I have some answers. First of all American comic books are defined as comic books from the United States of America. This means not anime, manga or whatever! If you can’t find Japanese comic books in Asia then you have more serious problems than where to find American comic books. Asia on the whole prefers Japanese comic books to American comic books by a factor of ten at least. British stuff, especially 2000 AD stuff is found in the same places as American comic books which is why I initially titled this post where you can find Western comic books but I mean Western as in culture not as in cowboys and the latter meaning was misleading.
First of all there is a Japanese chain called Kinokuniya that is all over Asia. The chain sucks when it comes to Western comic books in Japan but is pretty good about having Western comic books in their stores outside of Japan.
Below is a list of Kinokuniya stores in Asia:
Singapore
Ngee Ann City, Orchard
Bugis Junction, Bugis
Liang Court, Chinatown
Indonesia
Sogo Plaza Senayan, Jakarta
Debenhams Plaza Indonesia, Jakarta
Sogo Pondok Indah Mall, Jakarta
Seibu Grand Indonesia, Jakarta
Malaysia
Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
Thailand
CentralWorld, Bangkok
Siam Paragon, Bangkok – The best source of Western comic books outside of the Philippines!
Emporium, Bangkok
Australia
I mention the store but of course Australia is basically a Western country that happens to be in Asia and Western comic books are everywhere.
Sydney The Galeries Victoria, New South Wales
Taiwan
Dayeh Takashimaya, Taipei
Breeze Center, Taipei
Kuang San Sogo, Taichung
Talee Isetan, Kaoshiung
United Arab Emirates
Dubai, Dubai Mall
Page One is a Singaporean chain of bookstores that is also all over Asia and also has a pretty good selection of Western comic books.
Page One locations are listed below:
Singapore
Vivocity
Malaysia
Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
Hong Kong
Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong (with cafe)
Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui
Times Square, Causeway Bay (formerly known as Page One Twins)
Taiwan
SOGO Fuxing, Taipei
Taipei 101, Taipei
The best country in Asia for Western comic books, besides Australia, is the Philippines. All the major chains have a section devoted to Western comic books and there are out and out dedicated comic book stores in most of the big malls in Manila.
My other website at:
Fox Superpower List
More comic book articles on this blog at:
http://foxhugh.com/?s=comic
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Posted in Comic Book Critique, Non-fiction, Travel
Tagged American comic books, Asia, Australia, Bangkok, Breeze Center, Bugis Junction, Bugis. Liang Court, Causeway Bay, Central World, Chinatown, comic books, Dayeh Takashimaya, Debenhams Plaza Indonesia, Dubai, Dubai Mall, Emporium, Festival Walk, Harbour City, Hong Kong, Hugh Fox, Indonesia, Jakarta, Kaoshiung, Kinokuniya, Kowloon Tong, Kuala Lumpur, Kuang San Sogo, Malaysia, New South Wales, Ngee Ann City, Orchard, Seibu Grand Indonesia, Siam Paragon, Singapore, SOGO Fuxing, Sogo Plaza Senayan, Suria KLCC, Sydney, Taichung, Taipei, Taipei 101, Taiwan, Talee Isetan, Thailand, The Galeries Victoria, Times Square, Tsim Sha Tsui, United Arab Emirates, Vivocity

The following study is an attempt to objectively explore the truism:
“Nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there”
The operational version of this truism would be that tourist cities and livable cities are different cities. The truism has been named the Visit/Live Theory for the purposes of this study. Two lists that rank cities were compared. The first list ranks cities according the number of tourists that arrived in a city.
The list and a description of the list can be found at:
http://www.euromonitor.com/Top_150_City_Destinations_London_Leads_the_Way
The second list ranks cities according to livability. Mercer Human Resources looked at 39 quality of life issues including political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing and the environment.
The Mercer list and a description of the list can be found at:
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/livable_cities_worldwide/
Table 1 shows all the cities on both lists in alphabetical order. In addition, the difference in rank was calculated for each city when this was possible. If a city was on only one top 100 list then the difference in rank could not be calculated. The tourist destination study looked at 150 cities, but for the purposes of comparison, only the top 100 tourist destinations were used in this study. Many cities were only on one list and not on the other list. The number of cities on both lists was counted. The number of cities only on one list was also counted. If the number of cities on both lists was greater than the number of cities not on both lists then this would suggest the truism is not true.
