After ComicCon is over, there are plenty of ways to continue your love affair with comics by visiting the many comic book stores scattered across Montréal and its environs. Whether you're looking for manga, vintage superhero issues, comics-themed statues or French-language series, the Montréal comics scene has everything to help you get your geek on.
Located in north Montréal, Comic Hunter is the go-to place for both new and back issues of comics. It boasts over 500,000 items, most of which are comics, in both French and English, and, true to its name, staff will hunt down rare issues. If you don't want to spend a mint buying issues, you can rent them for a small fee.
Located in the same building as Comic Hunter, Comicage Entertainment is a specialist in both vintage (1960s) and contemporary comics. All told, it has about a million items on hand, so it's likely to have that rare Silver Surfer or Wolverine issue. And they have toys as well, both superhero and sci-fi.
These guys (George Mallari-Lee, Paul Landry and Ray Silas) are self-described comics educators. Their store began as a website, inspired by their mutual love of the genre. The Crossover Comics gang covers the wide spectrum of the comics mainstream in North America, but they make a point of offering international and indie comic book artists as well.
In action for over 25 years, Cosmix is technically in St-Laurent and accessible via the Côte-Vertu Metro. It has everything from graphic novels to manga to contemporary comics. In addition to comics-themed statues, it's outfitted to satisfy your gaming or board game urges. Cosmix also has a searchable database and a couple of blogs where supergeeks offer expert reviews.
Perhaps the "Shakespeare & Company" of comics stores in Montréal, D+Q – as the store is often called – is situated in the historic Mile-End neighbourhood. It began as a single-issue magazine, and then founder and chief, Chris Oliveros, opened a store in 1989. In operation for over 25 years, D+Q publishes some of the biggest names in comics, specializes in graphic novels and holds numerous book launches for Montréal authors.
This comics store is right in the heart of the Plateau. It's a specialist in French Canadian, French-language European and American comics, with an impressive stock, searchable via the website's database. Millennium Comics should be of particular interest to Francophones looking for European titles such as Thorgal, the Belgian fantasy series that has links to the Golden Age Tintin series.