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Tucked away in a corner at Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre lies one of Singapore's oldest comic book shops – Silver Kris Comics.
89-year-old comic book shop owner
The unassuming shop is run by a man named Liu Wei Kun.
Liu, likely to be 89 years old now, has been selling comics for the past 50 or so years.
Liu circa 2020. Image by Yeo Tsiuwen.
Started in Katong
He started out in Katong before settling in at Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre.
When the market and food centre closed for renovation for more than a year from March 2018 to May 2019, Liu's regular customers were unsure if Silver Kris Comics would be making a return.
After all, Liu was getting on in his years and this was a time when more comic shops were closing rather than opening.
When Liu reopened Silver Kris Comics in 2019, it was met with some fanfare by those in the local comic community.
Comic artist and illustrator Sonny Liew even wrote a Facebook post about the comic shop's reopening back then.
Image screenshot from Facebook.
Three for S$10
Four years on, it appears that all things good about the shop has remained.
Adorned with comic books dangling from floor to ceiling, Silver Kris Comics is a treasure trove of old-school DC and Marvel single-issue comics from the eighties and nineties, all kept and preserved in clear plastic wrappers.
Image from Hang Kwong Lim/Facebook.
For those who know where and what to look for, some of these books are really rare and can easily fetch up to hundreds per piece on the open market.
Despite knowing this, Liu is adamant about selling the comic books at one for S$5 and three for S$10, the same price as it was in 2020.
Well-versed about comics despite not being able to read
Liu, who started selling comic books to make ends meet, has raised his five children – three daughters and two sons – through the trade.
While he is not able to read English, he is well-versed in the world of comics.
This was highlighted by Hang Kwong Lim, who visited the shop on May 31, 2023.
In his Facebook post on the same date, Hang said Liu was more than welcoming.
Liu kept plucking comic books that he thought Hang might be interested in from various shelves to recommend to him.
Hang wrote: "He was being very nice and took the effort to find various comics which he felt I might be keen ... Haha he kept taking out more comics from the shelves for me to browse. The longer I browsed, he kept stacking up piles of comics to look at."
Image from Hang Kwong Lim/Facebook.
He said he felt bad and tried to tell Liu to stop bringing him comic books.
Hang even offered to help him put the books back, but the older man declined.
Hang said he eventually picked out three retro Spider-man titles with interesting cover art.
Image from Hang Kwong Lim/Facebook.
About Silver Kris Comics
Address: 84 Marine Parade Central #01-59, Singapore 440084
Opening Hours: 12pm to around 6pm daily
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Top image by Yeo Tsiuwen and from Hang Kwong Lim/Facebook