Any good "emporiums" in London?

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Hi,

I'm heading down to London in a couple of weeks, just wondering if anyone knows of good places for comic-based purchases? I know of that big-ish one in Camden, and another large one near Trafalgar Square (loads of small-press stuff), but really I'd be looking for some of those "collectors emporium" type of places.

Similar to Royal Arcade in Southport, Botany Bay in Wigan, Snooper's Paradise in Brighton or Empire Exchange in Manchester - a big place stuffed full of all sorts of things (comics, books, toys, records, videos, magazines, antiques etc) that you gather up and take to the till. I'd go anywhere in London to get to one, so if anyone knows of any? That'd be a helpful thing!

[helsbels]

Which biggish comic place in Camden are you referring to? I go down to Camden three or four times a year to visit my mum and I've never been aware of anywhere selling comics down there (by that I mean girl's comics!).

[Jon]

I too would be very interested to hear the answer to this question! Searching for "comic shops in London" brings up shops selling American (or American-style) comics etc... not British humour or adventure comics which is my preferred style.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Can't remember the place name exactly, could be something like "Atomic Comics", it's down a side-street off the street that has fruit stands and the like - a pedestrian area. I'm crap with place names sorry, just go by sight!

I just remember that it had a DJ booth at the back for some reason, and it WAS mostly American superhero stuff, but I did find a few racks filled with goodies. Lots of old Viz comics, a Don Martin retrospective from France, a few Acnes, some EC pirate comics... No girl comics or Fleetway (or even DC Thomson!) stuff mind.

[stevezodiac]

There's a comic mart in London tomorrow - you should have arranged your visit to coincide with it. Obviously you had no control over the dates.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

The dates I've arranged also mean I'll be a week too early for the Dandy exhibition at the Cartoon Museum. Typical, ha ha!

[big bad bri]

the only comic shop in camden is mega city comics which sells american comics.the only comic shop in london to sell uk weekly boys/girls comics is 30th century comics which is a great little shop

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Mega City! That's the one. Nice place. I'll have a look for 30th Century Comics, sounds alright.

[babington]

Orbital Comics near Leicester Square focuses on american comics, but has a stock of 2000AD and, at the moment, quite a few Beano Comic Libraries. They get all sorts of things in, so it's always worth a look. 30th Century in Putney is fantastic too. The Comic and Book Exchange near Notting Hill tube also has a lot of comics, mostly American but lots of 2000AD-related books and the occasional British annual.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Cheers for that - I was thinking of going to Notting Hill anyway to see that museum of crisp packets, so I'll check the comic place there. Orbital sounds good too. There's one near Trafalgar Square which is a bit enormous, really good for small-press stuff and old "underground" stuff.

[davidandrewsimpson]

30th Century Comics is in Putney, rather than central London. Easy to get to by tube, train or bus though. Their website at http://www.thirtiethcentury.free-online ... ontact.htm gives address, opening hours, how to get there, etc. You can look at their catalogue there, which shows the range of their stock.

The British stuff is downstairs -- lots of it, thousands of comics, all very neatly arranged and easy to get at. The only problem is that there's too much of it.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Thanks very much - the prices seem alright too. My usual Manchester-based source for comics lets me have a bundle of 100 comics for £30, but that might be because they "know" me - I don't think I'm very well known around Putney!

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Well, I got back from London last night, and almost broke my back with the amount of comic shops around there. I'll be sticking up pictures of what I found on my blog, but for now here's the places I found:

-30th Century Comics in Putney (thanks for the recommendation!) - could've stayed in there all day, it was amazing! It took until 5.30pm to find the place though, so it's lucky he closed when he did or I'd've spent all my holiday money on the first day.

-Book & Comic Exchange, Notting Hill - exactly the kind of place I was looking for, hundreds upon hundreds of comics, books, annuals and magazines. I got a heavy bag full of stuff there, including the first two Willy The Kid books for £3 each.

-Mega City Comics, Camden - Not as many treasures as last time, but they DID have nearly every issue of 2000ad in there. Good selection of small press stuff too.

-Orbital Comics, near Leicester Square - Smashing as ever, especially if you're into the indies and small press.

-Cartoon Museum, near the British Museum - Another good selection of small press, and back issues of Crikey! Didn't know that two of my favourite small press things had new issues out, and they had them both in here!

-A nameless stand in Camden Market, near all the big horse statues? He's been there since the 1970s at least. Loads and loads of toys and comics and annuals, but a TAD pricey. Got a Sparky annual there and he gave me a discount for some reason. Nice guy!

[DavidKW]

I'll know where to go when I finally can afford a trip to London!

Do you know which underground stations are nearest these places esp 30th Century?

[blaing]

here are the details from the 30th Century Comics website.