The Smell of the Ink, the Taste of the Biscuit

"I once punched a man for saying that Hawk The Slayer was rubbish."
"Good for you."
"Thanks. But the point is, I was defending the fantasy genre with terminal intensity. What I should have said was: 'Dad, you may be right. But let's give Krull a try and we'll discuss it later'."

Their image may be tarnished (if not downright wrong) in the popular imagination, but we are so, so far past that old chestnut "Comics: not just for kids!" that I'm likely to set fire to anyone who hasn't read at least one thing from Vertigo, Titan, Dark Horse or the host of tiny, independent houses out there (another personal favourite). More of the books later (promise): first let's mention some of London's finest emporia, so there's absolutely no excuse for not checking this stuff out.

Despite earlier, somewhat derogatory comments, STML spent much of his youth in the Western Lands, cavorting on the banks of the Thames and hunting venison in Richmond Park. Hence, such a review can only begin with the wonders of Thirtieth Century Comics on the Lower Richmond Road in Putney. Run by two of the nicest comic store guys you'll ever meet, 30th Century is a proper bookstore, with both the latest books and boxes and boxes of vintage material from the mainstream to the hand-printed - a story related before. They also, as many comics stores do, run a proper subscription service, so you don't have to worry about missing an issue, and can drop by to pick up your latest editions any time you like. Just try to spend less than an hour in their basement.

Another fantastic and very local shop is Mega City Comics in Camden, on the enduringly lovely Inverness Street. If you can fight your way through the goths and junkies (and that's meant in the most loving way: they're all pushovers. Literally) Mega City has tonnes of excellent manga and Indies alongside the standard fare. ("Skunkhashweed?")

Nestled around the British Museum are a number of fine bookshops, such as Ulysses, the LRBS, and Atlantis, but it wouldn't be complete without Gosh! at 39 Great Russell Street, practically mooning at the old beast over the road. Probably the best place to go in London for hardcovers, graphic novels and collections, there's also an occasional gallery of cartoon and comic art in the basement. It is allegedly part-owned by Jonathan Ross, which is, frankly, irritating, but that aside, it can't really be beat.

It's certainly a lot better than Forbidden Planet, which we have to mention simply because if nowhere else has it, they probably will, but they'll also have 8,000 harassed parents buying light sabres for their demented progeny, and the fifth android from some obscure Sci-Fi Channel Trek imitation signing laminated photos of their holographic codpieces. Now at 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, the old store on New Oxford Street contained an excellent, laid-back basement atmosphere noticeably lacking at the new address, but as a last resort, it occasionally must be done.

"Hey, Derek, Babylon 5's a big pile of shit!"

And next time, we might explain why.

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