I just spent a mini week in Montréal, and let me put this out right away in the open: while I was there I had shopping goals.

It’s no secret I resent the lack of language choices we get in the United States (and to a certain extent that was also true in Ontario), especially when it comes to kid-friendly content, so as soon as I landed in Québec, I started hitting as many libraries and thrift shops I could. 

Over the years, my slow (opportunistic) strategy of intentionally hunting for French comics in non-french speaking countries had yielded the occasional result (three Astérix in Ontario, one Tintin in Mexico City, one Gaston Lagaffe in Madison…), but nothing major. So I was hoping for better results in the French-speaking capital of the Americas (side note, yes, I’m aware Montréal technically isn’t a capital at all, but to me it is, let’s say in an honorary capacity), and in particular Astérix albums and Tintin DVDs compatible with a North-American DVD player. 

If none of this makes sense to you, it’s alright it’s not necessary to the appreciation of what’s to come. Let me just state, however, that you should look Astérix and Tintin up, everyone in the world knows these comics – only in the USA, blablabla…

All this to say that not only did I achieve my goals, I exploded them, and I had to hold myself back because I felt I was really starting to exaggerate with my luggage allowance. Second-hand shop after second-hand shop, I found: 13 Astérix albums, 4 Astérix DVDs (zone1!!!), 1 Tintin album (truly so many more, but I had to pace myself), 7 double feature Tintin DVDs… A treasure! 

In my hunt, I came to realize that this wealth of second-hand material has strong roots: Québec, just like Belgium (the French-speaking part), has its own rich tradition in the ninth art. My whole life I had wrongly thought Lucky Luke and Achille Talon was a product of European literature, but nope, they’re from Québec, and that makes so much sense!

And when I came home and looked at my photos from this week, it jumped at me, there’s a cartoon-like quality to Montréal. I think it stems from its astonishingly diverse people – true characters, from its joyful youthfulness, and from its way to not take itself too seriously. In any case, that’s what I saw, and that’s what I photographed, despite feeling in a complete creative rut.

It could also just be me. I’ll let you see for yourselves: