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Homage to Catalonia - Comic Shops of Barcelona

Barcelona! City of that song, that team, and that cathedral!  But who knew it was also a comics hot spot?  Not me, until I was lucky enough to visit the sun drenched coastal second city of Spain on holiday.  Googling (as I always do in a new city) local comic shops, I was staggered as the map pulled up at least 20 comic shops in the Catalan capital!  Unfortunately I had insufficient time (and energy, in the sweltering heat) to visit them all, but I managed to call into a handful so I thought I'd give you my thoughts on them should any of you be fortunate enough to find yourselves there one day.......  (I'll mention briefly what I bought there, but I'll do a separate blog at some point on the comics themselves.  Also, numbers in brackets are footnoted at the bottom of the blog)

Universal 

Ronda De Santoni, 9

www.universal-comics.com 




The blink and you'll miss it exterior betrays a large and very well stocked comic shop.  My eye was immediately caught by the original David Rubin artwork from Aururo West on the walls, but was soon drawn towards the large three-room, well lit, and well stocked shop.  It was like someone had taken London's Gosh! Comics and said "yeah, lets see if we can fit a load more stuff in!"  The range of comics was fantastic; from all the top French comics, to great US and UK independent stuff, and a boat load of things I didn't recognise.  There was some Marvel and DC (1) but it was very much in the minority.

The one thing that struck me was the amount of US and UK 'indie' comics translated into Spanish; all the big names like Clowes, Bagge, the Hernandez brothers, etc - but I also spotted a load of Nobrow stuff and Nao of Brown (2).  I consider myself schooled on my belief these were small parochial concerns!

The middle room was also packed with comics - including some manga I think - but I didn't get much of a look (there was just so much to look at as it was!)  In the smaller room at the back they had more comics, a reasonable sized 'sale' section, as well as t-shirts and a fairly sizeable boardgames collection.  

From here I picked up Moebius' Arzach - which given it's mostly wordless (3), didn't make any difference being the Spanish version!  I asked for a recommendation of good Spanish comic and was directed towards Los Surcos Del Azar by Paco Roca, which is a beautiful looking Word War 2 story.  Though it is a lengthy book, so translating it as I read may be a mammoth task!



Newton

Riera Alta, 9

newtoncomics.blogspot.com.es/p/libreria-newton-riera-alta-n-8-08001.html



Walking just round the corner from Universal I cam across Newton.  It turns out that they're sister shops.  Whereas Universal carries the new and 'in print' material like most book shops would, Newton is the older stuff - back issues we tend to call it, 'collectors' is how they seem to see it on the continent (which sounds better to be fair!)  There was, as you may expect, some old early prints of classic European comics like Tintin, and so on.  One of the items to jump out at me was a collection of all the Spanish reprints of Metal Hurlant - which seemed a snip at €250.  However I was surprised at the amount of old Spanish language super-hero stuff.  Clearly Marvel and DC have had sizeable presence in Spain for a while - they even appear to have caught the Liefeld bug in the 90s!!

To be honest it was nice sight to see these older comics in a shop - something that has disappeared, certainly in the UK, over the past few years. It did feel like I was stepping back into my childhood somewhat.  Though the comics seemed to be treated with a bit more reverence than the 'back issue bins' of old.

From Newton I picked up Dayak by Adamov, which appears to be a Spanish translation of a French (let us be polite and say) homage to The Incal.  I also found and gladly bought a Spanish collected edition of Kane by Paul Grist, which was the most excited I've been in a comic shop for some time - back in the 90s Paul used to self-publish Kane and would post out each new issue to my grateful hands - and here it was, in Barcelona, in Spanish!  Congratulations Paul!


