Crow's Nest Comics Brings Inclusive Comic Culture to the South End

Crow's Nest Comics, a new store huddled among other businesses along Hiawatha Place South in Judkins Park, soft-opened in November 2025. The comic shop curates titles featuring many diverse lived experiences and hosts regular free art meetups, board game nights, and Commander Nights to play popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering.

In 2022, shop owner Wing Mui, who hails from Hong Kong and is a former high school math teacher, purchased Outsider Comics in the Fremont neighborhood with two other people to establish the store as a worker-owned cooperative. Eventually, Mui took over the business as a sole owner in 2024, since the shop didn't earn enough to help all owners thrive. Mui moved the store to Judkins Park due to Fremont's high rent and renamed it.

Mui said that 10 years ago, in an active Seattle comic culture that tended to gear toward a white, adolescent male audience, Outsider Comics offered books with narratives of women, queer, and BIPOC communities. It's something that was new here, but "everywhere outside of North America, comics are marketed to everyone, Japan being the biggest example." The shop also sold clothing, jewelry, and other pop-culture related items.

"I've learned over the last few years that women aren't on the outside of comics. A lot of work has been done over the past couple of decades by marginalized creators to get their work published," said Mui. "We've spent so much time fighting to get into the [industry] that it feels like a disservice to call these creators and this audience 'outsiders,' so we changed the name to Crow's Nest. We have a stuffed crow here named Kevin."

Mui said she likes to highlight local authors and feature zines by local creators. She noted that board games and Magic: The Gathering have been popular.

Mui also partnered with GeekGirlCon to run a book club. The book for February is Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen, a love story about a girl and a person in a bear mascot suit. "There's a lot of allegory in the book," said Mui. "The bear suit is a metaphor for being trans."

"We are definitely a value-based business. There's a lot of depth, a lot of intention. There are so many different voices and lived experiences on these shelves," said Mui.

Harper Wakeman lives in the Central District and is a teacher on the East Side. She's a regular at Crow's Nest and plays Magic: The Gathering games there. "It's been nice to socialize and connect with folks. It's also very trans-affirming," said Wakeman. "They also have a strong commitment to mask-wearing so it's supportive to folks who are immunocompromised."

Wakeman said she asks for book recommendations from time to time. One recommendation was Maw, a cosmic-horror narrative with references to sexual assault trauma. It contains images by local illustrator A.L. Kaplan.

Wakeman said Mui runs a gameplay group chat on Discord, the social platform, for some Crow's Nest regulars, along with chats to organize mutual aid. "When someone in the community was having car problems or was moving or needed a medical procedure, the group organized for offering dinner or rides."

Wakeman praised the support the groups offer, noting, "It's a stressful time, and just knowing that there's a group of people in the city who you can fall back on or ask for help if you need is nice."

Yuko Kodama is the News editor for the South Seattle Emerald. She is passionate about the critical role community media plays in our information landscape and loves stories that connect us to each other and our humanity. Her weekly "South End Life" column spotlights the stories of neighbors and community members that weave through the South End.