Batman not included

>> Fichtre! is the comic store for the grown-up in you

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

"Every five years, I need a big change in my life, and I was about due," says Yves Millet, proprietor of the comic/CD boutique Fichtre! The cozy little space, tucked away at the corner of de Bienville and Rivard, opened its doors in July 1996--"so I'm still here for another two and a half years," he laughs.

"I wanted to do something I liked," explains Millet, "and the two things I like are comics and techno music." It may seem odd to see Kruder & Dorfmeister racked next to manga and Moebius, but there's something of a European sensibility at work here.

Fichtre is the antithesis of what comic retailing on this side of the Atlantic has become, and it's not just the carpeted floors. There are no lifesize cardboard cutouts of Wolverine in mid-pounce here, no Spawn coffee mugs, no Magic cards or Star Trek hats.

And no fat pimply social defectives loudly debating the merits of Todd McFarlane and Red Sonja. But that's okay. There are enough actual adults (many of them--wait for it--women!) coming through to fill that vacuum.

Refined clientele goes hand in hand with refined product, which is what Millet pimps. His selection of European comics ranges from standards like Milo Manara and Enki Bilal to the obscure and the cutting edge--Blanquet, Trondheim and such. Nearly all are in that elegant European book-bound format.

Getting the good stuff requires footwork on Millet's part. "There are a lot of things that are less commercial, more marginalized, that aren't generally available here. The more underground it is over there, the harder it is to find here, of course. But still, whatever isn't readily distributed, it's not hard to get the addresses of the publishers in Europe."

Despite all this transatlantic trade, there's still plenty of room for homegrown hoopla. Given that Millet published local underground comix under the Zone Convective imprint for several years, and now moonlights with Éditions Mille Iles, it's no surprise that he's ready to root for the home team. And they're playing a good game. "There are some European comics that sell quite well--Bilal, for example--but if you look at it title by title, our best sellers are Québécois.

"There are some Québécois comics that sell even better than Astérix. But then, people don't come here to buy Astérix--that's available everywhere, in the shopping malls and so on." In other words, if you want the good stuff, you know where to go.