EST.1995
It All Started...
Alternate Reality Comics started in 1995 when Ralph Mathieu bought Dungeon Comics (established in 1987). A LIFELONG COMICS LOVER & AVID READER, ralph & HIS WIFE KATE have built A.R.C. into more than just a great comics & comics memorabilia shop, they've made it into a pillar of the vegas business & arts community.
whether helping with local artists in need, promoting new talents from the vegas area, or simply helping new readers find exciting comics work to enjoy and expand their horizons, A.R.C. & staff have become more than just a corner comics shop...
...they've become superheroes in their own right!
Meet the Team
MEET THE FOLKS THAT MAKE A.R.C. the POP CULTURAL NEXUS IT IS!
Hi! I'm RALPH!
I’ve read comics since 1975 and always wanted to do something within the comic book industry. So when the opportunity to own a comic store came up as Dungeon Comics was going up for sale, I didn’t have to think twice about whether this was something that I should do.
I got seriously addicted to comic books while reading titles such as House Of Mystery and House of Secrets. my eyes were drawn to the ads for DC’s superhero titles.
So it was off to the local 7-11, where I picked up an issue of Flash and started picking up all of DC’s titles, followed shortly thereafter by getting whichever Marvel Comics I’d see at the store, as well as Warren comic magazines such as Creepy, Eerie, 1984, etc.
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Owning Alternate Reality Comics has been a delight from the first day, because I get to share my love of comics with people just about every day and turn them on to the myriad of wonderful new fantastic comics, manga, and graphic novels that this medium has to offer. Additionally I met my wonderful wife, Katherine (Kate), here at the store and she shares my passion for this medium.
Hey, it's Kate!
I discovered comics in the early 1990s while working at a small chain bookstore which had a couple of spinner racks. We weren’t allowed to read books while on duty, but comics were fine.
I picked up Spiderman 2099 and Morbius: The Living Vampire and thought they were were better than about 90% of TV at the time. I’ve been reading comics ever since. How delighted I was when I came to Las Vegas to go to school and discovered a nice comic book store right across the streetfrom UNLV!​
Through the store, I met Ralph. In 1997, I married him for entertainment value — and I’m never bored!
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In 1998, I helped found Sequential Tart, a webzine by women who love comics.
I've given a lot of Guidance over the years to help SHAPE A.R.C.'s ongoing mission to promote comics enjoyment for everyone, everywhere, offering a diverse variety of books of all genres!
And...here's Ron!
I'm a writer/illustrator/web designer operating out of the wilds of ohio. My wife & I moved out to Las VEGAS in 2005. Not long after that, I met Ralph and discovered the sheer joy of A.R.C.!
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We had to move back to o-h (I-O!) In 2009, but I've continued to collaborate with Ralph (and helped to wrangle our insane store mascots!) ever since. our collaborations have gone beyond just a few signs or business cards...we've created a special family of crazy characters that adorn almost every inch of the store, and have become pop culture icons in their own right!​
I've written the popular "Everything uNder" urban fantasy series, as well as the illustrated children's novel "Beyond the Grass Ocean," and soon will have my original oz novel, "The Ghost Army of Oz" brought to print!
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I have always made clear that while I'm proud enough to bust over the work we've done, I'm just the guy who makes some pictures & tackles web stuff. It's really Ralph, Kate, & everyone who comes to A.R.C. year after year that make it such a phenomenal place for all ages & tastes!
"Waitasecond!"
"WHO'RE ALL THESE WEIRDOS PLASTERED ALL OVER YOUR STORE?"
HEY!
>CRUNCH< WHO'RE
YOU CALLin' >SMACK< THE
"WEIRDO"?! >SLURP<
Okay, well...don't say we didn't warn you...
Eppy was the first…which probably explains why he’s got so many “first draft” problems…but not if you ask him.
If you DO ask him (try not to if you don’t have all day), he’s perfect. In his own words, Eppy is the "COMIC MASCOT SUPREME DUDE OF THEM ALL."
