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As the operating manager of Acme Comics, Jermaine Exum may very well have one of the coolest jobs in Greensboro.

But as I discovered while shadowing Exum at work one Saturday, this honor doesn’t come without its challenges. By the fifth hour of the special event signing, featuring writer and artist Chris Giarrusso (“G-Man” and “Mini Marvels” among others), my eyes were ready to burst.

It was the colors, the brightly saturated costumes of the heroes who covered nearly every inch of the store –– be it on the comic book covers, flashy T-shirts, action figures or large collectibles. The effect of these extreme hues combined with the never-ending hustle of dealing with such a large gathering of customers can become rather disorienting.

Rubbing my sockets, I tell Exum it literally hurt to open my eyes. He laughs quietly, “Welcome to my world.”

Acme Comics is Jermaine’s world, one he inherited during the late '90s when other comic book retailers were dropping like Army tanks in the path of the Incredible Hulk due to a steep drop in sales nationwide. However, because of his organic marketing savvy and a desire to get people to love comics as much as he does, Exum not only kept the locally owned business thriving, but propelled it to become one of the most respected comic book shops in the nation.

And people are starting to notice.

Located in a strip mall on Lawndale Drive, Acme Comics was recently nominated for a Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award –– the greatest honor a comic book store can achieve. Later this month, it will also host a rare in-store appearance and book signing by esteemed writer and Marvel Comics innovator Brian Michael Bendis (“Ultimate Spider-Man” and “Powers”). The Nov. 28 event will also feature artists Michael Avon Oeming and David Mack.

Secret origin

Just as a weak heart propelled the fictional Tony Stark to become Iron Man, Exum became the person he is today because of a period of illness during his childhood.

“I had Lyme disease for a really long time,” Exum says. “I had Lyme disease before they even had a name for it, just to let you know how long I had it, and developed all kinds of symptoms, which culminated in my whole left side being paralyzed.”

As he recovered, Exum’s grandmother gave him a parody issue of Marvel Comics’ hypothetical-driven alternate universe anthology, “What If.” Crammed with jokes about superheroes and characters he knew nothing about, the four-color tome made Exum curious about other Marvel Comics titles.

This curiosity transformed Exum into an avid comics reader. His family would stop at a convenience store to grab a couple of issues before they went on road trips. And when he was at his grandmother’s house in Rocky Mount, Va., she took him to a nearby drug store that kept a much wider selection than stores back home.

“There was never a period where I gave up comics,” says Exum, who is now 33. “There was a period where I didn’t have money to get comics, but comics were always part of my life since at least 1983.”

His family moved to Greensboro from Falls Church, Va. in 1985, and as he got older, his parents never discouraged his interest in comic books. Instead, they did the opposite.

Exum recalls a time as a teenager when he and his mother made a trip to the Parts Unknown comic book shop that used to be near Cotton Mill Square.

“If I’m not mistaken, I think my mother said, 'Maybe I should have a store someday for comics,’” Exum says. “I’m pretty sure she said that, and here I am doing comics.”

Exum became a volunteer at Acme in 1996 and was promoted to a paid employee shortly after that. Two years later, he was promoted to manager of the Lawndale Drive location.

Enter Lord Retail

Comic book retailers are often stereotyped as being geeky know-it-alls, who bust the chops of customers with limited knowledge of superheroes.

This was not the case when I first met Exum. While killing time in his shop, he approached me and asked me what books I was into. And rather than give me grief for not cracking a monthly superhero comic in more than a decade, he convinced me to buy a trade paperback: Bendis’ “Daredevil Volume IV: Underboss.”

I read the book at home, enthralled not only by the level of humanity Bendis infused to the world of costumed crime fighters, but also with the fact that Exum had made a solid recommendation. Because of this, I bought up as many of Bendis’ Daredevil books at Acme that I could afford.

Apparently, this shopping experience is not unique, which is one of the reasons Greensboro-based science fiction author M.A. Foster gave Exum the moniker of “Lord Retail.”

“He’s not the sort of aggressive salesperson where he’s going to get out in front of stuff that he doesn’t believe in,” says Joe Schram, who was an employee at Acme Comics when Jermaine began working there as an unpaid volunteer in 1996.

Both Schram and Exum describe these early days as difficult ones for comic book retailers in general. With an influx of speculators trying to make a quick buck off now worthless event comics like “The Death of Superman” and special editions for books that were barely readable , stores packed their shelves with these highly in-demand titles.

