“Comics and geek culture used to be old school, but over the last couple years there’s been a massive revival.” Kam Klodzinski, the Marketing Manager for Forbidden Planet International, is explaining why his company has opened a new branch in Brighton. “This is in part due to manga and anime becoming really popular,” he tells me, as people flood into the new branch on its first day. The rise of geek culture comes alongside the surge in accessible and ubiquitous media empire titans like Marvel, Star Wars, and large streaming sites like Netflix. “And there’s just such hype,” says Mr Klodzinski. “It’s way bigger than it was back in the day.”

I arrive before opening, on March 11th, but already a large queue is snaking around the block on West Street, with some people in cosplay (short for costume play.) When we get inside, the shop is full to the brim with merchandise, such as books, posters and figurines. Down in the basement, there’s even more to browse through, giving the store an almost TARDIS-esque character.

These days, Forbidden Planet’s clientele spans a wide range. Kam Klodzinski says there are people in their fifties and sixties who are driven by the “nostalgia factor”, as well as a new audience consisting of the “teens and young adults” just beginning to be immersed in pop culture. “It’s a very interesting phenomenon,” he says.

Forbidden Planet is a brand that has been operating and selling myriad pop cultural products in Britain since the late 1970s. Forbidden Planet International now operates 15 stores in the UK, and stocks over 250,000 products across its various branches.

Mr Klodzinski says Brighton is the perfect place for a new store. “The Brighton community resonates with us…the people who work in our stores, I think, fit in with the Brighton scene. It’s very open and quite varied,” he added.

“Varied” is certainly the way I’d describe what the store sells. From franchise titans like Star Wars, Marvel and DC, to popular manga and anime series like My Hero Academia, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Mob Psycho 100, to more distinctly British cultural fare (Doctor Who, for instance), video games (including Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda) and even animation like Morph and Bagpuss.

I also asked Mr Klodzinski what he himself is interested in. “A big thing for me is funko pops. There’s a couple characters, especially girls from the comics that I really like, and there’s obviously Wanda/Scarlet Witch, She Hulk, Ms Marvel, Captain Marvel. That’s kinda my thing.”

Forbidden Planet International has become a bastion of geek and pop culture, both well-known and obscure, over the course of many years. And with such media seemingly only growing in appeal, the shop appears likely to become a mainstay in the Brighton scene for many years to come.