
With their independence by flag and more than three decades selling the best comics in the world, this family business has conquered very diverse characters. Spanish film directors such as Guillermo del Toro and Álex de la Iglesia, legendary singers such as Víctor Manuel and even Stan Lee himself have passed through the store.
Akira Comics: from teenage dream to cult business
The Marugán family founded Akira Cómics in 1993, although the idea of having a bookstore came much earlier: in the eighties, the brothers Jesús and Iván Marugán discovered, while still teenagers, the world of collecting and selling comics. It was this hobby that led their father, Mariano Marugán, to consider opening a store specializing in the ninth art. The head of the family left his job as a computer scientist at Unisys and created his business from scratch.
The bookstore has changed premises twice (and without leaving the Pilar neighborhood, the birthplace of the Marugán family). First it was installed at number 32 Ginzo de Lima street, four years later it moved to 15 Finisterre street, and in 2004 it finally got a space big enough for its entire catalog: a first floor at number 74 Betanzos avenue.
Akira Cómics stands out for offering, since its beginnings, articles that are difficult to find in other bookstores in Spain. In fact, it was one of the first places in Madrid to sell manga and merchandising of sagas such as Dragon Ball. The bookstore even appeared in the advertising of the Red Series of Akira Toriyama’s famous comics, and still receives visitors from different corners of the country for this reason.
The star of the house is manga: titles such as One Piece, Dragon Ball Super or Naruto sell more than anything else in the store. Also enjoying great popularity are American and European comics such as Batman, X-Men or Blacksad.
In 2012, after almost 20 years of events, betting on innovation and, in general, striving to create a community of readers around the store, Akira became the first Spanish outlet to win an important award for best bookstore specializing in comics in the world: the Einser Spirit of Comics.
Akira’s treasures: a gothic room and a hobbit house
One of the bookstore’s strong points is its unique décor. “Since 2014, we have transformed it into an immersive experience for the visitor, something that has been done by many other establishments that want to offer the customer a plus,” Jesús Marugán, in charge of design at Akira Cómics and responsible for the store, explains to Madrid Secreto Jesús Marugán.
“We were able to build literally everything that crossed your mind thanks to the fact that we are very trained in cost optimization, and that in the Marugán family we are all very handyman. We have made or designed many things ourselves”, says Jesús proudly.
One of the treasures that the Marugán family hides in their store is the recreation of Bilbo Baggins’ house. “Beyond the fans we are of Tolkien and his film versions, we wanted to build the bookstore (or rather rebuild, because we had to throw everything away and start from scratch) decorating each area as the part of the world it evokes. This way, the visitor, even if he doesn’t know anything about what we sell, understands what we’re selling,” says Jesús. The European comic part is a cathedral for that reason, and so on. When it came to design, they set no limits: they gave free rein to the imagination.
The design of the floor intended for the European comic is inspired by 12th century Gothic cathedrals. “So far, no one has been so crazy as to build a cathedral with its stones and arches inside a shop, and that’s why even people who hate reading have come to visit us,” he explains.
Innovation: Akira’s secret to staying on its feet
When Jesús is asked what the secret is to keeping the bookstore going in a Madrid with fewer readers every year (mythical stores like Elektra Cómic have had to close), he answers: “we haven’t stopped innovating, providing new content and services, and in general, reinvesting in the business for a single second since 1993. We have done so because we believe that always working to provide new and appropriate things to the times is the only solvent way for this type of business to survive in a placid and comfortable way without falling into problems or remaining anchored in the past”.