Mega-City Comics (I’ve used the hyphen based on the shop sign), named after the cities in Judge Dredd, has been around for over 20 years, selling comics from its location in Camden to the huge number of people who come to visit the market. When I was a younger man and lived in north London, I would visit Mega-City Comics on my way back from visiting Gosh, Comic Showcase or Forbidden Planet, so it was nice to seeing it still going strong (and with the obligatory and packed website).
On a market road just up from Camden Town tube station, the shop is dedicated to comic books. The shop is full of them, and there is hardly any merchandise – this is a strange decision based on the proximity to Camden Market and the people who are primed to buy things, especially funky different stuff to do with pop culture, but I applaud their dedication the comic book medium. As you enter the shop, the left side is lined with tall book shelves, with six ledges, all full with a diverse selection of new and recent comic books from all the main publishers. In the middle of the shop, there is central double aisle of old comic books, including sale comics and packs of series, in long boxes with clear indicators. On the right wall there are shelves of trade paperbacks and graphic novels, mostly the Marvel/DC books, but a good selection of other books (including Asterix and Tintin). There is even a smattering of more arty books aimed at specific markets (such as the Suicide Girls book for the goths – goths are drawn to Camden like, well, goths are drawn to wearing black; in fact, when trying to take a photo of the shop, there were a couple of foreign goths drooling over the Sandman 20th anniversary poster in the window).
Even though I went there on a weekday that wasn’t new comics day in the UK (i.e. Thursday), the shop was full and there were several people working there and it had a nice ambiance. There was a mix of people who were serious comic book fans as well as people who were having a rummage around because they were in the area or came there to see what it was like. It’s nice to see it surviving outside of the central London location, and it does it with passion and professionalism.
