Desert Island was founded by Gabriel Fowler in 2008 in response to the lack of alternative comics stores in New York.

[3] The store stocks a wide variety of underground and alternative comics, zines, artist's books, graphic novels, art magazines, and screenprints,[4] sold from both the store's own stock and on a consignment basis from individual artists.

[2] The store's "no-restrictions consignment" was inspired by the eclectic selection of Quimby's Bookstore in Chicago,[2] which would open an additional location in New York in 2017 directly adjacent to Desert Island.

[5][6] The business's storefront features rotating displays and art pieces by comic artists, including Lauren Weinstein and Marie Lorenz.

[8] RESIST!, a special issue of Smoke Signal guest edited by Françoise Mouly, was distributed nationally at the Women's March in 2017.