At Origin Story Comics, storytelling goes beyond the pages of its books. It’s on the walls and immersed in the conversations between different generations of readers. For co-owner Adam Beauchamp, the shop represents both a childhood dream and a family-friendly space where stories truly come alive.
“I started reading in the early ‘90s,” Beauchamp said. “My mom used to take me every Wednesday to grab the latest issues. It was just something we shared, something that stuck.”
That nostalgic pull is what inspired Beauchamp to open a second location in Decatur, closer to home, after taking over a comic shop in McDonough eight years ago. While the McDonough store has been home to diehard Wednesday regulars, Decatur has attracted a new crowd of parents, children, and newcomers looking to explore comics, graphic novels, and vintage finds.
“It’s been cool to see more dads and their kids coming in together,” Beauchamp says. “For a lot of them, comics were part of their own childhoods, and now it’s something they’re passing down.”
Beauchamp and his business partner, Clint Hays, have built the store with accessibility in mind. The shop features lower displays for younger readers and plenty of family-friendly reads to get them interested, before gradually building to more mature content for comic book veterans. It’s a space designed to grow with a reader.
Comics, he says, have become a bridge—especially in an era where attention spans are short and screens are everywhere. “Some parents come in and say their kid just won’t read chapter books, but they’ll devour graphic novels,” he said. “Reading is reading, and this gets them excited about doing it.”
Origin Story is also teaming up with the local library this summer for a kids’ reading program that rewards young readers for checking out books. The initiative launched on May 3, Free Comic Book Day, one of the busiest—and most fun—days of the year for comic book shops across the country.
From the first glimpse of a new superhero story to the first moments of bonding between fathers and kids, Origin Story Comics wants to connect folks to a passion that can span across many generations.
And for Beauchamp, that’s the real superpower.