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I dropped by at Lausanne, which seemed to me like a capital of European comics, or bande dessinee. I was supposed to go to
Raspoutine which is the most famous, but the shop was closed, and it was before Labour Day; so instead, I went to the second best:
Apostrophe
Apostrophe, at first sight from outside, looks small, but inside, there was a huge wall of BDs covering every wall of the shop, til it's 1st floor. On 1st floor, there were not only a collection of second-hand BDs, but also art & sketches by renowned European BD artists.
From there, I've bought my first BDs in Switzerland, Sillage, Volumes 9 & 10. Have a look:
As a free gift, the kind shopkeeper guy gave me this:
After that, I went to Crobar, which is up the street from Apostrophe:
Crobar, like Apostrophe, is a deceptively small shop from the outside, but inside is just as huge.
That's where I bought this exquisite book:
Notice a pattern here? I'm a huge fan of Sillage, as well as Philippe Buchet's art. Oh yeah, and tough space chick Navis.
Next I went:
Which is kinda like a Swiss version of Borders, & Tower Records. I went inside, and yes, there was a section dedicated to BDs, but I never expected that part to be just as huge. Walls of them.
That's where I bought this:
It was illustrated by
Terry Dodson, which is the only reason I've bought this book. Check out the art:
And it wasn't just in Lausanne. Supermarkets, convenience stores, any places with a magazine section in Switzerland have dedicated BD sections. Not huge, yes, but then who doesn't sell Essential Spider-Man trade paperbacks in America?
Oh, and there were mountains, cheese, chocolates, huge ass lake, kebabs, statue of Freddie Mercury by the huge ass lake, but who cares, when I've bought comics from Switzerland.
My only regret here is that I've should've bought more, but it was nice preview to what I will buy in my future trips to Europe. Paris, Belgium or
Amsterdam, perhaps.
I'd like to visit Europe again someday, just to buy more BDs.
