Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien cautioned his readers to, “Never laugh at live dragons.”
If he knew Jennifer Haines he might have repeated that warning to anyone that under estimated the fierceness of her vision for Guelph’s iconic comics and games store The Dragon.
“It came from being a fan and really wanting the type of store I wanted to shop in,” said Haines. “I felt Guelph could support that kind of store and deserved that kind of store. There was an opportunity to have a place where everyone could feel welcome.”
Haines worked in a comic store when she was a teenager and was bothered by the male dominated and cliquey mentality perpetuated by the comic store subculture.
“Even for me to walk into another store I often feel marginalized and disrespected just because I am not the stereotypical customer that they expect to walk through the door,” she said. “I don’t understand why there has to be so much judgement. It’s so weird. Can’t we all just love the stuff?”
Rather than slay the comic store dragon Haines chose to feed and nurture her own and that is how The Dragon was born.
For the past two decades she has worked to raise the profile of comics as an art form and broaden their appeal to a wider and more inclusive audience. Her efforts have earned The Dragon many awards and accolades including the highly coveted Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award in 2012
“It recognizes the best stores in the world,” said Haines. “I think we are the only store not located in a major city.”
Haines personal journey began in Oakville where she was born Jennifer Stewart in 1974. She moved to Guelph in 1993 to study classic Greek and Roman history. Shortly after graduation in 1998 she opened The Dragon’s first store at 123 Wyndham St.
“We were there for about a year and a half then we moved down to where Dis-A-Ray is now,” she said. “We were there for 10 years then we moved here to Old Quebec Street.”
The Dragon’s growing list of loyal customers followed the store to every new location.
“There are three of them now so it is a small empire getting larger,” she said. “The Gordon location opened in November 2016 and we opened in downtown Milton in June of this year.”
Haines is a lifelong learner and shortly after opening The Dragon she moved to Toronto and enrolled at the University of Toronto where she earned a masters and a bachelors degree in education.
She married Robert Haines in 2010 and they have two young daughters, Junia, 7 and Darwin, 4.
Haines taught Latin, English, drama and history at a private girls’ school in Toronto until her first daughter was born.
“When it came time to have Junia in 2011 we moved back to Guelph,” she said. “I don’t teach anymore but I do workshops and work with teachers to establish curriculum.”
She is a strong proponent of using comics to promote literacy and to encourage young people to develop a love of reading.
Much of her focus these days is on managing and growing the business.
“There is a lot to just overall manage the business because we do a lot of different things,” she said. “We have all sorts of organized game play and things like that. We also have events so a lot of it is trying to get all the pieces of the puzzle to work together in the most efficient way.”
She is proud of everything she and the team at The Dragon have accomplished over the past 20 years and to celebrate they have a two-day anniversary event planned at the Old Quebec Street Shoppes Sept. 15 and 16.
“We are welcoming over two-dozen comic creators,” she said. “The Dr. Who Society is coming by on Saturday and Brampton Batman with his Batmobile will be here Sunday. We also have a big Magic the Gathering tournament on the Sunday.”
Proceeds from a silent auction of rare comics and merchandise will go toward the Hero Initiative to help comic creators who have fallen on hard times.
Haines looks forward to celebrating with the diverse and growing community of comics lovers that has found a home at The Dragon.
“I love hearing from people that were able to find that thing they were looking for and find that acceptance they were looking for that they didn’t find somewhere else,” she said. “The space I set out to create is actually the space I created. That is really exciting for me and it keeps me passionate.”
Visit The Dragon online here.
