December 17th, 2025
I went with my grandson, Asher, on Saturday to get him a birthday present. He turned five recently. One of my friends, Ken, gave Asher a gift card for a local bookstore called Lion’s Tooth. I had never been in there before. The place is tucked into an old house on Kinnickinnic Avenue in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee. Asher and I found parking on the street and hurried into the store to get out of the arctic temperatures and wind.
Once in the shop, I marveled at how small the place was. The entire store is about twice the size of my living room and just as cluttered. I talked with the lady running the store while Asher searched for something to buy. Ken had thought that Asher could get himself a book. That isn’t what happened. Asher managed to find a selection of wooden pull back toys that caught his fancy. There were three fruits on wheels that he decided to purchase: a watermelon, a banana, and an avocado. Once we bought those, Asher wanted to go home to play with them. I would have stayed to explore the Lion’s Tooth, but Asher was in a hurry to try out his new vehicles.
Yesterday I returned to the bookstore. I had time on my hands, and I wanted to check the place out again. The shop was empty except for a young man sitting behind the counter. It’s actually a counter/bar. They sell beer in the store. I pulled up a stool and sat down to talk with guy. He sold me a beverage.
One might ask, “Why do they have a bar?”
My immediate answer is, “Why not?” Years ago, I was in a bookstore with my wife in Seattle that served beer and wine. My thinking is that once a customer has had a beer, he or she might decide to spend a bit more money in the store than they would have if they were stone cold sober. In any case, it makes the experience more congenial.
It should also be noted that this particular store is in Wisconsin, a state where drinking is considered to be a hobby. Many of the indie coffee shops in town double as taverns. It is not hard to get a drink in our part of the world.
I sat with Moritz and talked for a while. I wanted to know more about the store because it seems unique, even among other independent bookstores. Moritz and I had a wide-ranging conversation about all sorts of things: German history (his dad is from Germany and so is my wife), Kafka, Joseph Campbell, C.G Jung, Hunter S. Thompson, punk music, graphic novels, etc. I love those kinds of discussions. I enjoy freewheeling talks that only occasional touch on the business as hand, which in this case was his store.
As the website for the Lion’s Tooth indicates, the store got an award for being the best comic bookstore in town. The proprietors mention, “We had no hope of ever getting a Best of Milwaukee plaque because we don’t really fit any of the categories.” This is true. They don’t. Not at all. That is what makes the shop attractive to me.
This tiny shop does not make a lot of money. I don’t think that they actually want to make a huge profit. They just want to provide a unique experience to a small subculture of people. Their target market is primarily the population that likes to read books. As time goes on, that demographic diminishes. Within this group is a subset of people who want to something weird. As far as I can tell, that is the store’s customer base. A person who walks into Lion’s Tooth is looking for a comic, or book, or graphic novel that makes them want to say, “What the fuck is this about?” Fortunately, the shelves are filled with exactly that sort of product.
I asked Moritz what kind of books they sell. His answer was,
“We sell what we like.”
That is a refreshing comment. Moritz told me how he loves to open the boxes of new shipments because he is excited about reading the comics or books himself. The books and zines they offer are obscure titles created by obscure authors and artists, many of them local. It is doubtful that a customer will find some of these publications anywhere else. The subject matter ranges wildly: LGBTQ stories, social justice commentary, books on racism, reports on the war in Gaza. As an example, while I was there, a customer came in to pick up a book he had ordered about Joe Hill, the labor organizer with the IWW. A person browsing the stacks takes a small risk when purchasing a book or a zine. The material might be absolutely brilliant or total dreck, or both. Buy the ticket and take the ride, like Hunter S. Thompson used to say.
They have several book clubs at the store: comix, music, nonfiction, and wine. If I wasn’t busy with my grandson, I would try out one of those clubs. They also have an artist in residency program. Moritz was involved with that. The store is active with the local community.
In short, Lion’s Tooth is the anti-Barnes and Noble. I find hard to imagine a place less corporate. I hope they stay open. I hope they stay strange.
Frank is Emptiness 