Top 100 Cities: Tourist Destination vs. Livability Rank
Table 1: Alphabetical List of All Cities |
|
Cities |
Country |
Tourist Rank |
Livability Rank |
Rank Difference |
1 |
Abu Dhabi |
UAE |
52 |
88 |
36 |
2 |
Adelaide |
Australia |
NR |
30 |
N/A |
3 |
Agra |
India |
99 |
NR |
N/A |
4 |
Amsterdam |
Netherlands |
18 |
13 |
5 |
5 |
Antwerp |
Netherlands |
90 |
NR |
99 |
6 |
Athens |
Greece |
NR |
78 |
N/A |
7 |
Atlanta |
USA |
NR |
66 |
N/A |
8 |
Auckland |
New Zealand |
NR |
5 |
N/A |
9 |
Bahrain |
Bahrain |
12 |
NR |
18 |
10 |
Bangkok |
Thailand |
2 |
NR |
90 |
11 |
Barcelona |
Spain |
10 |
41 |
12 |
12 |
Beijing |
China |
22 |
NR |
N/A |
13 |
Benidorm |
Spain |
33 |
NR |
N/A |
14 |
Berlin |
Germany |
34 |
16 |
18 |
15 |
Bern |
Germany |
NR |
9 |
N/A |
16 |
Birmingham |
United Kingdom |
81 |
55 |
26 |
17 |
Boston |
USA |
68 |
36 |
32 |
18 |
Bratislava |
Slovakia |
NR |
99 |
N/A |
19 |
Brisbane |
Australia |
NR |
32 |
N/A |
20 |
Bruges |
Belgium |
89 |
NR |
N/A |
21 |
Brussels |
Belgium |
NR |
14 |
N/A |
22 |
Buenos Aires |
Argentina |
NR |
79 |
N/A |
23 |
Budapest |
Hungary |
36 |
74 |
38 |
24 |
Cairo |
Egypt |
45 |
NR |
N/A |
25 |
Calgary |
Canada |
NR |
24 |
N/A |
26 |
Cancun |
Mexico |
26 |
NR |
N/A |
27 |
Cape Town |
South Africa |
57 |
85 |
28 |
28 |
Chennai |
India |
97 |
NR |
N/A |
29 |
Chicago |
USA |
64 |
44 |
20 |
30 |
Chongquing |
China |
100 |
NR |
N/A |
31 |
Cleveland |
USA |
NR |
59 |
N/A |
32 |
Copenhagen |
Sweden |
54 |
11 |
43 |
33 |
Dalian |
China |
87 |
NR |
N/A |
34 |
Detroit |
USA |
NR |
64 |
N/A |
35 |
Dubai |
UAE |
7 |
80 |
73 |
36 |
Dublin |
Ireland |
11 |
27 |
16 |
37 |
Dusseldorf |
Germany |
NR |
5 |
N/A |
38 |
Edinburgh |
United Kingdom |
56 |
NR |
N/A |
39 |
Florence |
Italy |
46 |
NR |
N/A |
40 |
Frankfurt |
Germany |
NR |
7 |
N/A |
41 |
Geneva |
Switzerland |
98 |
2 |
96 |
42 |
Glasgow |
United Kingdom |
82 |
55 |
27 |
43 |
Granada |
Spain |
95 |
NR |
N/A |
44 |
Guangzhou |
China |
32 |
NR |
N/A |
45 |
Guilin |
China |
65 |
NR |
N/A |
46 |
Hamburg |
Germany |
83 |
24 |
59 |
47 |
Hangzhou |
China |
49 |
NR |
N/A |
48 |
Helsinki |
Finland |
77 |
30 |
47 |
49 |
Hong Kong |
China |
5 |
70 |
65 |
50 |
Honolulu |
USA |
NR |
27 |
N/A |
51 |
Houston |
USA |
NR |
68 |
N/A |
52 |
Istanbul |
