certainly implied.
    Overall, nice intent but poorly executed.

25. 25 penny said at 2:46 pm on October 21st, 2010:

    Larry is such a douche bag….he recently had a sale and when I wanted to purchase something on sale he refused to sell it to me because I didn’t want to buy any wall books. This guy is a real piece of work.

26. 26 Kevin Huxford said at 12:23 am on October 29th, 2010:

    Last night’s Twitter War brought this post back up. It’s the first time I saw this post, for which I’m thankful. I was always desperately curious to know what retailer you were offering biting criticism of based on their newsletter. Now I know!