24 43 w 43.664311 n 79.412038 w 43.664311 ; 79.412038 the beguiling type private industry retail founded 1987 founder steve solomos sean scoffield headquarters 601 markham street toronto ontario canada area served toronto ontario canada products comics owner peter birkemoe shane chung subsidiaries little island comics website http www.beguiling.com the beguiling is a comic shop in toronto ontario canada . it specializes in underground and alternative comics classic comic strip reprints and foreign comics . it has built an international reputation for focusing on and promoting non superhero comics in the superhero dominated north american comic book market . the store has made effort to promote comics culture in toronto by organizing the annual toronto comic arts festival tcaf in co peration with the toronto public library and by opening sister store little island comics the first north american comic shop aimed exclusively at children . contents 1 history 2 description and reputation 3 toronto comic arts festival 4 little island comics 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit joe matt visits the beguiling with seth and chester brown from matt s peepshow 3 drawn and quarterly 1992 . founded in 1987 by steve solomos and sean scoffield on harbord street near the university of toronto in toronto ontario canada the beguiling quickly built a reputation for the diversity of its stock focused on art oriented avant garde underground and alternative comics anything that is even peripherally comic book oriented according to current owner peter birkemoe . in the earliest days much of the store s income was made through mail order as the material it dealt in was not mainstream . it also built a reputation for stocking the works of cartoonists such as chester brown and julie doucet whose comics most stores would not handle due to the controversial nature of their contents . 1 well known toronto based cartoonists such as the trio of brown seth and joe matt became associated with the store 2 and sometimes depicted it in their comics . others such as jay stephens made it their shop of choice . 1 in 1998 solomos and scoffield decided to devote their time to creating art and later film production and ownership was passed to peter birkemoe and shane chung 1 who expanded operations . 3 in 1992 4 it relocated to a two floor victorian building in mirvish village in toronto and has since branched out into selling to libraries 3 organizing the toronto comic arts festival 5 and running another location called little island comics which caters to children . 6 description and reputation edit the beguiling is a store with an agenda 2 according to birkemoe and has been derided for some for its perceived elitism which stems in part from its sponsoring of crash a journal of comics criticism that mainly condemned bad comics . 1 others such as comics historian charles hatfield have praised the store for its sense of history saying you always leave the shop with a larger sense of what comics are about . 1 the beguiling is patronized by an international audience . 1 the store has made the top five retailer list in the comics journal 7 and among the awards it has received it shared the inaugural eisner spirit of retailing award in 1993 8 and it won the joe shuster awards harry kremer retailer award in 2010 . 9 toronto comic arts festival edit in 2003 peter birkemoe and chris butcher of the beguiling first organized the toronto comic arts festival tcaf . 5 unusual in the world of comics conventions 10 tcaf is a free admission event . it focuses on alternative and independent comics but includes other creative arts besides comics . 5 rather than being like a traditional comics convention it is patterned after european festivals such as angoul me and the american small press expo . the organizers considered toronto to be a hotbed of alternative cartooning but were concerned that most torontonians associated comic books with superheroes . their stated goal was to present the quality and prestige of ... local and international artists in a package that s respected and recognized . 10 the festival was biannual until 2009 when in partnership with the toronto public library it became an annual event . starting that year the festival took place at the toronto reference library . 5 little island comics edit little island comics is a spin off of the beguiling aimed at children . as most north american comic shops focus on teenage and adult customers and the beguiling itself mainly on adults the owners wanted to fill a void by opening the first children s comic shop in north america 6 and possibly the world . 11 little island comics opened 6 september 2011 12 at 742 bathurst street 13 in the annex close to the beguiling . the shop was designed with children in mind with bright colours and shelves at child height . 3 see also edit comics portal toronto portal the silver snail references edit a b c d e f heer jeet 2002 05 17 . beguiled by the beguiling . national post . retrieved 2011 12 23 . a b bell john . invaders from the north how canada conquered the comic book universe page 148 . dundurn press 2006 . isbn 978 1 55002 659 7 a b c demers matt 2011 09 07 . beguiling the children . torontoist . retrieved 2011 12 22 . riddell chris 2012 12 12 . 2012 hero the beguiling . torontoist . retrieved 2013 10 08 . a b c d braga matthew 2011 05 09 . toronto comics fest ruining mother s day yet again . torontoist . retrieved 2011 12 22 . a b little island comics north america s first graphic novel store for kids . school library journal . 2011 10 20 . retrieved 2011 12 23 . external link in publisher help brown jeffrey a. black superheroes milestone comics and their fans pages 80 81 . university press of mississippi 2001 . isbn 978 1 57806 282 9 will eisner spirit of comics retailer award . eisner awards . retrieved 2013 10 08 . harry kremer retailer award . joe shuster awards . retrieved 2011 12 22 . a b 2010 hero the toronto comic arts festival . torontoist . 2010 12 23 . retrieved 2011 12 23 . moon brad 2011 09 26 . toronto comic book shop claims to be world s first for kids . wired . retrieved 2012 02 02 . johnston rich 2011 09 05 . the beguiling to open a comic shop you know for kids . bleeding cool . retrieved 2011 12 22 . external link in publisher help irish paul 2011 09 23 . new shop offers comic relief for the under 12 set . toronto star . retrieved 2012 02 02 . external links edit official website and blog of the beguiling torontocomics.com the home of the toronto comics arts festival little island comics blog v t e canadian comics quebec comics english comic books captain canuck cerebus champions of hell chiaroscuro clockwork girl ed the happy clown ezra glamourpuss kade louis riel neil the horse northguard palookaville scott pilgrim thieves and kings underwater yummy fur strips the avridge farm backbench ben betty between friends capitalist piglet the chosen family cornered deflocked doc and raider fisher for better or for worse galaxion glitch herman it happened in canada the mice squad nightschool the other coast pooch caf space moose weltschmerz french magazines croc mensuhell safarir series les aventures de timoth e the bellybuttons les nombrils on sime publishers aardvark vanaheim aircel comics arcana studio bell features black eye productions class comics coscom entertainment dragon lady press drawn and quarterly dreamwave productions hillborough studios koyama press new reliable press les 400 coups maple leaf publishing m canique g n rale mille les la past que red 5 comics strawberry jam comics vortex comics awards canadian comic book creator awards association joe shuster award doug wright award canadian cartoonist hall of fame conventions central canada comic con fan expo canada montreal comiccon otakuthon paradise comics toronto comicon toronto comicon toronto comic arts festival ottawa comiccon hal con east coast comic expo calgary comic and entertainment expo people list of canadian comics creators mark askwith john bell deni loubert chris oliveros diana schutz shops the beguiling dragon lady comics happy harbor comics heroes comics paradise comics strange adventures now & then books books about the great canadian comic books invaders from the north tv the anti gravity room prisoners of gravity other association of canadian editorial cartoonists comic book confidential comic legends legal defense fund retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the beguiling & oldid 645552925 categories comics retailers in canadashops in torontoharry kremer retailer award winnershidden categories cs1 errors external linksuse dmy dates from june 2013coordinates not on wikidatagood articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store 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