"She thinks I'm scary," David Saindon said.

He's talking about a co-worker's girlfriend, but the manager of the Mile High Comics at 98 Wadsworth Blvd. is as approachable as your old high school buddy as he talks about The Karate Kid, all types of music and demon-fighting priests.

Oh yeah, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of comics, too.

In fact, he can name the first appearance of an obscure Marvel Comics character off the top of his head.

" X-Men #282," he says to a regular. "That was the first appearance of Bishop." (He's right.)

It's just another typical new comic day. The regulars come in one at a time, and Saindon greets each one with a "'sup?" When they come to the counter to purchase their books, he talks about each one in detail. As is the case with most of the regulars, a 10- or 15-minute conversation ensues.

"He's been coming in here every week, having the same conversations," he says of one of his regulars. "Fourteen years."

As for Saindon, he's been with Mile High Comics for 17 ½ years, a fact that astonishes most of the people congregated around him. Born in Denver, he started at the central warehouse.

"I was a young kid, I needed money to buy comics," he said. "I went around to comic shops looking for a job, but no one was hiring. One guy told me to go to the warehouse and I started there, getting paid in trade."

"I covered at stores for a while and ended up working here quite often," Saindon said. "Over time, it became a permanent thing."

As he walks around the store, people shout out questions to him. He's got an answer for everyone: "$19.95." "We got more Marvel Zombies back here." "I pulled this Fangoria for you, too."

It's not just the comics that Saindon knows. The customers rarely talk to one another, but they all talk to him. He asks one regular about his hand, which was injured in a work-related accident. He asks about one customer's wife. When he answers the phone, it's rarely someone he doesn't personally know.

"I know these people," Saindon said. "It's a job, but the people keep me here. We have customers that come in here from all walks of life - I mean, we just had a Lakewood marshal come in here - it's crazy."

A customer comes in with a request: Where's the latest issue of Annihilation: Conquest?

Saindon gives a big smile and tells him that he'll help him find it.

"I love my job," he said.