Turkey |
16 |
NR |
N/A |
53 |
Johannesburg |
South Africa |
NR |
90 |
N/A |
54 |
Katsuyama |
Japan |
NR |
73 |
N/A |
55 |
Kobe |
Japan |
NR |
40 |
N/A |
56 |
Krakow |
Poland |
69 |
NR |
N/A |
57 |
Kuala Lumpur |
Malaysia |
15 |
75 |
60 |
58 |
Kunming |
China |
94 |
NR |
N/A |
59 |
La Havana |
Cuba |
70 |
NR |
N/A |
60 |
Las Vegas |
USA |
48 |
NR |
N/A |
61 |
Leipzig |
Germany |
NR |
67 |
N/A |
62 |
Lexington |
USA |
NR |
51 |
N/A |
63 |
Limassol |
Cyprus |
NR |
NR |
N/A |
64 |
Lisbon |
Portugal |
47 |
47 |
0 |
65 |
Liverpool |
United Kingdom |
91 |
NR |
N/A |
66 |
Ljubljana |
Slovenia |
NR |
80 |
N/A |
67 |
London |
United Kingdom |
1 |
39 |
38 |
68 |
Los Angeles |
USA |
31 |
55 |
24 |
69 |
Luxembourg |
Luxembourg |
NR |
18 |
N/A |
70 |
Lyon |
France |
84 |
36 |
48 |
71 |
Macau |
China |
27 |
NR |
N/A |
72 |
Madrid |
Spain |
17 |
42 |
25 |
73 |
Manchester |
United Kingdom |
73 |
NR |
N/A |
74 |
Marrakesh |
Morocco |
50 |
NR |
N/A |
75 |
Mecca |
Saudi Arabia |
19 |
NR |
N/A |
76 |
Melbourne |
Australia |
72 |
17 |
55 |
77 |
Mexico City |
Mexico |
30 |
NR |
N/A |
78 |
Miami |
USA |
39 |
62 |
23 |
79 |
Milan |
Italy |
42 |
49 |
7 |
80 |
Minneapolis |
USA |
NR |
60 |
N/A |
81 |
Monterrey |
Mexico |
NR |
94 |
N/A |
82 |
Montevideo |
Uruguay |
NR |
76 |
N/A |
83 |
Montreal |
Canada |
85 |
22 |
63 |
84 |
Moscow |
Russia |
21 |
NR |
N/A |
85 |
Mumbai |
India |
86 |
NR |
N/A |
86 |
Munich |
Germany |
40 |
8 |
32 |
87 |
Nagoya |
Japan |
NR |
54 |
N/A |
88 |
Nanjing |
China |
76 |
NR |
N/A |
89 |
New Delhi |
India |
92 |
NR |
N/A |
90 |
New York City |
USA |
6 |
48 |
42 |
91 |
Nice |
France |
61 |
NR |
N/A |
92 |
Nurnberg |
Germany |
NR |
23 |
N/A |
93 |
Oahu/Honolulu |
USA |
44 |
27 |
17 |
94 |
Omuta |
Japan |
NR |
69 |
N/A |
95 |
Orlando |
USA |
38 |
NR |
N/A |
96 |
Osaka |
Japan |
NR |
42 |
N/A |
97 |
Oslo |
Norway |
NR |
26 |
N/A |
98 |
Ottawa |
Canada |
NR |
18 |
N/A |
99 |
Panama City |
Panama |
NR |
92 |
N/A |
100 |
Papeete |
French Polynesia |
NR |
97 |
N/A |
101 |
Paris |
France |
3 |
33 |
30 |
102 |
Perth |
Australia |
NR |
21 |
N/A |
103 |
Pittsburg |
USA |
NR |
52 |
N/A |
104 |
Portland |
USA |
NR |
46 |
N/A |
105 |
Port Elizabeth |
South Africa |
NR |
97 |
N/A |
106 |
Port Louis |
Mauritius |
NR |
77 |
