Kobe Bryant, new fan of Garth Ennis

It was a warm summer night on the [REDACTED] as I closed up shop for the last time at Leee's Comics in [REDACTED], I was counting out the register when I heard that all too familiar sound of someone trying to open the locked door. I looked up and saw a man in a suit with a silver mustache and military cut tapping at the glass. I continued to count dimes as I politely said, "I'm sorry, sir, we closed at 8 pm and it's already 8:30." He then smiled back at me and stepped aside to say, "Well... Would you open up for him?"

Standing there in all of his 81-Points in one game glory, wearing his Blue and Red NBA approved sweat suit. The dimes fell from my hand onto the counter like copper and tin rain as I gasped out a meager, "KOBE!" Kobe, His one man entourage and bodyguard all snickered unsurprised at my reaction as I fumbled around the counter to open the door. As I took out my keys I heard Kobe's friend say, "That's one way to get them to open up." I opened the door and shook the hands of the three men as they entered the store and said, "Welcome to Leee's Comics, how can I help you?" I must have been working on some sort of autonomous shock setting as I spoke with Kobe, stunned that he was in San Mateo and in Leee's Comics asking him, "So what kind of stuff are you into?"

Kobe happily replied, "I'm into that dark sh*t. I've got a 13 hour flight to China and need somethin' good to read." Immediately I recommended my favorite author and series of Preacher to him, explaining to him the intricacies of the faithless Reverend Custer, his assassin girlfriend Tulip, best-friend/Irish-Vampire Cassidy and his quest to make God pay for abandoning humanity. Kobe's eyes lit up as I told him the tale of Jesse and the reasons why Preacher would change his view on comics forever.

He chuckled saying, "My Man!" Giving me a high-five and taking the first two volumes. I also helped him track down the latest volume of 100 Bullets of which he is an avid fan, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Across the Universe: DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore, Batman vs. Two-Face and Batman: The Joker's Last Laugh. Quite the list of well-written stories (all of which can be found at Leee's Comics).

Kobe was nothing but a gentleman and was completely down to earth with this simple clerk as we joked about checking for his ID as he paid with his credit card. I once again shook hands with Kobe and his compatriots as they left the store asking to pose for a picture before he left for Olympic glory. Kobe shook my hand again giving me a pat on the back saying, "Thanks again, My Man." As he got into his black escalade with his bodyguard and NBA cohort, I felt I had accomplished all I could for the world of comics by turning Kobe Bryant onto the works of Garth Ennis and keeping him entertained as he flew into the maw of the Great Red Dragon to represent our country.