Meet Christine Frank | Co-Founder, Superscript Comics and Games

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christine Frank and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christine, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Around New Years 2019, I asked my husband, Elliott, what he would do for a career if he could do anything. He responded that he would open a comic shop or a record store. I thought about this response and suggested we start working toward this goal by signing up for a free class on entrepreneurship at the library. We attended together and began writing our business plan. We realized we would need a partner in this endeavor so Elliott asked his best friend, Nick, to join us in opening a comic and game store. They agreed and we spent 2019 planning to open Superscript Comics and Games in Lakewood, OH.

What should our readers know about your business?
Superscript Comics and Games is the premier tabletop game and comic shop in Northeast Ohio. We offer an inclusive, welcoming environment for people to play, engage, and connect with their favorite hobbies. Each of our staff members is an enthusiast for comics and games and have a knack for connecting people to the right game or book.

Getting to where we are today took a ton of hard work for me, my husband, Elliott, and our business partner, Nick, but we couldn’t have done any of it without our staff members Sean and Thorn and many other friends who have volunteered their time to help us overcome challenges and grow. Our community is the best part about our store and they are who have gotten us through difficulties we’ve faced from opening during a global pandemic to expanding our store to dealing with flooding.

Along the way, we’ve learned to speak up when we need help and rely on each other. It’s important that everyone feels heard and gets the support they need.

Superscript Comics and Games is a labor of love. We are three (5 including our staff) enthusiasts who truly love the business we’re in and we want you to love it too. We had to work twice as hard to build the shop of our dreams because of the pandemic, but that didn’t stop us. Ours is a story of perseverance, dedication, and community.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Lakewood is one of the best places to eat, drink, visit, and hang out! There is so much to do within such a small space. We could walk or bike to any activity so this trip will include lots of outdoor activity, walking or biking from place to place. It will have to be a summer visit. Some of the highlights for food include Frosty’s, Thai Thai, Vintage India, Eugene Kitchen, Molto Bene, Humble Wine Bar, Aladdin’s, Cilantro Taqueria, and Taco Tontos. We would definitely spend a day shopping the Bunts to Birdtown district of Madison Avenue, which includes Superscript Comics and Games, Lakewood Art Supply, Revivial, Salty Not Sweet, Magically Found, Cleveland Curiosities, Doki Doki Kawaii Shop, Apple Jax Toys, Oktober’s, and Stem Soaps. Another day could be spent at Lakewood park visiting the Solstice Steps and the newly renovated city pool. We would spend a day volunteering with the local non-profit, Lakewood Alive to help residents in need with upkeep on their homes. Each night we could walk to a different cocktail bar like Western Reserve Distillers, LBM, Bottlehouse Lakewood, Pins & Needles, and Solstice. We would definitely have to catch a couple shows and see some local bands at Mahall’s and at No Class. After all that, I think we would need a nap!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to my dad, Tom. While Elliott, Nick, and I dreamed up and built Superscript Comics and Games, my dad literally built many of the fixtures you can see in our store today. When we first told him we were going to try to open a comic and game store, his response was, “If you really make this happen, I’ll build your bookshelves.” As we got closer to our goal to open, my dad began doing research on designing comic book racks. Every vacation he and my mom took in 2019 included a stop at a local comic shop for “research.” He designed custom comic book racks and figured out how to build them as efficiently as possible to save us money as we opened our store. In 2022, we expanded our store and once again called upon his craftsmanship to design and build custom comic book drawers to make our comic back issues section a better browsing experience for our customers. Over the years he built custom shelves, table tops, and even two wooden rolling carts! When the basement of our store flooded he asked how he could help and we sent him on a 2 hour car trip to IKEA to get more shelving units for our games and graphic novels, then spent the evening helping us assemble them. Our store wouldn’t look nearly as nice as it does without his designs and workmanship. In every sense, he, along with many others, helped up build our store.

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Image Credits
Andrew Wells (photo of Nick Kratsas, Elliott Frank, and Christine Frank on a couch)