After 10 years in business The Comic Stop will come to a halt at the end of June.

A closing down sale is now on at the shop in the Emporium Building, on Front Street. Co-owner Garan Madeiros said that while he will be sad to wave goodbye to the shop and its loyal customers, he feels it is time to return to his original passion of creating stories and comic books.

The Comic Stop sells comics, magazines, graphic art books, and related card games, action figures and DVDs and first opened its doors in early 2005.

The decision to close down was influenced by a number of factors, one of which is the reduction in customers since cruise ships stopped docking alongside Front Street on a regular basis, said Mr Maderios.

“When the cruise ships stopped coming to Hamilton I noticed a drop in the number of customers. We used to get passengers from the ships and even crew members coming in,” he said.

Then came the economic downturn and the resultant departure from the Island of many guest workers.

“When people left the Island we had fewer customers,” explained Mr Madeiros. There was a further knock-on effect from the recession as many cash-strapped customers migrated to the internet to read comic books.

Mr Madeiros, who runs the shop with his wife Dawn, said The Comic Stop is still a viable business. “I’ve still got my head above water,” he explained. However, with the downward trend in customer numbers, coupled with his own desire to get back into the creative side of things, he feels the time is right to move on.

Mr Madeiros studied cartooning and graphic art at the Joe Kubert School in New Jersey, and was a pupil of the late Mr Kubert, a renowned US comic book artist.

He was also the creator of a series of six comics, entitled Contract, in 2008 and 2009, when he collaborated with other writers and illustrators.

His future plans involve working with at least one of those writers again, Bermuda novelist Kirk Outerbridge, who is an old school friend from his days at Warwick Academy.

“I want to do writing and get back into illustrating,” said Mr Madeiros.

Since opening The Comic Stop a decade ago he has seen trends and tastes change. One genre that has proved to have staying power is Walking Dead and zombie-inspired comics, which have not waned in popularity since they first appeared about five years ago. Role-playing games are also seeing something of a revival.

The shop will close at the end of June, or earlier if the current stock runs out.

Mr Madeiros said: “For the past 10 years I have loved doing this, and I’ve got to know my customers by name.

“The customers have seen the closing down sign and they understand. They are sad to see The Comic Stop go, and I’m sad to go. But I want to get back to my love of comics and storytelling and being on the creative side.”