N/A |
107 |
Prague |
Czech Republic |
20 |
72 |
52 |
108 |
Qingdao |
China |
79 |
NR |
N/A |
109 |
Riga |
Latvia |
NR |
92 |
N/A |
110 |
Rio De Janeiro |
Brazil |
35 |
NR |
N/A |
111 |
Rome |
Italy |
8 |
61 |
53 |
113 |
St. Louis |
USA |
NR |
64 |
N/A |
114 |
San Juan |
Puerto Rico |
NR |
71 |
N/A |
115 |
Salvador de Bahia |
Brazil |
71 |
NR |
N/A |
116 |
Salzburg |
Austria |
74 |
NR |
N/A |
117 |
San Diego |
USA |
88 |
NR |
N/A |
118 |
San Francisco |
USA |
37 |
29 |
8 |
119 |
Santiago |
Chile |
NR |
83 |
N/A |
120 |
São Paulo |
Brazil |
62 |
NR |
N/A |
121 |
Seattle |
USA |
NR |
49 |
N/A |
122 |
Seoul |
South Korea |
9 |
87 |
78 |
123 |
Seville |
Spain |
60 |
NR |
N/A |
124 |
Shanghai |
China |
13 |
100 |
87 |
125 |
Shenzen |
China |
41 |
NR |
N/A |
126 |
Singapore |
Singapore |
4 |
34 |
N/A |
127 |
St. Petersburg |
Russia |
25 |
NR |
N/A |
128 |
Stockholm |
Sweden |
66 |
20 |
46 |
129 |
Suzhou |
China |
59 |
NR |
N/A |
130 |
Sydney |
Australia |
43 |
9 |
34 |
131 |
Taipei |
China |
24 |
81 |
57 |
132 |
Tallinn |
Estonia |
67 |
89 |
22 |
133 |
Tianjin |
China |
75 |
NR |
N/A |
134 |
Tokyo |
Japan |
51 |
35 |
16 |
135 |
Toronto |
Canada |
14 |
15 |
1 |
136 |
Tsukuba |
Japan |
NR |
55 |
N/A |
137 |
Tunis |
Italy |
NR |
95 |
N/A |
138 |
Valencia |
Spain |
93 |
NR |
N/A |
139 |
Vancouver |
Canada |
NR |
3 |
N/A |
140 |
Varadero |
Cuba |
53 |
NR |
N/A |
141 |
Venice |
Italy |
28 |
NR |
N/A |
142 |
Victoria |
Seychelles |
NR |
95 |
N/A |
143 |
Vienna |
Austria |
23 |
3 |
20 |
144 |
Vilnius |
Lithuania |
NR |
82 |
N/A |
145 |
Warsaw |
Poland |
29 |
85 |
56 |
146 |
Washington DC |
USA |
63 |
44 |
19 |
147 |
Wellington |
New Zealand |
NR |
12 |
N/A |
148 |
Winston Salem |
USA |
NR |
52 |
N/A |
149 |
Wuxi |
China |
96 |
NR |
N/A |
150 |
Xi’an |
China |
78 |
NR |
N/A |
151 |
Xiamen |
China |
80 |
NR |
N/A |
152 |
Yokkaichi |
Japan |
NR |
63 |
N/A |
153 |
Yokohama |
Japan |
NR |
38 |
N/A |
154 |
Zhuhai |
China |
58 |
NR |
N/A |
155 |
Zurich |
Switzerland |
55 |
1 |
54 |
NR, no rank, no top 100 rank in this category
N/A, not applicable since the city was on only one of the lists
Table 2 below shows cities that were on both lists ordered from the least difference between ranks to the greatest difference between ranks.
