Andrew Balderas, manager of Kaboom Comics in Weslaco, TX, tells Valley Central that he has pulled early volumes of the Dragon Ball manga off his shelves in response to a recently passed state law. Texas SB20, the “Stopping AI-Generated Child Pornography Act,” which took effect on September 1, 2025, makes it a crime to possess, access, or promote “obscene visual material” that depicts a child who appears to be under 18. The law is not limited to AI-generated images, despite the title. “When I first heard it was against AI generating inappropriate stuff like that. By all means, it doesn’t need to do that,” Balderas said. “But yeah, it is going to affect things that had no intention in that way, whatsoever.” The volumes he pulled depict the lead character, a monkey-tailed boy named Son Goku, in several nude bathing and fighting scenes that are clearly designed for comedic effect. And he’s concerned about the future: “There’s so much media nowadays, you can’t watch every single thing or read everything, so I don’t know what characters are shown inappropriately, at what ages, and whatnot,” he said.
KLAS reports that Nick Carter donated a rare copy of The Backstreet Project #1, a comic about the band produced by Stan Lee Media in 2000, to Torpedo Comics in Las Vegas, NV, and teamed up with the store to auction it off to raise funds for a local children’s organization. The store posted on its Instagram that the comic is a true rarity, one of just nine that are signed by Stan Lee and all five members of the band.
When a Hartland, WI, resident noticed some comics missing from his rented storage locker, he did an online search and found a listing for one of them, X-Men #1, on Facebook Marketplace, Fox6 reports. The seller was the manager who rented him the storage locker, Justin Hefter Wieloch, and when police searched Wieloch’s home, they found all but four of the missing comics; investigators allege he sold the X-Men comic for $8,000 on eBay. Wieloch has been charged with felony burglary and theft; because of the high value of the comics, he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The Hive Comics of Odessa, TX, is back! Owner James Laws, who closed the store in 2023 due to personal reasons and slow sales (see “Shop Talk”), has reopened in a new location. “I realized my passion is not for the actual comics or cards,” laws told KMID. “It’s the actual gameplay of the card games, it’s the reaction of people walking in the store and finding the comics they need for their collection… It’s the community of the people that come in, that’s what I enjoy.” The store carries comics, games, action figures, and other products, and Laws says he plans to set up a competitive gaming space on the store’s upper level.
A year after closing their retail store (see “Secret Headquarters Ditches Bricks & Mortar”), Secret Headquarters of Evansville, IN, is closing down completely, WEHT reports. A flood in June wiped out over half its inventory, and burglars came by a few weeks later. They had a final weekend sale the last weekend in September and will auction off whatever is left.
Blast Off Gaming has opened its doors in the Highview neighborhood of Louisville, KY, carrying a mix of video and tabletop games. Owners Hughe Blaske and Jason Downey told WLKY that they envision the store as a “third space,” a place outside of home and work where people can meet to play their favorite games.Source: ICv2
