A Midtown mecca for comic-book geeks is swooping onto TV like Superman.
Midtown Comics, a Times Square-area superhero haven that boasts more than a million books, will be featured on a new National Geographic Channel special called “Comic Store Heroes,” airing July 13.
“Our customers are very special,” said Sunnyside, Queens, native Gerry Gladston, one of the five founders of the shop, the nation’s largest comic-book store. “And for many of them, reading comic books has changed their lives.”
One of the customers in the documentary is Jill Pantozzi, a comics blogger who has been confined to a wheelchair since age 2 by muscular dystrophy — but who enjoys a rich social life through the comics world.
“I really related to superheroes growing up, because you read about somebody getting bitten by a radioactive spider and all of a sudden has these powers . . . and when I was growing up I kept wishing that I would wake up one day and have these crazy powers,” said Pantozzi, whose blog is called “Has Boobs, Reads Comics.”
Another featured customer is Chris Notarile, a 20-something aspiring graphic novelist who lives on food stamps because he devotes all of his money to developing a superhero he calls The Protector.
“I’ve put everything I have into this. The dream is to bring The Protector to life, to take this character and go [create] a feature film,” he said. “I just want it.”
Gladston tells how he got into comics after finding an issue of “Hot Stuff: The Little Devil” at a Queens candy shop when he was 5.
“I didn’t even wait to take it home, and I could only read about half of the words,” he recalled. “It’s always been in my blood.”
Thousands of comic fans pass through the store each week — ranging from typical geeks to businessmen.
“You always have the stereotypical, nerd kind of comic-book fan,” said one shopper, a middle-aged man in a suit and raincoat. “But there are a lot of us out there who have good jobs, dress fairly smartly, and have actually kissed women.”
“Comic Store Heroes” also focuses on the staff, including Gladston and two of his employees, marketing manager Thor Parker, and pricing guru Alex Rae.
The two staffers compete for Gladston’s attention on the show, and Gladston assigns Rae the near-impossible task of finding the comic that sparked his passion: 1957’s “Hot Stuff: The Little Devil,” No. 1.