Time Tunnel Comics

Time Tunnel Comics is an independent comic shop in Hickory, North Carolina, that has carried Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! alongside its comics since opening in 2001. It sits at 265 2nd Ave SE in the Village Corners shopping center, on the edge of downtown. It suits comic readers who want new issues and back stock under one roof, card players who want singles and supplies, and collectors who like to browse figures and old toys.

What's on the shelves

Comics are the core. The store carries new releases, sorted back issues and a back board of key and desirable issues, plus hundreds of trade paperbacks and collected editions. Readers who never want to miss an ongoing series can set up a subscription.

The card side grew out of the owners' own habits. The founders were longtime Magic players, and when Magic sold quickly they added more stock; Yu-Gi-Oh! followed soon after as customers asked for it. The store stocks card singles, accessories and dice, along with comic supplies. Collectible figures fill out the floor, including Pop figures, Marvel Legends and Selects, DC Direct and Multiverse lines, and the stock extends to action figures, old toys and vintage Star Wars items.

The store also publishes its own retailer-exclusive variant covers, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Conan the Barbarian issues, and it sells online as well.

Hours and getting there

The shop sits right on the outskirts of downtown Hickory and is easy to reach from downtown and Highway 127.

History

The store opened in 2001 as a 500 square foot space in a strip mall on Springs Road, started by a father and son who wanted an old-style neighborhood comic shop in the mold of the 1970s and 80s. Hickory's largest comic shop, long located in Valley Hills Mall, had just closed. As stock piled up, gaming tournaments had to wait until after closing time, and in 2003 the store moved across town to a space two and a half times bigger in Hickory Corners Shopping Center.

In January 2018, at the start of its 17th year, a longtime employee took over from the founders and moved the store to its third location, its current address. The name comes from a short-lived 1960s science fiction TV show, and the store leans into it: a shopper can buy a 50-year-old comic or a brand-new one, and pick up gaming cards that have been out of print for years.

Shows and conventions

The store co-sponsors the twice-yearly Hickory Con comic shows and runs shows of its own. Time Tunnel Comic Con is scheduled for July 11, 2026, from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Brookford Community Building, 1700 S Center St in Hickory. General admission is $5, and kids 15 and under get in free. The show features vendors selling comics, Pops, cards and figures, and a cosplay contest with a $5 registration and prizes for top entrants. Dealer tables are $60 for an 8-foot table, $40 for craft tables and $20 for artist tables.

A winter show, Conover Comic Con, ran December 6, 2025, at the Comfort Inn on Fairgrove Church Road in Conover, with about 35 tables of comic vendors, craft tables, toys and cards, plus food trucks on site. Admission was $5 for ages 16 and up. Setting up at other conventions is also how the store keeps its back issue bins full.

The local scene

Hickory has several other options for comics and collectibles, including Far Out Comics Retro and Collectibles about half a mile away, and Hobby Town USA and Comics & Toys a little over two miles out. For a card show, the Village Inn Card Show from Grail Card Promotions, about 57 miles away, next starts November 28, 2026.