Brittany Kelley
KYLE — Long before the idea of the storefront location of Grand Central Comics, was Will Johnson’s love for comics.
At a young age, Will was enthusiastic about art, particularly in creating it. So, when a family member handed him a stack of comics at 8 years old and told him to study the style, he did.
“It was Spider-man and then, it was ‘X-Men.’ Then, it was a book called ‘Legion of Super-heroes,’ [which] is a group of young superheroes from the future,” Will said, recalling what art specifically stuck out to him. “It was this cool team led by Superboy. So, as an 8-year-old, I saw a bunch of basically teenagers fighting crime and flying around and doing cool stuff and that’s what I gravitated towards … It just stuck with me for the rest of my life.”
From then on, he became infatuated with the medium. He explained that there’s no other entertainment opportunity that both provides new art and storylines weekly, which is what makes it special.
His collection continued to grow, even throughout his eight-year stint in the United States Army, when he noticed that comic-lovers online frequently wanted copies that he had. This became his first interaction with selling comics in 2001.
Despite his initial foray into the business, he ended up stepping away from reading comics for a long period of time, until the world shut down in 2020 from the COVID-19 pandemic.
While sitting at the house during lockdown, he decided to Google, “What are the top 10 comic books I should pick up and read?” Instead of lists of recommendations, there were only the top-selling comics. Will wanted to find the books that were going to be big, not that already were. So, he created the list himself.
For five years, Will has put out a Top 10 Final Order, where he curates a list of upcoming comic books by doing research on publishers' upcoming releases and suggests titles that fans should preorder, prior to them becoming popular. The fans that have listened to him, he said, often find themselves snagging a comic before its marketplace rate skyrockets.
“‘D’Orc’ number one came out two weeks ago. On the cover, it says $3.99, [but] online it was selling for $50. If they had looked at my list, they would have saw that it came out and they could have got it before it hit the shelf,” he said.
Since then, his lists have cultivated a following on Instagram and, now, he noted that people swear by his lists.
Comics, once again, became a part of Will’s life after creating his lists, but while visiting storefronts throughout Austin, he noticed the lack of availability within Hays County.
In November 2025, Will turned to his wife, Jessica Johnson, and suggested creating a comic book store to sell some of the books they had been putting up online.
Currently, there is only one other comic book store, located in San Marcos, and while he praised the company on its tenure and kindness, he “didn’t like driving 20 minutes” to get there and the same with stores in Austin. So, Will decided that he would be the one to mend the gap.
“It feels like it needed to be done [and] I felt like I was the man to do it,” he stated.
The whole process was a whirlwind, said Will, as he secured funding, found the location and held his grand opening less than five months after the initial idea.
Will emphasized that, when curating the building's interior, he built the comic book store that he would like to see when he walked in. This includes an entire wall dedicated to new releases, with each cover variant available. Older editions are housed on the opposite wall and in the center, there are collections of comics, whether that be entire storylines sold as volumes, trade paperbacks, hardcovers, compendiums — a high-volume collection of stories — or graphic novels.
In addition to comics, the store has posters and will begin to stock Funko Pops and Pokémon cards, but Will stressed that the priority will always be the books.
“I really did a lot of research into: who has what, where is there a need to be filled and where is there going to be a niche. We figured it out [and] we just need a store that’s mostly just comic books,” he said.
On Wednesday, March 11, co-owners Jessica and Will cut the ribbon, alongside members of the Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce, to celebrate the first day of Grand Central Comics.
The turnout was great, he explained, noting that Wednesdays are release days for comics, so those that knew, were waiting. Besides being grateful, he was surprised at how many comic book fans were in the area, waiting for a storefront location. The number one comment he got was that comic-lovers were ecstatic to know that there was now a location so close to home.
While touring the new building, Will noted that, yes, they will be stocking Marvel and D.C. comics, but there are also independent publications that have good stories to tell.
For example, the store carries “D’Orc,” which Will said is the number one seller in the industry right now.
“It’s actually a comedy action adventure book, but it’s got some violence to it. It’s got some dark humor, so he’s got levels to it. He’s a half dwarf, half orc — that’s the comedy slant,” explained Will. “People love the style. They love the humor.”
Clearly in his element, he continued on, recommending his favorite comic at the moment: “Absolute Batman.”
“He basically took the entire ‘Batman’ mythos and just completely rewrote it. So, everyone knows Batman. His parents, Bruce Wayne’s, parents got shot. He inherited billions of dollars. Not this guy. This guy is just a regular Joe, a construction worker who lives with his mom. He decides one day that he’s going to become Batman and the rest is history,” he gushed. “It’s just a whole different, crazy storyline. It’s insane and people love it.”
There’s many things to love about comics, but Will shared that his favorite part is that there is a story for everyone, even his church-going mom, he said, laughing.
Customers of the store can subscribe to comics, to ensure that they never miss an edition, or get a “pull list” — where the store pulls the comic off of the shelf and holds it — by contacting the store either via email or on social media. A pull list must be done weekly or whenever a customer wants it done, while subscriptions are done automatically, explained Will.
He also encouraged customers to share the comics they want to see by leaving comments on social media or emailing the store.
In the future, Will hopes to have events throughout the year for big releases and national days, such as Free Comic Book Day, which happens the first weekend of May.
“Kyle [now] has its own comic store, so come on through,” he said.
Grand Central Comics can be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram — where visitors can find Will's Final Order list — at @GrandCentralComics.
The storefront is located at 175 N. Old Stagecoach Road, Suite 300, in Kyle and is open from: noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday; and noon to 7 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit Grand Central Comics on Facebook.
