Cherry Bomb Comics is a non-profit comics & zines shop/distro based in New Zealand, run by Tui & Melissa.
One day in early 2004, we had a conversation about the "things we'd most like to do in life", and strangely, opening a shop like Cherry Bomb had been on both our minds. It seemed like it was meant to be.
Combining our forces, we managed to find the perfect shop space, at 41 New North Road, Auckland, New Zealand, and in July 2004 we opened our doors to the public.
The intention, or manifesta, behind Cherry Bomb is to provide an alternative to the mainstream world of comics & graphic novels: to celebrate and support comics made by women, and provide a place for people to discover stories & histories that reflect themselves - as queers, as women, as a people of colour, as punks & activists, as subversives and others who tend to find themselves outside of the mainstream comic book status quo.
Cherry Bomb supports small press and the ethos of DIY, and we aim to support work created locally in NZ. In saying this, we also stock independent and underground graphic novels & zines from all over the world, and we are constantly on the look out for new stuff which fits the Cherry Bomb ethos.
Our shop space finally succumbed to the brutality of the real world, closing its doors in November 2007. Cherry Bomb is now in the safe hands of the internet. You can access our online shop here.
But for a dose of nostalgia, you can also find archived pictures of the old shop space here.
Melissa now lives in London, and occasionally sells Cherry Bomb's New Zealand & Australian-created zines at events such as the London Zine Symposium. If you are interested in having your work distro-ed on that side of the world, email us and maybe we can sort something out. She is also involved in the organisation of various queer & DIY related events in London. Here is a link to Melissa speaking about Cherry Bomb Comics at the London Zinefest 09. She was part of a panel discussing Women's Media Collectives: www.archive.org/details/ZineFest09
In New Zealand, Tui continues to run stalls at various events around the country, upcoming ones will be listed on the homepage or email us and we'll put you on our mailing list. If you live in Auckland and wish to buy from Cherry Bomb's online store, you also may have the option of cutting out the postage cost and picking the item up in person from Tui.
So despite the fact that you can no longer visit the physical Cherry Bomb store, we're still here! Look out for us popping up on one side of the world or other...
xox