For the month of January, ‘The Comic Bug’ will match the price of any item on Amazon.com. Likely feeling burned by the holiday release of Amazon’s new iPhone app, Flow, which allows users to shop online for products they find in stores often at a discounted price, the local shop took to Twitter to announce their stance and remind buyers the importance of shopping local.

To give you an idea of the power of Flow, last week I used the application to order a new Xbox game rather than purchase it from Target, where I was at the time. In the store, the game cost $59.99. (It costs the same at GameStop.) But it was listed at half that on Amazon.com and since I have an Amazon Prime account, shipping was free. The entire experience lasted about a minute and a half, and I saved $25.

To my defense, I like a bargain. I also visit my local comic book shop regularly, and continue to mail order series from my hometown shop which winds up costing me in shipping when I can easily download them to my iPad (which I sometimes do).

I’d say we’re even. Though it sure has stirred up a debate.