Created somewhere in the hazy early days of A.R.C., EPPY sort of ‘popped’ into being thanks to the subconscious talents of Ralph and artist friend Keir Eastveld.
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EPPY emerged into full mascot life thanks to the bizarre powers of That bizarre “braider of worlds,” COSMIC VYNE.
It wasn’t so much that Eppy was chosen to be A.R.C.’s first store mascot…it's really more like he dropped in from the upper dimensions of SUPRAMETAfictional characters and we’ve never figured out a way to quite get rid of him...Or at least charge him rent.
Eppy Trivia!
Eppy & MAUDE GOT THEIR NAMEs ORIGINALLY FROM CLASSIC '70's TV CHARACTERs (You WIN A CLASSIC MARVEL NO-PRIZE™ If you can name either original character & series!).
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BUT FROM THOSE HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, HE'S appeared in the form of virtually every pop comic icon & STYLE, from ASTRO BOY to TIN-TIN, FRom zombies to YOU-NAME-IT! from t-shirts to posters to gift cards, eppy's mug has disgraced...>ahem< Graced A.R.C. FROM TOP TO BOTTOM! BUT THE ONLY WAY TO REALLY SEE ALL HIS CRAZY FORMS IS TO STOP IN & VISIT!
Eppy the
Ska Lizard!
Maude is believed to have been another creation of COSMIC VYNE, but nobody’s been able to get a hold of him for a quote (reaching phenomenally-powered, mysterious super-gods is notoriously tricky as they never have a cell phone number or email).
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Maude’s purpose in existence, however, is not in doubt: by her own reckoning (the only reckoning she gives a hoot about), she’s here to “break up this boy’s club of comic book and pop CULTURE gatekeepery".
Maude is here to make sure nobody is left out of being able to come to A.R.C. as a true sanctuary of enjoyment and curiosity (Eppy is all about that too, but it’s taken Maude to finally get him to notice anything other than himself).
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Maude wants everyone of every stripe and walk of life to know that if they’re looking for the best place to go for all-around entertainment and enlightenment, A.R.C. is the place!
Maude
the Gecko!
Maude first appeared in 2017 with a limited-edition mini-poster giveaway INSPIRED BY THE COVER OF SENSATION COMICS #1 (Jan.1942), the first cover appearance of WONDER WOMAN!
Maude Trivia!
...and last (but NEVER least!)
NOT A LOT IS KNOWN FOR CERTAIN ABOUT THE SELF-TITLED "BRAIDER-OF-WORLDS" ALTHOUGH IT'S fairly obvious that he's a being of immense, awesome cosmic power (just look at all those kirby krackles!).
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​legend has IT that "C.V." (as he's affectionately referred to when he's not within earshot) sought to create "the ultimate supreme comic book avatar of ENLIGHTENMENT"...
...but then another space god (who shall not be named...BUT HIS NAME RHYMES WITH 'MEH-LACTUS') accidentally bumped C.V. while the super-being was taking shape...and the universe got Eppy the Ska Lizard instead.
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C.V. may also be responsible for creating maude the gecko (most likely to try and make up for his first blunder with eppy), but super-space-god beings are lousy at issuing press releases, so that's just a guess.
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*DON'T ASK! even we don't know what 'supra-meta-whatever-it-is' means, we just don't argue with c.v. when he says it! HE GETS...TESTY WHEN ANYONE QUESTIONS HIM!
COSMIC VYNE
SUPRA-META-PARA-MULTI-OMNIVERSAL*
BRAIDER-OF-WORLDS!
Cosmic Vyne Trivia!
COSMIC VYNE was inspired BY CLASSIC "super space gods" in the IconIc Jack kirby vein, such as DC's FOURTH WORLD & THE NEW GODS. BUT HIS BIGGEST INFLUENCE IS THE DELICIOUS RED VINES LICORICE that ron ate almost exclusively while designing his armor!