Celebrating Another Year of Comics and Community in Bradenton
Award-Winning Comic Shop And Non-Profit Bat City Comic Professionals Celebrates Its Fourth Year in Old Manatee
Bat City Comic Professionals, Manatee county’s non-profit comic shop and educational organization, invites the community to celebrate its fourth year in Bradenton on September, 26, 2026 during Local Comic Shop Day. Shop thousands of new, backstock, and graded issues of comics, all while benefiting the charity’s educational programming and having artsy fun with members of the community. The event runs from 11AM-4PM at 915 Manatee Ave E in Bradenton, FL.
The celebration includes local artists, crafts in the classroom, free food, extraordinary deals throughout the store, and a chance to help create a giant-sized community comic by adding your art to the story. It’s also a great time to check out Bat City’s new neighbors at The Cardcade to see if you can get a high score on their pinball machines.
“Being part of the Bradenton community the last four years has been life changing, ” said Shannon Live, President of Bat City Comic Professionals. “We never could have anticipated how impactful moving our store to Bradenton would be, but the people that have walked through our doors have become our family, making every day better than the last.”
Bat City Comic Professionals, which is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization, has taught over 5,000 students through its writing programs since coming to Bradenton, with another 2700 students using their comic-based reading programs, and even more participating in kid, teen, and adult art classes.
“Having a chance to see young people in our community develop skills in Reading and Writing has been an absolute joy,” said Live. “We are honored to get a chance to be part of not just their educational journey but their creative one as well. We love seeing them grow and develop as the years go on.”
Funding for non-profit objectives are reached primarily through the sale of weekly new, vintage, and graded comics in the organization’s location on Manatee Avenue. Shoppers at the store can make one-time purchases, sign up for a weekly subscription, or take part in some of the organization’s many preservation services such as the cleaning, pressing, and grading of comics.
Bat City has been named one of the five best comic book shops in the world at the comic industry’s Will Eisner awards during San Diego Comic Con every year since moving to Bradenton.
“We’ve tried every day since we opened Bat City to inspire a passion for comics, community, and charity,” Live said. “The city of Bradenton has helped us live that model every day, truly building the next generation of superheroes right here in the Friendly City.”