Legends Comics and Books is celebrating 25 years as Victoria鈥檚 leading comic store this year. Owner Gareth Gaudin has been there since the beginning.
Legends was always dedicated to the 鈥渉igh end, art phase鈥� of the market, Gaudin told me.
鈥淥nly the good stuff. No Pokemon and Magic cards.鈥� Magic cards were the best-selling merchandise for other comic stores, but the original owner, Grant Wilson, had 鈥渁 bizarrely tuned integrity,鈥� Gaudin recalled. Legends was dedicated to vintage comics, with a generous selection of the best modern graphic novels.
When Wilson opened the doors in 1992, Gaudin was Legends鈥� first customer. He was soon hired, and worked there for the next 10聽years. When Wilson retired, Gaudin bought the store with the support of Lloyd Chesley, one of Legends鈥� best customers.
鈥淪tupid thing,鈥� Gaudin noted ruefully, 鈥渢o become a partner with your best customer.鈥�
Gaudin has been a comic lover throughout his life.
鈥淚 love the smell, the feel, the colour,鈥� he said. From the age of five it was a big deal for him to go the store.
By now, Gaudin has written and illustrated 231 books.
鈥淎nd I can鈥檛 stop,鈥� he admits. 鈥淚鈥檓 making three of them right now. Yeah, books. I never liked reading comic books. I just like them as books.
鈥淧eople come in and ask me: 鈥榃ho is stronger, Superman or Batman?鈥� But I don鈥檛 care. They are worried about what鈥檚 in the stories, but I鈥檓 thinking about the half-tone dots, the smell and the biographies of the artists. Subject and storyline are way down the list.鈥�
Between 1970 and 1992, the comic industry was booming, because people recognized that old 鈥� and new 鈥� comics had value. They were investing and speculating, and comics were being published in editions of as many as eight million copies.
鈥淭he day that Legends opened,鈥� Gaudin reflected, 鈥渨as the day that DC Comics put out the Death of Superman, the biggest-selling comic of all time.鈥� Ironically, that book 鈥渏ust blew the bottom out of things,鈥� Gaudin reflected. 鈥淚t was the death of the industry. Marvel Comics went into bankruptcy and the majority of comic retail stores went out of business. We went weeks without a customer.鈥�
But then eBay came along, and suddenly Legends was able to sell its stock all over the world. And about that time, comics became hip.
鈥淲e had Louis Riel, the graphic novel. And Art Spiegelman鈥檚 Maus was being taught in schools. We suffered through the 鈥�90s,鈥� Gaudin recalled, 鈥渂ut slowly people started coming back.鈥�
Victoria is a remarkably good place to own a comic-book store. Perhaps that鈥檚 because this is 鈥渢he end of the line.鈥� People retire here, and bring all their stuff with them.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always had a better comics society than Vancouver,鈥� Gaudin said, and to him, the Vancouver stores seem a bit empty. In Victoria, collectors from elsewhere 鈥� university students, cruise-ship passengers 鈥� find the cosy, cluttered Legends store deliciously overstocked.
It used to be that comics were just for teenage boys. Then, in the 1980s, the demographic shifted to 40- and 50-year olds 鈥� collectors and nostalgia buffs.
鈥淚t was getting pretty stale,鈥� Gaudin said. Not any more. 鈥淣owadays, easily 75 per cent of our clientele is female. It鈥檚 shocking. There are entire days when not one male comes into the store.
鈥淎nd these days the vast majority of artists, writers and publishers are women.鈥� Top of the list in his store is Saga, written by the American Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Fiona Staples, from Calgary.
鈥淪aga is a gargantuan seller,鈥� Gaudin said.
In 1954, the American Comics Code declared that all comics were for kids 鈥� funny animals, Archie, superheroes. But 60 years later, Hollywood has made superhero comics obsolete, and this has opened the gates to every possible genre: crime, mystery and romance. Biographical comics are huge.
鈥淵ou just name somebody famous and there鈥檚 a book on them,鈥� Gaudin said, directing me to a shelf with graphic novels about Glenn Gould and James Joyce.
New comics continue to arrive every week, just as they always did, but the highlight of any day is when someone struggles into the store with armloads of old boxes.
鈥淚t could be anything,鈥� Gaudin said. This year, a woman came in to offer him a 鈥渕illion-dollar comic,鈥� the first issue of Spiderman. He has a warehouse full of more humble offerings. For the vintage stuff 鈥渢here is always a buyer somewhere in the world,鈥� he explained. He could do all his selling online, 鈥渂ut people need to find me,鈥� he said. They have to bring in things for him to sell.
For almost anyone, a trip to Legends is a journey into personal reminiscences. Gaudin鈥檚 favourite cartoonist is Harvey Kurtzman, who originated Mad magazine.
鈥淗e was one of a handful of people who did things differently. And Art Speigelman 鈥� he changed it all, and all for the better. Their fascinating stories keep me interested in the antique comics. And who knows 鈥� maybe when I go to work on Monday there will an old box with a Superman No. 1 sitting in there.鈥�
Legends Comics and Books, 633聽Johnson St., 250-388-3696