Little Island Comics

While many eager intellectuals and young aspiring minds went back to school yesterday, my brother Shaggy and I decided to celebrate and flaunt our no-more-classes-no-more-books-freedom by popping into the comic shop for kids "Little Island Comics!" YAY!

Little Island Comics sits nestled between toy shops just south of Bloor and Bathurst on the "Honest Eds" side of the street. Like the title suggests it's a little shop, but it is PACKED wall to wall with an amazing assortment of beautiful children's books and an awesome comic collection which includes manga, graphic novels-both new and classic-of all genres, and a little section up front of large hard cover French comics (I can't read a lick of 'em but love staring at the pages.) Self described as the first kids-comic book store in North America -maybe even the world!- Little Island Comics is a sister store to The Beguiling comic shop which is just around the block.

 (Shaggy spies Flight 8, an anthology we have a story in! 

Not sure why he's making that expression...)

There's a big curtain sectioning off the back wall that Shaggy and I were hoping lead to a tunnel back into the Beguiling... maybe ending in a swirly rainbow slide into a ball pit. Talking to the friendly staff, we were told it'll be a space for comic work-shops and for guest talks and signings when book creators are in town. Toronto has a super supportive comic community, one of the reasons I love living here, and something like this excites me to no end about the future and growth of that comic culture. As a kid, sticking close to my dad while we wandered around dingy comic dungeons had it's own sense of fun and adventure, but if I had a place like THIS available back in the day? Twenty-eight year old me was excited being there, eight year old me would have exploded from sheer delight.

(This trip's haul: It was hard only picking a few... and come on, 

it's an INDIANA JONES comic. I've had a crush on Indy since I was 10)

I wish Little Island Comics much success and good fortune. If you're in Toronto swing on by and check it out. And don't be surprised if glancing in and seeing the small space you expect to only be there a minute or two but find yourself sticking around for a good long while.

Happy reading!