Meltdown Comics, a much loved landmark in Los Angeles and the origin of “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail,” will close its doors for the last time March 30.
Meltdown founder Gaston Dominguez-Letelier announced the news in a post to the shop’s official blog Wednesday.
“As is the case with all good things, at some point they must come to an end,” Dominguez-Letelier wrote. “Meltdown Comics is no exception to this rule and so, after 25 years coveting every comic treasure we could lay our hands on, I’m sharing that on March 30th I’ll be closing our doors for the final time.”
Founded in 1993 as a hub for comic book and geek culture, Meltdown also became an integral part of the comedy scene in L.A. The shop was host to the NerdMelt Showroom, a small stage formed as a joint venture with Nerdist, which provided a launchpad for alternative comedy. “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail,” conceived by Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon, and Jonah Ray, was filmed from the Showroom from 2010-2016, and became a Comedy Central series that lasted three seasons from 2014-2016.
Ray paid tribute to the store in a post to Instagram.
“8years ago [Dominguez-Letelier] told me to start my own monthly comedy show in the back room of [Meltdown Comics]. So I did,” his post begins. He goes on to reminisce on how Meltdown inspired his comedic journey and led to the creation of “The Meltdown.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgm0w_agc1K/?taken-by=jonahray
See more reactions from comedians and comics fans below.
Sorry to hear about @MeltdownComics. Reckon I’ll have to hurry up and use that $20 dollar gift certificate @emilyvgordon or @kumailn or @jonahray once gave me for going up there. Always smart eager fun crowds to try stuff out. ✌🏾
— Jeff Ross (@realjeffreyross) March 22, 2018
This is me looking nuts on the floor of the NerdMelt greenroom, opening for @weismanjake’s show. Meltdown was a gift and a home to so many comics. Walking the racks, recording podcasts, doing shows – LA is about to shift seismically. We’ll be ok, but we’ll be different. pic.twitter.com/kEBWJ4h33c
— Eliza Skinner – album availble now (@elizaskinner) March 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/ericMesquivel/status/976649042405990400
WHAT?!
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) March 22, 2018
#Meltdown cultivated my love of comics throughout my childhood. These guys were the first I told when I booked jughead on Riverdale. I interned here before college, they ushered me into photography, and clapped when I went back into acting. I’ll miss melt https://t.co/MrK98L1pIN
— Cole M. Sprouse (@colesprouse) March 22, 2018
Dominguez-Letelier’s full statement is below.
To The City of Angels,
As is the case with all good things, at some point they must come to an end. Meltdown Comics is no exception to this rule and so, after 25 years coveting every comic treasure we could lay our hands on, I’m sharing that on March 30th I’ll be closing our doors for the final time.
No business is easy, least of all one rooted in paper surrounded by brick and mortar, yet against all odds we survived just long enough to host, share, and celebrate some of the most creative and imaginative artists in the world. It has been my personal privilege to welcome so many incredibly talented minds through our doors giving them and their work a home in this great city of ours.
And what a wonderfully surreal run it’s been… we’ve watched every fad, trend, and next big thing come and go while customers became celebrities, children blossomed to adults, geeks morphed into moguls, and fanboys scored Oscars. Throughout it all, I’ve been most fortunate to be surrounded by my family and the best staff anyone could have ever wished for – through thick and thin you supported Meltdown and invested in me, I will never be able to repay you but know that I am eternally grateful and forever in your debt.
As I prepare to extinguish Sunset’s neon know that there is a new path for me (more later) and I close Meltdown without any regret. For 25 years I have been enriched by every inquisitive mind I have encountered on this journey and for that I humbly thank you, all of you.
In signing off, I urge you all to continue creating comics, buying comics, and supporting the comic book world that has given us all so much over the years.
For one last time, #LetsgoMELTDOWN!
Thank you, LA
Sincerely,
Gaston DL
Meltdown Comics
October 26, 1993 – April 1, 2018