Rory Root

This article is about Rory Root and his former comic book business, "Comic Relief". For other uses of "Comic Relief", see Comic Relief (disambiguation).
Rory Root
Born(1957-11-08)November 8, 1957
Oakland, California[1]
DiedMay 19, 2008(2008-05-19) (aged 50)
Oakland, California[1]
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley
OccupationComic book retailer

Rory D. Root (November 8, 1957 – May 19, 2008) was the owner of Comic Relief, a comic book retailer in Berkeley, California.

Comic Relief was one of the first stores to stock graphic novels, presaging their popularity by many years. Root also made a point of supporting self-publishers and minicomics artists.[2] In 1993, Root was awarded the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award in honor of his exemplary work in promoting the genre.[3]

He influenced many in the comics field, including Eric Reynolds of Fantagraphics.[4]

  1. ^ a b Vaziri, Aidin (June 1, 2008). "Rory D. Root, comic store owner, dies at 50". SF Gate. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  2. ^ Spurgeon, Tom. "Rory Root, 1958-2008," The Comics Reporter (May 20, 2008).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Berkeleyside1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Reynolds, Eric. "R.I.P. Rory Root". Fantagraphics Books. May 19, 2008