As Current Comics Turns 20, Owner Travis Pratt Continues to Balance Work and Fun
by Dave Faries
Monterey County Weekly, 02/16/23

Here at Lilify, we are absolutely smitten with California tea purveyor Teappo 's newly-introduced rose oolong tea. This medium roasted rose oolong offers notes of smooth florals with a lovely, sweet aftertaste, and the dried rose petals are beautiful.

Available in the shop at 281 Lighthouse Avenue and on our website .

Cypress Boutique has a new spring selection of cozy, stylish clothing for men and women. We love how soft and sporty the new Slam crewneck sweatshirts are (with double stitching for extra durability) and our new, fitted unisex cotton t-shirts have a beautiful feel.

Stop by the shop and check out all our new arrivals at 800 Lighthouse Avenue, Suite C.

Current Comics is celebrating our 20th anniversary with a huge sale, February 14-28. Visit us at 400 Lighthouse Avenue.

All cover price boxed back issues are $2 off, and we're offering some sweet deals on Magic: The Gathering items, including Baldur's Gate booster boxes for $85 and Dominaria set booster boxes for $110. We also have limited-edition 20th anniversary t-shirts!

East Village Cafe invites you to check out our selection of handmade gift items! That's right - in addition to delicious food and hot and cold drinks, we now offer incense and handmade soap from Nepal, unique pottery mugs and travel tumblers by Kurt Hofer , and beautiful notecards made on linen paper by Debra Sanders . They're all at 498 Washington Street.

Haute Beauty Guide has a sweet collection of Valentine's Day cards and gifts for young and old! Our shop on Pearl Street is temporarily closed because of storm damage to our historic building, but please support our small, woman-owned business by purchasing items on our website .

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Parker-Lusseau Pastries and Cafe at 539 Hartnell Street has heart-shaped chocolate boxes filled with assorted truffles.

Our chocolate hearts, made in-house, are available in two sizes: small (3 truffles) and large (6 truffles). They're a classic way to say, “Je t’aime."

Cha-ya Japanese Tea and Things is holding a red tag sale throughout the month of February. Get 25-50% off select items at our shop located at 118 Webster Street.

Cha-ya is a unique boutique filled with local arts, ikebana, antiques, gifts, and a wonderful selection of Japanese green tea and tea sets.

Venture Gallery presents the work of France Ruhnke , our featured artist for February. Her exhibit, entitled Metamorphosis , explores color, texture, and ornamental touches, creating a world of constant rejuvenation. Venture Gallery is now open daily, 10am-6pm, at 260 Alvarado Street.

Inflation got you down? Shop the $1 section at Plato's Closet! We have lots of things marked down now but it's only while supplies last. Stop by the store, look for the pink, green, and orange tags, and save. We're located at 402 Lighthouse Avenue.

Now in stock for Black History Month, Design Time Creations has our new Be The Dream t-shirt. Stop by the store at 800 Lighthouse Avenue, Suite B, to pick one up or call 831-204-8808 to place your order.

The Feral Market now carries Sunpaxx WaistPAXX. Sunpaxx is a local company and we’re so happy to have their new line of fanny packs in our shop at 261 Alvarado Street.

They're made from durable, water repellant, recycled ripstop nylon, WaistPAXX have an adjustable waist/shoulder strap, a large main compartment with a front-facing mini-pocket, zippers with convenient cord pulls, and come in some very fun colors.

Casey Starks Studio is offering these speckled mugs at 20% off to help clear some shelf space for new things. These sweet mugs are made with speckled clay, hand pinched into shape, and glazed with matte glazes in white, pink, aqua, and yellow.

Casey only has a few left, so snag one while you can at 550 Lighthouse Avenue, Suite A.

Current Comics is celebrating 20 years of serving comic and pop culture fans with the best in comics, graphic novels, Manga, trading cards, and action figures.

Founded in Salinas on February 14, 2003, with a personal collection of comics and action figures, they initially did business from an old metal cash box on a makeshift countertop. Now they use a sophisticated, cloud-based system to manage a massive 40,000 book inventory and offer subscription "pull-list" advance ordering, comic appraisals, and online sales with nationwide shipping.

For the 20th Anniversary Celebration there will be some amazing deals and special commemorative items. Be sure to visit shop owner Travis Pratt and his team at 400 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey.