Manchester is one of the biggest cities in the UK: great curries, great people. But, if anything I have leant in this Quest is that it is the worst place I have so far visited in my never ending Batman Quest.
As far as I am aware (and if anyone reads this who knows any better, leave me some feedback!), there is the grand total of two comic book shops in Manchester city centre.
One of those stores is the flagship store of the Forbidden Planet International chain. Usually, I hate FPI stores, with a passion that cannot be measured, but the shopping experience here was strange. Strange, because it was... well, nice. Yes, they sell some back issues. Not many, and they are expensive, and I was able to pick up exactly one issue for the Quest: Detective Comics #866
The other store in Manchester is Travelling Man. My experience with Travelling Man is that they were brave enough to attempt to crack the Bristol market four years ago and ultimately failed. Not because they were crap (hey, my shopping experience there was fairly good- the cashiers actually make eye contact, and even smile!), but that they had to deal with the excellent Forbidden Planet Megastore up the road. Unlike FPI, they actually sell their back issues at a heavily discounted prices (there was the almost impossible to find in nearly two years of looking: a 50p copy of Godland #22= completing that run!!!) Very few Batman universe books were in these bargain boxes sadly, but the ones I picked up did not cost me the earth. Oh well. Some you win, some you lose.
In short, until I get information that refutes this statement, The Batman Quest won't be returning to Manchester unless a Comic Mart or Comic Con hits the city because to me it's useless.
