A popular comic book store is closing its doors after more than three decades as its owners take early retirement.

June and Kerry Earl opened The American Comic Shop, in Chatham, back in July 1993 after they were both made redundant from their jobs.

Kerry worked in plant hire but had always loved comic books and had been a keen illustrator so after he was let go he started to pursue his passion.

He would visit a comic book store in Star Hill, Rochester, to get reference materials and after seeing how it was run, he decided to open his own business.

His wife June was about to return to her job as a recruitment officer at TSB Bank following the birth of their daughter Ashley but took redundancy instead as the pair decided to give the shop a go.

They were originally open at Inshops, now known as the Trafalgar Centre, for eight months before moving to their premises in Church Street.

But, after 31 years, the husband-and-wife duo have now decided it is time to close as they look to retire and leave the pressures of running a business behind.

June said: “It has been a tough decision but we have been talking about it for a few years. It is the right time.

“We want to be able to do what we want to do when we want to do it. It is now time to do our own thing.”

The pair has never taken more than a week off at a time as they did not want to let their customers down by not being around to make sure the latest edition was in stock for their collections.

Kerry added: “We have always tried to put ourselves out there and do right by our customers.”

June, 63, added: “We still have some of our original customers who came in when they were little children and now they bring their own in.

“We have some really nice customers who do now want to see us go. They have become more like friends, they are not just customers.

“They have all stayed loyal to us for the last 30 years and we have really appreciated them.

Their first customer, Lee Fowkes, even took up a part-time job 12 years ago at the shop - and he said he hopes to be its last customer too.

Throughout the past three decades, the family has seen a lot of changes, like the price of comics which ranged from as little as 70p to £1.85 in 1993 and now cost anywhere between £3.99 and £5.50.

The grandparents have also faced the introduction of digital comics which they thought would “decimate” business but, surprisingly, did not.

Kerry explained: “We thought that was our business finished but people said it was not the same as having a real comic book.

“I like to think of us as a traditional comic book shop.”

June added: “We are a shop-based business so people have had to search us out. We do not really advertise or sell online, we are quite old-fashioned like that.”

Despite this, the 64-year-old said some things have never changed like the shop’s bestsellers which have always been the Batman and X-Men stories.

The American Comic Shop will be closing at the end of the year.