Hey all! I don’t have a lot to talk about this week. I’m just going to talk about my visit to Quebec City this past Friday.
I lived in Quebec City for two years while I was attending Champlain College, St. Lawrence Campus. It was my first time living away from home and overall I had a good time there. There were three places in particular that I liked going to back then, Librairie Premiere Issue, Librairie Donjon and Hobbies Kirouac. This is where I spent the money I couldn’t really afford to spend on comic books, roleplaying games and gaming supplements. The latter has closed its doors since those days but I found out last year that the other two are still in business.
On Friday my mom and I had a little bit of time to kill before the scheduled appointment we were in town for so we stopped by one of these locations, Librairie Premiere Issue. It had been twenty years since I set foot in that place and man it was like nothing had changed. The steps leading down into the store. The staircase leading to the second floor. The shelves lined with comics. It was all exactly as I remembered it.
I spoke briefly to the owner while I was there, introducing myself and explaining to him how I used to go there back when I was in CEGEP. It’s funny but I probably spoke to him longer in that brief conversation than I ever did in the two years of me going there in those days.
One thing that was different from what I remembered was the variety. Back in the day, Premiere Issue sold more than just comic books. There were games and novels and what-have-you. I guess with the arrival of l’Imaginaire as a pop-culture haven store in the same city, the owner of Premiere Issue decided to fall back on what he knew best, comic books. There were some figures and busts to buy, but on the whole it was almost exclusively comics this time around.
I couldn’t drop by Premiere Issue without dropping a little coin, so I picked up a Robin Hood comic trade paperback and two volumes of Mice Templar. I chose them as the type of books I wouldn’t typically find on the shelves of other comic book stores.
We nearly got lost on our way back to the car after our visit (my mom and I have terrible senses of direction) and ended up arriving late for our appointment, but everything worked out fine. Afterwards, I visited l’Imaginaire, which is your typical modern collectibles and gaming store. It wasn’t as special though since I’d been there relatively recently with Frank. For me this trip was all about Premiere Issue. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever drop in again; Zone 51 is much closer for all my comic book needs…but it sure was sweet to travel back in time for a half hour or so. If ever you’re in Old Quebec, take the time to drop by and see the comic book store of yesteryear!