As part of my effort to raise funds for VSO Canada (and to make my mom happy that most of my old room is cleared away of junk), I decided it was time to part ways with my comic book collection. Since the late 1980’s, my brother and I have been biking to our local comic book shops and buying our favourite comic book titles and superhero paraphernalia.

All time favourite characters included: the X-Men, Superman, Batman, Justice League, Wonder Woman (um yeah, so…?!?!), Teen Titans, Avengers, and artists/writers such as: Paul Dini, Scott Lobdell, Jim Lee, Joe Madureira, Ed Benes, Gary Frank, John Byrne, Dan Jurgens, Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Phil Jimenez, Pat Lee,  Todd MacFarlane, Alex Ross, Allan Moore, Mike Deodato Jr., Chris Claremont…and many more. I accumulated over 4 long boxes worth of books.

I contacted a number of comic book shops about not only taking away my entire childhood collection but also if they would be interested in contributing towards my VSO fund raising campaign. The Beguiling (www.beguiling.com) near Bloor street w. and Bathurst answered the call.

The Beguiling shop has been around since 1987 and is located at 601 Markham St., behind the iconic Honest Ed’s store backing a trendy street on the Toronto west-side. As soon as I walked in, I was quite amazed at the variety of independent and alternative books on the main floor and a wealth of superhero comic book titles on the second. It was jaw-dropping. Everything you can imagine is here and they can pretty much get anything you ask for. I really wish I had access to this shop when I was a kid (I would have blown my entire savings…I practically did). Oh, and I also really like that they have a special section for libraries.

I got a fair price for my entire collection and all proceeds were donated VSO Canada.

Thanks Peter,

Related links and reviews:

On blogTO: http://www.blogto.com/bookstores/beguiling