Q. What is it supposed to be on the show?

A. Centurion Comics, a comic book store run by Seth Cohen.

Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

A. Upstairs in a small mall/quad in Newport's Pier Plaza. (See the Pier Plaza page for more details.)

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. Throughout the final 4th season, in virtually every episode, until it (and much if Newport) was shut down by the earthquake. It was a convenient place for the producers to stage conversations with Seth.

We first see the comic book store in the first episode of Season 4 ("The Avengers"), in a scene where Seth (working behind the counter) brings a young girl to tears, because she has dared to ask "Is there a comic book based on The X-Men movie?" His mom (Kirsten) shows up with a care package that she wants Seth to bring to the grieving Ryan (who was hiding out in a fight club).

Later, in the same episode, the Cohens hold an intervention, of sorts, there for Ryan (who has flipped out following Marissa's death), where Seth shows Ryan slides of a comic book he has created about how Ryan has helped the Cohen family.

It's where Taylor later tells Seth that she's falling for Ryan, and tries to recruit him to help her effort (in Episode 5, of Season 4, "The Sleeping Beauty").

It's where (oddly enough) Ryan and Taylor have their first date - watching anime movies on a flat-screen TV and eating popcorn - , which doesn't work out well (in Episode 6 of Season 4, "The Summer Bummer").

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. Part of the Pier Plaza set, at Manhattan Beach Studio.

(The set is loosely based on a real building/quad on the north side of Hermosa Beach's real Pier Plaza.)

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. You can't. This is one of the more disappointing locations in The OC.

The comic book store (and the two-story building where it appears to be) does not exist in the real world. It is simply part of an elaborate Pier Plaza set (which also contained Ryan's Mexican restaurant) inside a sound stage at Manhattan Beach Studios.

See this page about Newport Pier Plaza for the details.

The set was based loosely on the Pier Avenue Promenade in Hermosa Beach, and a particular shopping center there (Loreto Plaza), but other than the establishing shot (which is a real shot of that Hermosa Beach promenade) nothing else about the comic book shop was filmed there.


Here is a Bird's Eye view aerial photo of Loreto Plaza on the Hermosa Beach Pier Plaza.

And here is a map link.

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A. See the Newport Pier Plaza page for details.