Happy Harbor Comics is a

comic book store The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * four major comic distributors: ** Luna ...

located in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta, Canada. Over the past few years, owner Jay Bardyla and his store have participated in the

24-hour comic A 24-hour comic is a 24-page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 hours. Cartoonist Scott McCloud came up with the challenge in 1990 as a creative exercise for himself and fellow comics artist Stephen R. Bissette. Beginning in 2004, writ ...

day to promote comics in general and to raise money for the Alberta Literacy Foundation. In 2005, they raised more than $1600. 2 weeks before Christmas 2018, the staff where informed that Christmas Eve would be their last day. The store and all its assets could not continue and would be liquidated off by Bardyla. Entrepreneur Vince Joyall bought HappyHarbor comics and saved the staff from unemployment. Several newspapers called it a Christmas miracle. Vince still owns HappyHarbor as well as WonderHarbour and the Wonderland Games chain. With locations in Grande Prairie Alberta, Prince George British Columbia and now Edmonton Alberta, the Wonderland chain is the largest comic retain chain in Canada by volume of sales.

Awards and recognitions

* 2007 Eisner Nominee For Retailer Of The YearComic-Con :: The 2008 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award
* 2007 Harry Kremer Award Winner For Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailer * 2007 ''See'' magazine's Reader's Choice Award For Edmonton's Best Comic Store * 2006 Eisner Nominee For Retailer Of The Year * 2006 Harry Kremer Award For Canadian Retailer Of The Year Runner-Up * 2006 Reader's Choice Award For Edmonton's Best Comic Store Runner-Up

References

Comics retailers in Canada Harry Kremer Retailer Award winners {{Canada-media-company-stub