However, when the bubble eventually burst and the speculators vanished, most comic book shops were left holding the bag –– or boxes, rather –– filled with thousands of issues that no one wanted to buy. Acme Comics, which had a second location on High Point Road at the time, had to rent additional storage space for the overstock. This is when Exum contributed to one of the store’s first successful marketing ideas.

“It was during that time where we just came up with bizarre, creative ideas,” Exum says. “I wondered if we could have a 10 cent comic sale or a 25 cent comic sale.”

Due to the sheer volume of books, it took Exum, Schram and a handful of Acme Comics volunteers an entire year’s worth of late nights and Sundays to alphabetize the overstock, but it paid off. The 10 cent comic sale garnered local media attention and attracted throngs of bargain hunters, many of whom were lured inside the store where they subscribed to newer titles that Exum would recommend himself.

“A customer might ask me if a book might be worth something or a kid will ask me that,” Exum says. “And my response is always going to be, 'Select something you like. Select something that you’re going to be interested in and if it’s worth money, then great, but even if it’s not, it’s still something you would like.’”

“Jermaine just took it to a whole other level,” Schram says. “He kind of made it his own thing, and put his face and his name out in front of the place.”

A Special Guest Appearance

Throughout his 13-year stint working at Acme Comics, Exum has hosted many successful events. His last two Free Comic Book Days, which take place on the first Saturday in May, had more than 1,000 attendees each.

And while many artists and writers have hosted signings at Acme, none were more in-demand by current comic book readers than Portland-based writer Brian Michael Bendis.

“This is a huge deal,” says Stephen Mayer, assistant manager at Acme Comics. “You couldn’t pick a bigger name in the industry today.”

The man who re-launched the character of Peter Parker for a new generation of readers in “Ultimate Spider-Man” and revamped lagging superhero team the Avengers into one of Marvel’s best-selling books (“New Avengers”), Bendis is frequently asked to make signing appearances at comic book stores.

“I haven’t done one in years. I don’t do them,” says Bendis during a telephone interview. “I got a couple of kids so you’ve got to pick and choose your appearances wisely.”

He adds that the reason he’s making an exception for Acme Comics is because of the personal relationship he has with Exum, who he met through the message board of Bendis’ Web site (www.jinxworld.com).

“He was an outstanding poster who was posting intelligent thoughts,” Bendis says. “They were equally just smart and nerdy at the same time, and there’s so few people on the entirety of the Internet that are smart. So it stands out.”

Bendis also appreciated the way Exum promoted a love for reading comics both online and to the customers at his Greensboro store. He feels that the perpetual negativity of some comic book retailers not only threatens their own business, but the comics industry as a whole.

“If someone walks into a store and they’re looking for something, then it’s your job to figure out what it is and point it out to them because I’m a great believer in the idea that there’s a comic book for anyone who’s alive, that they’ll sit down and really enjoy,” he says. “And retailers like Jermaine see to that, and are able to do so, and I find that enthusiasm is seductive and catchy. And if you have it, people will gravitate to you when it’s honest.”

So when it was time for Bendis and collaborating artist Michael Oeming to decide how they would promote the re-launch of their creator-owned book “Powers” in November, they first considered having a contest where retailers could compete for a shot at a rare, in-store appearance.

“And then I sat back and I said, 'You know who would win? Jermaine would win,’” Bendis says. “So instead of making him jump through his hoops, let’s just go to his store and say, 'Thank you!’”

With Great Honors Comes Great Responsibility

Just because Exum secured an appearance by Bendis doesn’t mean he’s celebrating.

He’s much too busy for that. With the planning, promoting and coordinating of the event on top of the regular weekly duties that come with running the largest comic book shop in the Triad, he says he’ll be lucky if he has time to do anything else.

“We probably won’t sleep more than four hours a night that Bendis is here,” Mayer says.

Back at the Chris Giarusso signing, because so many children are waiting in line for artists to draw pictures of superheroes, Exum hands me a bucket of plastic Black Lantern power rings to give away to small children as prizes.

As I keep the children engaged by asking them less-than-challenging comic book trivia questions, an adult man constantly asks if he can have one of the rings intended for the kids. It was almost like he thought these plastic bands contained actual powers. Busy, I avoid the question, but the adult man continues asking.

I finally vent my frustrations to Exum: “This grown man keeps asking me for one of the prizes I’m supposed to give to the kids.”

“Now you know what it’s like to be me,” Exum says.

Contact Joe Scott at movieshowjoe@gmail.com.