The Northern News Service has a story up about how difficult it is to buy new comics in Yellowknife, and discusses the feasibility of opening a comic book store in this relatively remote location. It also addresses most of my initial reactions, such as:

– why not buy from an online retailer? well, you don’t know what you are getting condition-wise

– why not get into the whole digital revolution? well, there’s the issue of illegal scan downloading and costs, plus you know, comic book collectors have a tendency to want paper copies handy, even though it does mention that this is becoming less of a concern

One question that I don’t think is addressed is whether or not there are any booksellers that could order comics or graphic novels on behalf of the customer. The Book Cellar, mentioned in the article, once carried comics – could they not offer to order comics for customers? Canadian bookstores would be ordering from the Canadian book distributors and not the most recent comics sold by comics publishers through Diamond, but it is something to consider.

Canada is such a huge country, and we often forget about just how spread out it is, and how remote some locations are.  It must be a difficult thing, I imagine, to be a devoted comic book fan in the Northwest Territories. No stores, no shows, little access to material, and poor selection when you do get anything…