In honour of Man of Steel, summer’s Superman flick, comic book purveyors Hairy Tarantula (Yonge/Steeles) and The Beguiling (Bathurst/Bloor) battle for the comic crown. Whose graphic novels pack more punch? You choose.
The Beguiling |
vs. |
Hairy Tarantula |
| Peter Birkemoe, 1987. | Owner & year opened: |
Leon Emmett, 1992. |
| I started reading the Saturday comics section in the paper and the little Peanuts paperbacks. | How did you first get into comics? | According to my parents, my first word was an attempt at "book,” yet I've been looking at the pictures ever since. |
| I often have comics that cost many thousands of dollars, but we focus on things that people want to read. | Most expensive comic book you’ve ever sold? | Probably Amazing Fantasy #15 — it was ballpark $1,500. Today it would sell for around $7,000 to $8,000! |
| I’d say half a million. | How many comic books do you have on hand? | I couldn't begin to tell you! Tens of thousands of trade paperbacks, tens of thousands more manga … |
| We don’t really care about characters; we care about authors. Chris Ware is one of my favourites. I’m a real comic book snob! | Favourite comic book character? | That's a coin flip between Cerebus and John Constantine. I wonder if I simply have an affectation for characters whose names begin with "C." |
| We’re trying to focus on the comic book — Scott Snyder’s Superman Unchained — as opposed to the movie. | Are you carrying more Superman comics due to the Man of Steel release? | We already have a lot of Superman but will reorder more if the movie causes a spike in sales. |
| I’d suggest Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore. | What Superman story would you recommend reading? | Superman: Red Son is a great place to introduce people. |
| We have a much more diverse selection than most shops — we carry books about the history of comics, foreign comics, old comic strip reprints … | What makes your shop stand apart from the crowd? | We’ve always had a strong focus on independent comics and still carry all the popular (and not-so-popular) superhero and superteam books. |