Gosh! Comic book stores in London oughta be...and are...fun!

Yes, comic book fans, you can buy comic books in London. There's many exceptional shops that stock American, British, and European comics around town. In the past I've been to the massive and somewhat overwhelming Forbidden Planet Megastore which is chock-full of SF, fantasy, and comics goodness but is a bit too crowded and busy for a little stuffed bull to be underfoot! So John and I took the advice of the good people at The Comics Journal discussion board and made it our quest not to miss the shop many have said is the best comic book shop in London: Gosh! Comics. And boy, was it worth the visit!


A very blurry photo of Gosh! with me in it.


A slightly less blurry photo of Gosh! without me in it.

(Here is a link to a much brighter and clearer photo of Gosh! taken by someone else. Nice job! That person is a much better photographer than I am. Thank you, STML!)

It's a small but well-stocked two-floor store of all the contemporary American comics plus a large selection of trade paperbacks and hardcovers, British and European comics, toys and trinkets and games and what-not, plus a very impressive assortment of British and London minicomics that John was very keen on! While I dashed about the store oohing and ahhing over all the goodies and checking to make certain I had enough pounds and pence in my change purse to buy those way-brilliant Asterix PVC figures, John had a nice chat with the store clerk about Fantagraphics Comics (which were very well-represented in stock at Gosh!) Seriously, the store's small but it's friendly and comfortable and has a lot of great stuff in it. I very highly recommend it not simply for the buying experience but because it's so darn friendly. Check it out next time you're there: it's easy to find, right across the street from the British Museum. (That's a great location, by the way—I hope they have solid strong foot traffic to match the location! That's the equivalent of a comic book store being located across the street from the Met in New York, which I bet would get it a lot of traffic!)

It was quite dark by then but still plenty of time to wander around the neighborhood and pop in another excellent store, the totally crowded but fantastic Playin Games, a wonderful game shop with board and dice and card and war games. Again, I was all around the shop, up and down stairs, pulling games off the shelves and seeing if they would be fun! I got a absolutely brilliant one that combines my love of board games and the London Underground in one: The Tube Card Game. It's a faster-paced, card-oriented twist on the old familiar "London Game" with nicely produced London Underground graphic cards, and it even comes in a cool plastic "tube." What's best about it is that there are also solo play rules, because as we all know, sometimes the hardest thing about playing a board game is getting someone else to play with you!

Finally, right down Museum Street, a few doors down from Playin Games, was the greatest restaurant in the world:



Pamcakes!

You know how much I love comics. You know how much I love games. And oh crikey, do I love me some pamcakes! So I'll leave you here with memories of me and my tall stack, ending the day with a hearty breakfast and plenty of syrup.