Comic World & Games

Comic World & Games is a comic book and game shop at 3220 Dodge Street in Dubuque, Iowa, and has been part of the local community since 1973. It carries comics, board games and card games for all ages, with Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! as its card lines, and it runs a game room for open play. It suits players who want a regular place to play Commander or Modern, and shoppers who like a store that will hunt down a specific item.

What's on the shelves

Comics are the original business, and the store keeps a large selection that runs from classic back issues to popular trade paperbacks. Anything not in stock can be special ordered.

For Magic: The Gathering, the store sells sealed product, from preconstructed Commander decks to set boxes and individual packs, along with singles. The singles inventory runs to more than 30,000 Magic cards. Yu-Gi-Oh! is the other card game carried, and board games fill out the shelves, from new takes on cult classics to limited editions.

Supplies cover sleeves, dice, play mats and deck boxes. Plenty of the accessories are made locally in Dubuque.

Weekly play

The calendar centers on Magic, with board games and role-playing alongside.

Casual Commander also runs on weekends during open play.

Organized play and special events

When a new Magic set releases, the store hosts Prerelease events and drafts. Beyond Magic, the events lineup includes a Yu-Gi-Oh! night and open play D&D, plus weekly and monthly tournaments and occasional fundraising events. The open play game room also hosts free-to-play board games, tabletop role-playing and trading card games, so players can try a game before buying it.

How the store runs

The store does not compete with the biggest discounters on price. It competes on selection and on knowing its customers: staff take the time to learn what regulars are after and work to track down rare games and classic comics.

Hours and getting there

The store is at 3220 Dodge Street, Dubuque, Iowa 52003.

The local scene

Dubuque has several other hobby shops within a short drive. Video Games Etc is about half a mile away and Coulee Cards and Gaming is about 0.6 miles away. A store called Comic World and Tri-State Baseball Cards & Shows are each about 1.5 miles away, and American Gamer is about 3.1 miles away.