This one brings together a couple of recurring threads at rc ... the 'what to do with a Classics degree' thread, and the 'Classics and comics' thread ... from the Citizen Patriot:

Nostalgia, Ink is 20 years old today, but owner Leonard Litteral isn't getting all nostalgic about it.

Litteral said he isn't throwing a party but he's happy he's still in business. "I've got a lot of good, loyal customers," Litteral said. "It's nice to have survived this long."

Nostalgia, Ink which features comic books and hobby games like "Magic: The Gathering," opened at the corner of Cortland and Mechanic streets in 1985 and moved to its present location at 135 E. Michigan Ave. in 1990.

To mark his 20th anniversary, Litteral is taking 20 percent off all back-issue comics this month and will have an anniversary sale the third week of January.

Reading isn't as popular as it used to be, so Litteral said he stocks fewer paperback books and more games now. "I try to keep up on the new things, especially the cutting-edge things," Litteral said.

But Litteral, a comic book collector when he was a kid, said comics will continue to be a store mainstay.

Litteral, who has a bachelor's degree in classical studies from Michigan State University, said if you think about it, the heroes of comics today have a lot in common with the heroes of ancient mythology.

"Popular culture is an extension of classic culture," Litteral said. "There's probably a master's thesis in there somewhere."