Louisiana’s Double Play general manager Otto Zoller among the shop’s expansive collection of comic books, cards and collectibles. Photo by Collin Richie.
Even in the digital era, this Baton Rouge comic book shop is still going strong
Editor’s note: This story has been updated since its original posting to reflect that Double Play is no longer the only comic book shop in Baton Rouge. Southeast Cards & Comics, which flooded in August, has reopened at 5229 Government St. Find them at facebook.com/southeast.cardscomics.
Otto Zoller can find the comic book you want and get you checked out in 15 seconds or less.
It happens all day. A customer comes into the comic book shop he manages and asks for a specific issue; Zoller finds it immediately, and the shopper is out the door.
Great and fast service is a virtue, he says. Zoller, 44, is the general manager of Louisiana’s Double Play. It’s the only comic book store remaining in Baton Rouge.
“I remember growing up, there were four or five comic book shops here,” he says. “Now, it’s just us.”
Despite the popularity of superhero movie franchises and TV shows, comic book stores have gone the way of mom-and-pop bookstores as readers turn to online retailers. But that hasn’t stopped Double Play nor Zoller’s commitment to his customers.
Today, he’s wearing his typical uniform: a Justice League shirt adorned with Batman, The Flash, Superman and Green Lantern. His long brown hair is held back in a ponytail.
It’s 6:30 p.m. on a Thursday evening, and the shop closes in 30 minutes. Zoller’s big motorcycle sits outside, calling to him. But he’s happy to wait for customers he can help for as long as he can.
“People always laugh and say, ‘Your name is Otto and you have long hair and a motorcycle—a walking cliche,’” Zoller says in his wry tone. Fittingly, three of his most favorite comic book characters are Ghost Rider, Batman and the Punisher. “When it comes to comics, if it’s got a motorcycle, a bat or a skull, I’m there.”
Zoller’s love for reading comics, like that of plenty other comic book fans, developed when he was just a child.
Every week, his mother would purchase the latest Spider-Man comic book and read it to him. He loved sharing the adventures of Peter Parker with her. He felt like he could be anything—like maybe one day he could be bitten by a radioactive spider and become a superhero.
Today, Zoller remembers fondly the bright colors and campy dialogue of those Spider-Man comics as he stocks Double Play’s shelves full of merchandise.
Tucked into a small retail space on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard, Double Play has a huge selection of just about every comic one could ask for. It also sells Magic: The Gathering cards and collectible figurines. It has a giant backstock of comics from the Silver Age, a widely regarded era of quality comic books from the mid-’50s to the ’70s.
As a comic book store general manager, Zoller hears it all the time: The industry’s dying, no one reads comics anymore, people only care about superhero movies and TV shows.
But Zoller doesn’t buy any of that—especially when the store has managed to cultivate an enthusiastic and loyal customer base through the years. Some customers visit from out of state and even out of the country just to purchase or order from Double Play’s selection.
Against the odds, the shop endures.
“There’s nothing like reading a comic book—the feel, the texture,” Zoller says. “Whether it’s a comic book movie or television show or even a digital comic copy, it’s just not the same as the physical thing.”
Though the generation of people who read those earlier comics as kids is now much older, Zoller says they bring their own children to Double Play to have that same experience.
“Long after I’m gone, and long after the owner’s gone, this place and places like it will still be around,” Zoller says. “Comics will never end. The industry will never die. That’s for sure.” facebook.com/LADoublePlay
This article was originally published in the December 2016 issue of 225 Magazine.
