The comic book industry is one of those heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are a couple of shops that have already shut down for good while some have to stop accepting new orders.

Comicbook reported the famed Forbidden Planet comic book store in New York City is setting up a GoFundMe page to find support. For the shop to survive, this is their last resort of making sure that they’re going to re-open as soon as the lockdown is lifted. Currently, they’re trying to meet a goal of $300,000. The most recent reports say that they’re only at $32,443.

General Manager Jeff Ayers said that they are currently working at home to make sure that orders are still met and the store’s loyal customers have something to come back to, even when the physical store is closed. He again cleared that the GoFundMe effort is going into helping the store get back on its feet once it’s free to open up.

The Forbidden Planet is only one of the many comic book shops experiencing the same situation under coronavirus-enforced rules. According to Bleeding Cool, the One Stop Comics store in Oak Parks, Ill., shut down because of shelter-in-place rules during the coronavirus pandemic. They have followed Forbidden Planet's initiative in setting up a GoFundMe page to help them re-open.

Unlike the goal posted by Forbidden Planet, One Stop only set a modest $20,000-goal raising $2,823 so far.

An additional burden for the struggling comics store are the rising costs of staying in business, including rent and utility bills.

Comic book stores offer something else to do under the harsh realities of the coronavirus. Ayers shared that "We want to be there for you when you need a place to escape hard realities like the nightmare we are all going through at this very moment. We want to continue to influence and contribute to the culture of not only New York City but the entire world."

"Art can change a person's life. It doesn't matter if it's a novel, a comic, a movie or a statue, it all has the same power to inspire. As people with the responsibility to provide you with the art that achieves just that, we take this job very seriously. It's not easy for us to ask, but in order to continue to do this we need your help," he added.

Both comic books stores’ fundraisers are still ongoing at GoFundMe.

Marvel comics villains
These villains can take on the Avengers after "Endgame." A selection of works associated with the late Stan Lee's comics universe are displayed at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, on Nov. 13, 2018. ROBYN BECK/Getty Images
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