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GUIDE TO YELLOW SPR INGS  |  2020 – 2021 55 takes a dip, consumable prod- ucts will still sell.” Murphy began taking wine classes and going to all the tastings she could find. She expanded the store by taking out the apartment in the back to make room for a bigger selection of wine, and then more beer. Later came soups, sandwiches and baked goods, along with liquor. The store now also offers fresh soups, sandwiches, a variety of fresh breads, muf- fins and croissants daily and full breakfast service. Although the Emporium’s dining area is currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, villagers are anxious to get back to the community living room. —YS News staff Dark Star Books, founded 1982 Recently the News asked Dark Star founder and co- owner Mary Alice Wilson how the longstanding comic and book store got started. “That’s such a metaphysi- cal question,” she responded. In a linear way, at least, the shop began when Wil- son’s son started to amass too many comic books in the late 1970s, and she decided to start selling his extras. At the time, specialty comic book stores were springing up across the country to push DC and Marvel’s popular new titles, and comics were as popular as ever. At first, Wilson traveled to the weekly Caesar’s Creek Flea Market in Wilmington to sell new and collectible comics. It was lucrative but the drive was tiresome, and in 1982 Dark Star was born in Kings Yard. Within a couple of years, Wilson had moved the business to what is now the Emporium’s dining area, and then into its current space, formerly occupied by the Village Variety Store. By then, she was operating on the sale of serial comics and a steadily increasing stock of used, rare and collectible books. As for comics, Wilson said that at the time stores measured their sizes in “how many X-Mens you had.” Comic collecting was on the rise. “Whatever you bought that you couldn’t sell, you could just bag them and double the price,” she said. Fast forward a few decades, and in 2007, Tony Barry and Thacher Cleveland purchased the comics busi- ness from Wilson, who gave her blessing to the spinoff. Super-fly Comics and Games has operated on Dayton Street since. Dark Star, meanwhile, shifted focus to back-issue comics and graphic novels and continued amassing used books, of which there are an estimated 40,000 now in the space. “It was a huge turning point,” Wilson recalled of the shift to used books, which she could get on the cheap. Wilson, before starting to sell comics, was an area psychology professor, who graduated from Vanderbilt University and the Peabody School. She told the News in 2007 that after “an intellectu - ally impoverished” upbringing in eastern Tennessee, she “was still catching up,” and loved to both read and be surrounded by books all the time. A few years ago, Wilson’s daughter, Kate Mooneyham, returned to Yellow Springs to work at the shop and slowly assumed more duties. She now co-owns the shop with Wilson, and added significantly in recent years to its gift items, including greeting cards, jour - nals, T-shirts and other “geek culture collectibles.” In addition to its impressive stacks, Dark Star is known for its shop cats. George, an orange tabby, was the first, from the Kings Yard days, followed by Bart, named after the Simpsons character. Then came Mr. Eko, named after a character in the TV show “Lost.” Spooky, a black cat found in the Glen Forest Cemetery, is the store’s cur- rent resident feline. —Megan Bachman Current Cuisine, founded 1983 Their hummus is legend- ary. Their soups and sand- wiches are an ever-popular local lunch option. And their spinach squares, sun-dried tomato dip and lemon bars are ubiquitous at local par- ties and fundraisers. Current Cuisine has been a part of Yellow Springs since 1983, when it was a small catering company run out of John Bryan Community Center. And since 1989, its downtown shop has been a popular spot for prepared foods, meals and interna- tional groceries. In 2020, owners Karyn Stillwell-Current and Steve Current were being honored for supporting — and feed - ing — their community, with the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce’s Community Impact Award. After receiv - ing the award, they said they were humbled at the special place the store has had in people’s lives. “It’s really cool being a part of the village’s holidays and celebrations,” Stillwell- Current said. Added Current facetiously of the business’ top-selling item: “It’s not a party in town unless you walk in and see a pound of our hummus.” The history of Current Cuisine can be traced to another legendary local food establishment — the Winds Cafe. The couple met while working there in their 20s; she was a waitress, and he was a cook. SUBMITED PHOTO Dark Star founder and co- owner Mary Alice Wilson, with Mr. T at the book store. PHOTO: MEGAN BACHMAN Current Cuisine co-owners Karyn Stillwell-Currrent and Steve Current were honored with the 2020 Community Impact Award by the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce.