Owner/comic guru Cal Johnston has seen the comic book movie explosion (Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Wanted, to mention but three recent stellar examples) bring new people into his store, but he says the biggest thing to usher comic books into the mainstream of pop culture is the cross-pollination of talent, such as Sin City writer/artist Frank Miller and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola bringing their material to the big screen, creative forces who “have been able to control their own work, which is the biggest coup,” says Johnston. Then there are the novelists and TV creators who are getting into comics, such as Brad Meltzer, Chip Kidd and Jonathan Lethem, all of whom have taken to penning comic books, with Babylon 5 creator and novelist J. Michael Straczynski reimagining Spider-Man in recent years. Stop by Strange Adventures, Johnston and his staff will hook you up. 5262 Sackville, 425-2140

1st Runner Up: Odyssey-2000, 6407 Quinpool, 429-6477

2nd Runner Up: The Last Game Store, 590 Portland Street, Dartmouth, 434-3350