Montevideo Comics 2011

La edición de éste año de Montevideo comics (MVDC) fue un éxito, por lo menos a nivel personal.


No solo marca el reencuentro con amigos a los que veo poco, sino que además sirvió para hacer vínculos con gente nueva. El 2011vio además un montón de lanzamientos en lo que respecta al mercado local, dando la pauta de que el comic Uruguayo está vivito y coleando. Marcando que la producción no cesa y que los nuevos talentos siguen apareciendo.


También sucedió éste año un evento más que significativo. Se creó la Asociación Uruguaya de Creadores de Historietas (AUCH!) apoyados por el MEC y frente a escribana pública. Fuimos un montón los que estuvimos presentes a la hora de firmar el acta de creación de la misma, formando un grupo de miembros fundadores bastante grande. Estoy MUY orgulloso de formar parte de ésta organización y muy agradecido de que me hayan invitado a formar parte de la misma.

Parece que la convención crece año tras año, llamando la atención de más gente y más medios que la cubren. Mucha gente disfrazada, muchos stands, mucho comic. Así vale la pena darse una vuelta por la capi una vez al año por éste evento.
Ojalá para la edición del año que viene pueda presentar algún trabajo nuevo ya que hace mucho tiempo que no publico en Uruguay. Con la excepción de la página que hice para los amigos del grupo GAS he brillado por mi ausencia en estas últimas dos ediciones, que son las primeras dos que me ven de vuelta por el país.


Es muy lindo lo de poder sentarse a tomar unos mates y hablar de comics con gente como Santullo, Bergara, Peruzzo, Maco, MaGnUs y unos cuantos más que disfrutan de éste sano vicio que son las historietas. Nada como aderezar eso con una VAGON dedicada al gran y mega talentoso Renzo Vayra recién salida del horno y entregada en mano por el artista. Hay fotos de la gente y de las cosas vistas y firmadas en Facebook (por si alguno se quiere dar una vuelta y mirar un rato).

Por una vez en el año puedo decir de forma totalmente honesta (y citando a Ricardo Montaner):

SOY FELIZ!!

More to come…

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.

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.

Stores around the world #2

Midtown comics – New York City, USA.
200 W 40th street (corner of 7th avenue). Manhattan.

What can I say about this place?

I used to work here. ‘Nuff said.


They have two locations in NY, Times Square (my store) and Grand Central, near GC station. They also have a massive store online @ midtowncomics.com.

Arguably the best store I’ve ever known. They have everything, toys, statues, back issues, new stuff, huge selection of trades, apparel, novels, adult stuff, DVD’s, I don’t know, you name it, they have it. Plus, they carry ‘How to survive working in retail’, so make sure to stop by and buy a copy.


The attention is very friendly with a wide staff, that way if you ask something to someone and that person it’s not very into that he or she can point you towards someone who does. I love these guys, we spent hours and hours talking about comics, movies and the corruption of the world during both, working hours and lunch time.


The Times Square store it’s bigger in size than the one at Grand Central, they have two huge floors, one with all the new stuff and the trades and another one with most of the back issues, toys and statues so there is room for them to have something that you might be looking and GC might not have at the moment. If this happens just make sure to ask a staff member and he can call the other store has it, they love doing this and will offer it to you in a heartbeat.


Prices are standard for American stores, but they also offer a free membership that works as a reward program. For every hundred bucks you spend in book they will give you 20 bucks in store credit on your next purchase. Be aware, this only applies in books, no collectibles or apparel, just ask about it at the registers when checking out.


They also have signings with many creators all the time, just check the web site for updates on signings and possible sales.


If you are wandering the big apple and don’t stop here you will regret it, also, when you are there make sure to go to the 3rd floor and say hi to my main man Bronko for me.

Travelling without moving...

Stores around the world.

Here’s a little something that I’ve been cooking for a while now. In my days of Globe trekking one of my main concerns when arriving to a new country was this one of finding a comic book store. This magical place where you go to get your fix, looking for that missing issue that has been killing your collection forever or to get a new and rare copy of any book in a foreign language. We all know how tedious it is to go somewhere and have no clue of the whereabouts of such places.

This was the mentality behind such an enterprise, and with time it became sort of a custom, something to do any time a new port was reached. This way I found amazing places, in locations such as Bermuda, the Bahamas, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, New Jersey, New York, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, England, Ireland, Spain, Pennsylvania and some more that right now might be slipping out of my memory.

In this trip I will show you a few pictures of the stores I visited in my journey, saying stuff, sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but always with the intention of giving a hand to the weary traveler in search of these places of magic, weird decorations and funky smells. Of some of the stores I don’t even have pictures, but from now on, every time I go somewhere I make sure to bring my camera to avoid such a thing.

So, without further ado, grab your boots and backpacks and follow me on this journey through ‘Nerdvana’


Camelot comic store – Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Corrientes 1388. Capital Federal.

Undoubtedly the better stocked store in Buenos Aires, also the most confusing one. This one it’s on a gallery a few blocks away from the iconic obelisk in down town Bs. As. Also available online.



The layout makes it kind of a labyrinth, there is a central spot to purchase stuff and plenty of show rooms scattered all over the place. Here the idea is to go around spotting stuff and then getting to the sales place to request whatever caught your eye.

This process can be a little weary, the place is extremely hot during the summer, and it gets very crowded, moving room becomes a sought out commodity, so does air. The staff is friendly enough and they seem to have knowledge of the stock, but I’m sure that when the people start piling up and things get hot they use the same verse we all use when we are getting overwhelmed: “I don’t have it right now, maybe tomorrow”

Millions of books, comics (Spanish and English), all the toys you can imagine (new and VERY old), tons of manga and anime subtitled in Spanish by local fansubs, clothing and apparel, music CD’s, plushes, statues, everything. They even have a show room just for star wars collectibles, including a full size Yoda and a Band player from the Mos Eisley cantina.



Prices are all right, with the same rule as before, be aware of the exchange rate before purchasing anything or you might get scared when paying.

If anything I will suggest to the owner to rethink the accommodations and give some more room to the sales floor, maybe move to a bigger locale that will help us costumers with room to move and see stuff and also when expediting product.

Make sure to stop by and say hi to Gerardo, the guy all the way in the back, behind the ‘police line’, he is the owner and believe me, he’s very friendly and will certainly appreciate your business.



Go now, it might be out of business soon!
Don´t say I didn´t warned ya!!!