Retired art teacher who runs a comic store in Pocatello has 2 new books to his name

POCATELLO – Bob Beason sits surrounded by comics and his own original artwork in Captain Bengal’s Comic Cove, a comic book shop he opened in 2012 at 348 North 3rd Avenue in Pocatello.

The retired art teacher has loved comics and art since he discovered comic books in his grandma’s ottoman as a kid. During a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, Beason chuckles as he recalls being known as “the kid who can draw.” He’s never stopped reading comics over the years, so opening his store wasn’t that far of a leap.

“I had a storage unit with 22 boxes of comic books, so I decided to rent a little space to sell them,” Beason says.

Reception from the community was positive and soon Beason was ordering new comic books from franchises like Batman and Superman.

Bob Beason shows one of the comic books on display in his store. | Jordan Dilley, EastIdahoNews.com

After more than a decade of running his own business, Beason still finds time for his art. He’s created two original comic books. One of them is Mascot, centered on the ISU Bengal mascot and his mission to protect ISU. His second one is Crypto Legends, a comic comprised of Bigfoot stories he’s heard over the years at fan conventions and conferences.

“People would just come up to me and tell me these stories,” Beason says.

Recently, an old man approached him at sQuatch Fest — an annual celebration in Longview, Washington dedicated to all things Bigfoot. He told him about allegedly seeing Bigfoot while out driving with his wife. He also talked about a young waitress who saw something large rise out of the water as she was swimming in a lake near Hamilton, Washington.

“There are so many stories out there,” he explains.

Beason was a junior in high school when he took his first art class. That year, he was hit by a potato truck during harvest and spent the next six weeks in Salt Lake City undergoing reconstructive surgeries. He used the time in between to draw.

Beason went on to attend Idaho State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1978. His first job after graduation was teaching K-12 art in Wells, Nevada. After a year, he and his family moved back to Pocatello where he taught art at Hawthorne Middle School and Pocatello High School.

One of his proudest teaching moments came in 2009 when one of his students received a Congressional Art Award, and he traveled to D.C. to see the presentation. He retired from teaching that same year.

Beason is now developing a comic about the Roswell incident. The opening scene features Kenneth Arnold and his UFO sighting near Mount Rainier. He is also working on the fourth installment of Mascot.

Though comics are his first love, Beason admits he would also like to work more on watercolors in the future, especially landscapes that would warrant more travel — another one of his passions.

Captain Bengal’s Comic Cove is open Tuesday through Saturday. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, with varying hours the rest of the week.

A peek inside Captain Bengal’s Comic Cove in Pocatello. | Jordan Dilley, EastIdahoNews.com