Even if you don’t care about comic books, you’ve likely set foot in Meltdown Comics for a comedy show at the NerdMelt Showroom. Both beloved venues were key components of the city’s unabashedly geeky scene, and both will unfortunately soon shutter.
Meltdown Comics will close after 25 years on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Both the comic shop and the NerdMelt Showroom will cease operations after March 30. Though founder Gaston Dominguez-Letelier announced the closure “without any regret,” a news post on the Nerdist website suggests an impending luxury condo development may have pushed the venue out.
NerdMelt has stood out in recent years as one of the city’s finest alternative comedy venues, with a wide range of shows that’ve included Andy Kindler’s well-curated Particular Show, the Fictional Roast series and Simpsons trivia show Stonecutters. It’s also served as the home base for a slew of podcasts including The Nerdist Podcast, Chris Hardwick’s former weekly interview show, and Harmontown, community creator Dan Harmon’s podcast.
Most notably, it provided a home for six years for the Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, the weekly stand-up set turned TV show from Jonah Ray, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon. Here’s Ray’s reaction on Instagram:
Meltdown has already ceased receiving new comic book releases; the shop suggests regular readers try Mega City One, which will honor Meltdown discounts. NerdMelt, meanwhile, still has comedy shows slated for the rest of the month. It’s final evening includes both an intern stand-up set (the cleverly named “The Worst Night at A Comedy Club”) and a comedy reenactment of Labyrinth; we’ll be on the lookout for an special events before the venue closes.
Here’s the full statement from Gaston Dominguez-Letelier:
To The City of Angels,
As is the case with all good things, at some point they must come to an end. Meltdown Comics is no exception to this rule and so, after 25 years coveting every comic treasure we could lay our hands on, I’m sharing that on March 30th I’ll be closing our doors for the final time.
No business is easy, least of all one rooted in paper surrounded by brick and mortar, yet against all odds we survived just long enough to host, share, and celebrate some of the most creative and imaginative artists in the world. It has been my personal privilege to welcome so many incredibly talented minds through our doors giving them and their work a home in this great city of ours.
And what a wonderfully surreal run it’s been… we’ve watched every fad, trend, and next big thing come and go while customers became celebrities, children blossomed to adults, geeks morphed into moguls, and fanboys scored Oscars. Throughout it all, I’ve been most fortunate to be surrounded by my family and the best staff anyone could have ever wished for - through thick and thin you supported Meltdown and invested in me, I will never be able to repay you but know that I am eternally grateful and forever in your debt.
As I prepare to extinguish Sunset’s neon know that there is a new path for me (more later) and I close Meltdown without any regret. For 25 years I have been enriched by every inquisitive mind I have encountered on this journey and for that I humbly thank you, all of you.
In signing off, I urge you all to continue creating comics, buying comics, and supporting the comic book world that has given us all so much over the years.
For one last time, #LetsgoMELTDOWN!
Thank you, LA
Sincerely,
Gaston DL
Meltdown Comics
October 26, 1993 – April 1, 2018