by L.A. Mood Comics and Games

By Dan Brown

Just got back from a couple weeks in Europe. 

Consider this my report from the Continent on the state of the union of as far as overseas comic shops go.

Sure, I got plenty of high culture in my diet: I saw Michelangelo’s David in Florence and spent time in Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum.

But as I’ve said before in this space, comic emporiums are my happy place, so I checked out as many European specialty retailers as I could find.

Here’s what I saw. 

And yes, this is a totally subjective list based on my observations alone.

The first type of vendor is those that aren’t all that different from the fine establishments here in London, Ontario that sell comics, gaming supplies, and collectibles.

Zurich’s Kabooom belongs to this category.

It didn’t take a lot of imagination to picture this merchant, not in Switzerland, but Canada.

That’s because it features displays with the current DC and Marvel titles, all in English, as well as offerings from smaller publishers (eg. Dark Horse) represented in the same proportion to how they are featured in Canadian stores.

There was also a gaming section with tables set up for playing RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons.

These products are not at all different from the wares offered by L.A. Mood. I didn’t buy anything there since I can pick up North American comics at home, they would have just taken up valuable room in my already-bulging suitcase.

The second kind is a slight (but also important) variation on the first type of vendor.

These merchants look much like our homegrown stores, too. At Starshop in Rome, Marvel and DC were the main event. There were columns of Funko Pops piled from the floor to the ceiling. 

It was modern and bright, something like what a comic outlet built by Ikea would look like. 

The crucial distinction: Not a one of the comics is in English. So Italian Marvel fans would be reading Il Mortale Thor, not The Mortal Thor. And other readers would pick up Il Migliore del Mondo instead of World’s Finest from DC.

The owner of Starshop explained to our little group of travelling sequential enthusiasts that domestic translations are more affordable. However, there is a group of diehards in nations such as Italy who prefer to enjoy the adventures of mainstream superheroes as they were written, in English, even though those versions cost three times as much.

I bought half a dozen comics, titles like I Fantastici Quattro and Eccezionali X-Men.

Comics Shop Keller in Zurich is an example of the third kind we came across.

They focus on European characters and creators. The top floor of this homey store contained books in German, the French titles were in the basement. 

I probably got the most out of this joint because the products are so different from what I’m used to seeing in the Forest City.

I bought a French book about Gallipoli with anthropomorphic dogs in place of Australian soldiers – I don’t even know if it exists in English. Also in French, I got a Blake & Mortimer collection, plus a forlorn Jack Kirby New Gods anthology. In German, I got the final, unfinished Tintin book, Tim und die Alpha-Kunst.

There are also bookstores in Europe much like our own Indigo stores, with large sections devoted to graphic-novels and comic anthologies. In the Netherlands there was a standard merch pop-up in the  cineplex where we saw The Mandalorian & Grogu.

So that’s what jumped out at me on my European sojourn. I’m heartened that the comic industry, based on what I saw, has plenty of supporters judging by the numerous businesses feeding their habit.

Have you ever visited a comic shop in another country? What was it like, compared to the ones here?   I would love to hear all about it in the comments!

Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 33 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly Graphic-Novel Group book club.