Comic book library opens in Carroll Gardens
HBy Aidan Graham e’s got a novel approach to
sequential art!
A new kid-centric shop
in Carroll Gardens offers a new twist
on the traditional comic book shop,
using a lending library approach
instead. Loot, which opened on July
1, allows its subscribers to check
out one comic at a time, as many
times as they want, for $30 a month,
according to the shop’s founder, in
an effort to get kids away from their
screens and into the printed page.
“The idea is that ultimately,
we want kids to be motivated to
consume and read comics,” said
38-year-old Joe Einhorn. “Part of it
is nostalgia. This was a fun thing for
people my age to do as a youngster.
At the same time, we’re hoping to
provide children with an alternative
to highly addictive video games.”
Loot houses a library of over
3,000 issues available for rent — or
for sale at $5 each — from the biggest
names in comics, with a focus
on superhero titles from Marvel and
DC, along with a few collections
of Japanese manga, according to
Einhorn.
The shop owner said he also
plans to use his second-floor space
to host workshops where Brooklyn
kids can learn the art of comicmaking
themselves.
“We’re going to offer classes
where you can learn technical
skills, but also collaborate with others
to make comic books,” he said.
“I think it would be great is they end
up making comics together. If one
girl does the writing, and a boy does
the drawing, and another girl does
the coloring. It’s collaborative, and
I think that would be a really good
experience for these kids.”
In addition to the store’s innovative
payment plan, it will offer store
credit called “loot” to heavy-reading
kids and young comics creators,
which they can apply towards the
cost of the monthly rentals.
“If they borrow 10 or more comics
in a month, they’ll earn loot
— which is like store credit,” said
Einhorn. “Also, we’ll sell the comics
that kids create, but the creator
COURIER L 50 IFE, JULY 5-11, 2019 24-7
can earn 90 percent of the profits in
the form of loot.”
In an effort to keep the shop
kid-friendly, adults must be accompanied
by children, or else make a
reservation in advance.
“That’s playground rules,” said
Einhorn. “This is about making a
safe space for children, so we don’t
want to have adults coming in by
themselves whenever. It’s similar
to a playground, where there are no
adults without children allowed.”
Loot (463 Court St. between
Fourth Place and Luquer Street in
Carroll Gardens, www.instagram.
com/loot). Open daily; 10 a.m.–6
p.m.
by Elizabeth Winn This new art project is flippin’
fantastic!
A pair of enormous, solarpowered,
steel-and-glass enclosed
flipbooks designed by teenagers are
now on display in Dumbo’s Pearl
Street Triangle. But if you want
to experience the moving pictures
for yourself, you had better bring a
friend — one person needs to crank
a handle on the side of the devices
to let another enjoy the show. The
team-up nature of the public art
project is a deliberate part of its
design, said one member of the
group behind the devices.
“Our philosophy is collaboration,”
said Cassie Broadus-Foote, of
Dumbo’s Beam Center. “So even
enjoying the flipbooks you have to
do it with two people.”
The solar cells atop each device
soak up power during the day to
fuel light-emitting diodes, so the
moving papers can be viewed by
day or night.
Each of the five-foot-tall contraptions
was designed, framed, welded,
and illustrated by a dozen New York
City teens, as part of a months-long
collaboration with the Beam Center.
The teenage fellows suggested illustrations
based on their own lives and
neighborhoods, including images of
a person welding, city streets, and
old apartment building. Artist Ebony
Bolt designed the actual sketches,
and hundreds of community members
traced and copied the pictures,
in a project facilitated by the Dumbo
Business Improvement District.
The flipbooks, on display until
the end of August, aims to connect
people through art by telling a single
story through hundreds of illustrations
— which makes the project a
perfect fit for the neighborhood, said
the director of the neighhorhood’s
business improvement district.
“As a neighborhood, Dumbo
harnesses the spirit of innovation
and creativity,” said Alexandria
Sica. “This project represents both,
as well as the collaborative nature
of our community.”
See the Flipbooks at the Pearl
Street Triangle (Pearl Street at
Water Street in Dumbo, beamcenter.
org). On display daily through
August. Free.
DBy Kevin Duggan ude, Keanu believe it’s
been 30 years?
Brooklyn’s two
Nitehawk cinemas will celebrate
America’s favorite thespian
this month, with a retrospective
of the master actor’s
more than 30 years on the big
screen. “Keanu Reeves: The
Works,” running from July 12
to Aug. 4, will showcase works
from throughout the Reeves
oeuvre, including his early
roles in the two “Bill & Ted”
slacker comedies and the surf
flick “Point Break,” his iconic
bullet-evading role as Neo in
“The Matrix,” and later works
like “Constantine” and “A
Scanner Darkly,” all of which
showcase the actor’s charm and
his apparent inability to age.
The series also celebrates his
reputation as a good guy in
an industry often plagued by
harassment scandals, according
to Nitehawk’s director of programming.
“He manages to be in these
zeitgeisty films in every decade,
like ‘River’s Edge,’ ‘Point
Break,’ ‘The Matrix, and ‘John
Wick,’ and he’s never been one
of these people in the tabloids
that you’re grossed out by, he’s
just done the work,” said Caryn
Coleman. “It felt good to celebrate
a good man in the industry
who’s been in the industry
for 30 years.”
Together, the twin movie
houses in Williamsburg and
Park Slope will show more
than a dozen features starring
Reeves, and both will serve a
cocktail called “Cool Breeze
Over the Mountains,” which
is what “Keanu” means in
Hawaiian.
Another programmer for the
series said that he knew that
Reeves was special when he
first encountered him in the
“Bill and Ted” sequel.
“The first one that I saw
‘Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey,’
that was great, so weird and out
there,” said Kris King. “It’s like
‘Paradise Lost’ with Bill and
Ted and robots.”
Here are the showings at
both theaters. Each ticket costs
$13. The showing of “Point
Break” on July 16 has already
sold out, alas.
“Keanu: The Works” at
Nitehawk Williamsburg 136
Metropolitan Ave., between
Berry Street and Wythe Avenue
in Williamsburg, (718) 782–8370,
www.nitehawkcinema.com/williamsburg.
• “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”
(1992). July 12–13 at midnight.
• “My Own Private Idaho”
(1991). July 13–14 at 11 a.m.
• “A Scanner Darkly” (2006).
July 19–20 at midnight.
• “Dangerous Liaisons”
(1988). July 20–21 at 10:45 a.m.
• “The Devil’s Advocate”
(1997). July 26–27 at midnight.
• “Speed” (1994). July 27–28
at 10:45 a.m.
• “Constantine” (2005). Aug.
3–4 at 11 a.m.
• “Keanu: The Works” at
Nitehawk Prospect Park (188
Prospect Park West at 14th
Street in Park Slope, www.nitehawkcinema.
com/prospectpark).
• “The Matrix” (1999). July
17 at 7:30 p.m.
• “Bill & Ted’s Excellent
Adventure” (1989). July 20 at
10:45 a.m.
• “Bill & Ted’s Bogus
Journey” (1991). July 21 at 10:45
a.m.
• “River’s Edge” (1987). July
23 at 7:45 p.m.
Loot great: Founder Joe Einhorn recently opened his comic shop Loot in Carroll
Gardens. Catherine Michelle Bartlett
He knows kung-fu: Beloved actor Keanu Reeves, seen here deflecting
thousands of bullets, will be the focus of a retrospective this month at both
branches of Nitehawk Cinema.
Spin the wheel: To watch the flipbooks
in action, on person must turn a handle
on the side of each five-foot-high contraption.
Dumbo BID
Whoa, Ted!
CHECK IT OUT
Spin zone
Nitehawk celebrates 30
years of Keanu Reeves
/prospectpark
/wil-liamsburg.•
/wil-liamsburg.•
/wil-liamsburg.•
/www.instagram
/prospectpark
/prospectpark
/www.instagram
/www.nitehawkcinema