Stores Around the World #5

El Rincon del Coleccionista – Montevideo, Uruguay.
Uruguay (corner of Convencion)


With different needs you need different stores. Since the market in Montevideo seems to be very fragmented there is a place for Toys, another for super heroes and another one for European books. This is the ultimate niche for European non-super hero comic books.

One thing it’s true, it can be a little confusing to get there if you are not familiar with the store. It is located on a first floor on top of a corner nut the entrance it’s located a few meters to the side. On the street level it doesn’t say anything to indicate the existence of such a place in the confines of the building, all you will have its an address (maybe a picture) and a flight of stairs. You’ll have to go boldly go upstairs to gain access to the place, then walk all the way to the end until you find the door with the sign. Then you’ll be safe.


Inside it is beautiful, it’s very neat and organized and you have a lot of things to look for. There are European albums all over the place, a bin with cheap deals, a section with the classics from the great artists of the medium (Crumb, Frazzeta, etc), some original pieces of art work hanging for decoration and a very healthy section of Uruguayan comics (no Black Angel though, sold out). Here, like pretty much all over the area most of the material it’s in Spanish, maybe you can find one or two in English buried somewhere. Most of the material they carry it’s from the Spanish publisher NORMA, who happens to publish most of the European albums and some American books as well.


There is no merchandising here either, that has been reserved for a little boutique store located over 18 de Julio street called “Montevideo Massacre”. Here you will find a few things but I’m pretty sure that they are just for show.

This is an amazing place to go and hang out, when the people shows up there is a lot to talk about, comics, books, movies, all with the friendly touch of the owner himself, always ready to engage you in long conversations about the situation and the product. His name is Gabriel Mainero, just make sure to go with some time to spare (and with some money too!).


Note: if you go from the Americas you might notice that the prices in Montevideo are a little high, just be aware of the exchange rate and don’t think that they are robbing you. Most of the material here it’s priced after the retail price you might find back home, always inquire about the price of an item to avoid confusion.


Bonus track:
Montevideo massacre.
18 de Julio y yaguaron – Galleria del Virrey


This is a very small store close to the city hall. They have collectibles, and for the looks of it they are the only ones to do so. Here you will find some action figures from Neca, sideshow and maybe another vendor. They also have movies and collections of TV shows. It’s not bad for a little boutique, although the space it’s very tight. A stop only if you are into toys and that stuff.

New comics on the way

I know that latelly I seem to have left the art a little on the side here, that is just poor planing on my end. I have been working extensibly on my art. Just after finishing HTSWR#2 I did "The Island" for Hadron, and then started right away with HTSWR#3. That it´s complete on pencils, and the inking starts right now.

Here you have a couple of pages as a small teaser.



There you go, giant robots and supermarkets, WHAT´S NOT TO LIKE?!?!

It also came to my mind the idea of working with Brian Wood in THE DMZ, I think that my art could fit the story. Maybe we should lobby to get me some work with him.
Rise your voice and help me!!!!

More to come.

Stores around the world #4

Entelequia – Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Uruguay 341. Capital Federal.

If you are like me and you go every now and then to Bs. As. Make sure to keep up with the stores and their moves. Why you ask?

Let me tell you.

On my last trip I went by memory, but since my last memory of the city was from at least 5 years old, some stores (yes, more than one) changed address since last I saw them. This one was one of them.

Something funny occurred with this store. It used to be around the corner of Camelot, now it’s around the corner but in the opposite direction than before. The layout was a main floor with books, apparel and some merchandising and a basement with most of the comics and manga; now the layout is exactly the same but on a totally different place. What are the odds?!

Their selection is pretty big, but they seem to specialize in comics and manga in Spanish. Nothing wrong with that, in a country where learning English seems to be an inconvenience it makes perfect sense. But still, what about the ones that DO read English and want to keep up with their titles? I’m sure they have a few comics in English, but I couldn’t find them among the ones in Spanish.



They carry all from Panini, Planeta, and the ever growing and seemingly powerful Ivrea (manga publisher that seems to rival Tokyo pop in number of titles), they even have a few old ones from failed attempts at publishing Marvel and DC in Argentina many years ago.


The store looks very nice and the attention is adequate. They also have another location and a website. This is another of the big stores in the city that have been around forever, but the old shop had a huge weakness, it was hiding among other unrelated stores and provided a very limited opportunity for window shopping. Now with this new and improved location that problem is solved, this also makes it easy to find.

Take a few minutes of your trip and stop here, but make sure that your Spanish is good, if not to speak it at least to understand the names of the titles they sell.

Stores around the world #3

Libreria Lecturas – Montevideo, Uruguay.
18 de Julio 921 –Galleria Libertador, local 14

Before we start this one there are two things you need to know and understand; one: Montevideo is not a very big city or your typical mega city for a country’s capital, two: the concept of a gallery. Here in South America we have a lot of these places, they are like a shopping strip with lots of stores one next to the other, they are very convenient but their size is not big, at least not big enough to call them a shopping mall.


Back in the day I used to shop here all the time, specially when I was living in the city. Today the store has a different stock than in those days. For instance, back then they used to carry lots of American comics and magazines straight from the previews, today they just carry some graphic novels in English. They still have a ton of stuff in the bins, 90% of it in Spanish of course. This includes DC and Marvel comics from Panini and Planeta and almost all the manga published by Ivrea. The store it’s rather small but in the recent time they managed to add a second floor to fit the manga. One thing to have in mind when going to this store is that they carry mostly super heroes, if you are looking for Non-super hero European comic you might need to look somewhere else. They lack merchandising also, there are no statues or collectibles of any kind, maybe you can get one or two action figures, but they cater to your comic book needs more than anything else.


If you are visiting the city make a pause while looking for leathery goods and take a walk to this little store located just blocks away from Independence Square. The attention is very friendly, ask for Fernando while in there, he will take care of you.

The first Avenger revealed

Ladies and Gents, Chris Evans revealed as Captain America in a teaser poster.
And so, the countdown to "The Avengers" movie begins.