Speech Bubble

The Beguiling Books & Art is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2017, so Aaron welcomes its current owner Peter Birkemoe and outgoing shop manager and current Toronto Comic Art Festival artistic director Christopher Butcher. Together they trace the shop's history from its beginnings on Harbord Street to its current status as Toronto's destination for independent comics. We discuss how both Chris and Peter grew to mostly detest mainstream superhero comics in favour of the more intellectual and independent fare, before discussing the evolution of the Toronto Comics Art Festival from a small comic convention in the Honest Ed's store parking lot to a showcase of comic art from around the world at the Toronto Reference Library. This conversation finds The Beguiling in a state of transition, as they just moved from their long time location in Toronto's Mirvish Village to a new location on College Street. If that weren't enough, Chris is leaving his post as store manager to become Viz Media's man in Canada. Nee