 Continuara

Via Laietana, 29

http://www.continuara.org/



Continuara was located on one of the main roads in the shopping area, and possibly for that reason it was the busiest shop I went to.  It was a nice well lit place that had a more haphazard feel than the other shops, with comics covering every wall, in boxes down the side and in the middle of the store, and stacks of comics on any available floor space.  There was a large main room which had new books along with a large collection of European comics.  Most books were stored in boxes in alphabetical order by their 'creator' - however I did find this somewhat confusing as it wasn't clear where you might find something by multiple creators, i.e. do I look for the writer or the artist?  Do they have copies of the same comics under both names?

Downstairs had even more of a stack-em-high feel, which towers of Spanish language Marvel and DC comics, as well as a reasonable manga collection.  There were also some toys mixed in with all that as well.

I picked up a bunch of Milo Manara comics that were on sale, whose gorgeously drawn saucy sex stories don't really need much in the way of translation!  I was hoping to find Torpedo by Spanish writer Enrique Abuli, but in the box under his name they only had a comic called 13 Relatos Negros.  I picked this up and it seems to be a collection of short stories with scratchy black and white from Oswal.  Although when I left the shop I noticed some Tropedo on display in the window, which seemed to confirm my thoughts on the confusing ordering of stock.


Arkham Comics

c/Xulcà, 16



Arkham Comics is a pretty small shop, but certainly used the best of the limited space with a large collection of comics.  There was a mix of European comics, Spanish Marvel and DC stuff, and a small amount of English language comics and books as well.  I didn't spot any manga, but there were lots of stacked shelves I didn't get chance to look at.  Tucked away in the corner there were also some toys and collectibles. 

Arkham was the most enjoyable comics experience I had in Barcelona.  Upon requesting recommendations for good Spanish comics, the owner (who's name I unfortunately didn't get) spent the next half hour showing me book after book of comics he thought I might enjoy.  He had a real enthusiasm and not only gave me an overview of comics in Spain, he also knew many American and British creators to use as handy comparisons to their Spanish counterparts.  I liked it so much I even paid a second visit a couple of days later.

From Akrham I bought El Folies Bergère, a story of French soldiers in the trenches of the First World War written by Zidrou and art by Francis Porcel.  Art wise it very much reminded me of Charlie Adlard's White Death - another First World War story.  I also got a stunning looking Spanish take on Beowulf by Santiago García with art by the previously mentioned David Rubín - the foreign language not being too much of a problem here as I am already familiar with the story, as I'm sure many of you are!  Another purchase was English Is Not Easy by Luci Gutiérrez, an adult humorous guide to the complexities of the English language (although pod co-host Lee disputed it was a comic - a discussion for another day.)



Fatbottom

Carrer de la Iluna, 10



Fatbottom was certainly the oddest comic shop I visited in Barcelona - and not just because of the name!  Whilst there was a reasonable amount of comics from recognised publishers (including a lot of independent American and British titles) the majority of the comics appeared to be small press and self published comics and zines.  There was stuff seemingly from around the world (languages not being my forte I can't be much more specific than that!), including English comics that were probably limited to 50 copies printed at home and stapled together, somehow finding their way over to Barcelona.  Many comic shops I've been to may have a shelf or two for these home-brew publications, but this was a whole shop of them - brilliant!

I picked up Ikea Dream Makers by Christian Robles, a Spanish comic which appears to be about some odd looking people who live above an Ikea store.  The artwork reminded me of the recent Nobrow comic Vacancy by Jen Lee (4).  I also got a crazy looking anthology, Argh! #7.  With both Spanish and English language strips it is very much a modern take on the US classic underground anthology Raw.


(1)  I'm assuming most people reading this blog are readers of Marvel and DC, and this would be the 'familiar' stuff for them so I mention this for info and comparison on US and UK shops.  I may be wrong in my assumption, and indeed I hope I am!

(2) Yes, yes, it won the Jury prize an Angouleme - but I still think of it as this lovely little British book!

(3) Though to be fair, I think most people buy Moebius comics for the art rather than the story don't they?

(4) Reviewed on episode 55 of the podcast no less.

 





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