Every time I visit Toronto, I’m surprised by the degree to which Queen Street has remained fundamentally unchanged over the decades. It’s gotten a bit gentrified in terms of its shopping options, and a couple of tall buildings have crept in, but it’s still very much the two and three story street that I first encountered in the 1970s. The old Silver Snail location near Spadina is still a vacant lot – surprising that prime real estate on a central Toronto thoroughfare could remain undeveloped for so long.
I walk on past the empty spot, and eventually arrive at the new location, about halfway between Bathurst and Ossington. I’m a bit early for their Good Friday hours, so I take advantage of the lack of walk-in traffic to take a picture or two of the storefront. The current branding is substantially different from the slick presentation of years gone by – more cartoon, less comic book.
Waiting on the doorstep for the door to be unlocked is a bit of a fanboy thing, so I decide to do a lap around the block instead. When I get back, the store is open, and I head inside.
I’m a bit surprised to see that the new Silver Snail footprint is considerably smaller than their previous location – logic says that moving to a location on Queen West West* would have let them at least match the square footage of a Yonge Street address. The front counter is just a stand with an iPad on it, the number of used comics bins seems much reduced, and the range of action figures and other toys seems to be a bit crammed in and cut back. It also appears that their coffee shop has fallen by the wayside.** However, there’s still a comprehensive selection of graphic novels and specialty publications on display, and the new comic racks are in good shape.
I would never leave the Snail without buying something, but my online subscriptions to DC Infinite and Marvel Unlimited are taking care of all my comic book reading needs - which may go a long way toward explaining their reduced footprint. It’s possible that online reading may be starting to push out paper-based purchasing, although I’d expect that collectors would still want the real thing.
As I browse the store for alternatives, I'm a little tempted by the Jack Kirby Fourth World**** boxed set - after I see the price tag, not $180 tempted, but tempted nonetheless. Price aside, it probably weighs more than all my carry-on luggage together, so it’s with only minor regret that I keep looking.
I finally settle on an action figure: a McFarlane Toys Sister of Battle from the Warhammer 40K universe, to compliment the Space Marine that I purchased last year. It will take up some of the empty space in my luggage, but certainly not as much as the Kirby collection.
As I head back to my hotel, I notice that the original Bakka Books location at 282 Queen West is vacant. I suspect the prohibitive rent situation that pushed them out is still in place, but it would please my sense of balance to have them move back to Queen Street as well. Well, I’m headed to their current Harbord Street home on Monday, if I see anyone I know perhaps I’ll suggest it to them and see how it goes over.
- Sid
* Not a typo - Queen West West is a thing.
** Some follow-up research indicated that the Black Canary Coffee Shop has unexpectedly gone solo and set up shop over on the other side of Yonge Street at Sherbourne and Adelaide. Hmm, maybe they should change the name to Nightwing.**
***Batman joke. Well, Robin joke, really.
**** It’s funny - when Kirby originally introduced the Fourth World in 1971
with the publication of Mister Miracle, The New Gods, and The Forever
People, even his stellar reputation in the comic book industry wasn’t
enough to sustain sales of the comics. But over the years since then,
Darkseid, brutal ruler of fiery Apokolips and grim master of the
Anti-Life Equation in the Fourth World, has become the de facto main villain of the DC
Universe. Trust Kirby to recognize the need for an ultimate evil to
balance out all the good guys.