Top 100 Cities: Tourist Destination vs. Livability Rank
Table 2: Comparison of Ranks |
|
Cities |
Country |
Tourist Rank |
Livability Rank |
Rank Difference |
1 |
Lisbon |
Portugal |
47 |
47 |
0 |
2 |
Toronto |
Canada |
14 |
15 |
1 |
3 |
Amsterdam |
Netherlands |
18 |
13 |
5 |
4 |
Milan |
Italy |
42 |
49 |
7 |
5 |
San Francisco |
USA |
37 |
29 |
8 |
6 |
Dublin |
Ireland |
11 |
27 |
16 |
7 |
Tokyo |
Japan |
51 |
35 |
16 |
8 |
Oahu/Honolulu |
USA |
44 |
27 |
17 |
9 |
Berlin |
Germany |
34 |
16 |
18 |
10 |
Washington DC |
USA |
63 |
44 |
19 |
11 |
Chicago |
USA |
64 |
44 |
20 |
12 |
Vienna |
Austria |
23 |
3 |
20 |
13 |
Tallinn |
Estonia |
67 |
89 |
22 |
14 |
Miami |
USA |
39 |
62 |
23 |
15 |
Los Angeles |
USA |
31 |
55 |
24 |
16 |
Birmingham |
United Kingdom |
81 |
55 |
26 |
17 |
Glasgow |
United Kingdom |
82 |
55 |
27 |
18 |
Cape Town |
South Africa |
57 |
85 |
28 |
19 |
Paris |
France |
3 |
33 |
30 |
20 |
Boston |
USA |
68 |
36 |
32 |
21 |
Munich |
Germany |
40 |
8 |
32 |
22 |
Sydney |
Australia |
43 |
9 |
34 |
23 |
Abu Dhabi |
UAE |
52 |
88 |
36 |
24 |
Budapest |
Hungary |
36 |
74 |
38 |
25 |
London |
United Kingdom |
1 |
39 |
38 |
26 |
New York City |
USA |
6 |
48 |
42 |
27 |
Copenhagen |
Sweden |
54 |
11 |
43 |
28 |
Stockholm |
Sweden |
66 |
20 |
46 |
29 |
Helsinki |
Finland |
77 |
30 |
47 |
30 |
Lyon |
France |
84 |
36 |
48 |
31 |
Prague |
Czech Republic |
20 |
72 |
52 |
32 |
Rome |
Italy |
8 |
61 |
53 |
33 |
Melbourne |
Australia |
72 |
17 |
55 |
34 |
Warsaw |
Poland |
29 |
85 |
56 |
35 |
Taipei |
China |
24 |
81 |
57 |
36 |
Hamburg |
Germany |
83 |
24 |
59 |
37 |
Kuala Lumpur |
Malaysia |
15 |
75 |
60 |
38 |
Montreal |
Canada |
85 |
22 |
63 |
39 |
Hong Kong |
China |
5 |
70 |
65 |
40 |
Dubai |
UAE |
7 |
80 |
73 |
41 |
Seoul |
South Korea |
9 |
87 |
78 |
42 |
Shanghai |
China |
13 |
100 |
87 |
43 |
Geneva |
Switzerland |
98 |
2 |
96 |
Conclusion
There were a total of 155 cities on either list. 112 cities were only on one list. Only 43 cities were on both lists. Cities that are only on one list outnumber cities on both lists 2.6:1. Even for cities on both lists, the mean difference between ranks was 37.6 and quite high. These findings suggest that cities that are visited are not the same cities that are more livable. The truism that some cities are nice places to visit and different cities are nice places to live in is correct. Table 2 showed which cities had the least difference between ranks and the greatest difference between ranks.
The city with the least difference in rank was Lisbon. Lisbon had a rank of 47 on both lists. Toronto had the second least difference in rank and has the honor of having a relatively high visitor rank (14) and livability rank (15). Amsterdam showed a similar pattern to Toronto with a visitor rank of 18 and a livability rank of 13.
Geneva had the greatest difference in rank. Geneva is a great place to live (2) but doesn’t get very many tourists (98) relative to other cities. Shanghai had the second greatest difference in rank but in the opposite direction as Geneva. Shanghai is a city that many tourists visit (13) but only ranks 100 in terms of livability. A practical implication for expats is to be wary of deciding to live in cities you like to visit without taking the Visit/Live Theory into account.
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Tagged Abu Dhabi, Adelaide, Agra, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Argentina, Athens, Atlanta, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beijing, Belgium, Benidorm, Berlin, Birmingham, Bo, Boston, Bratislava, Brisbane, Bruges, Brussels, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Business Week, Cairo, Calgary, Canada, Cancun, Cape Town, Chennai, Chicago, Chile, China, Chongquing, Cleveland, Copenhagen, Cuba, Cyprus, Dalian, Detroit, Dubai, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Edinburg, Egypt, Estonia, Euromonitor, Finland, Florence, France, Frankfurt, French Polynesia, Geneva, Germany, Glasgow, Granada, Greece, Guanzhou, Guilin, Hamburg, Hangzhou, Havana, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Houston, Hugh Fox, Hungary, India, Ireland, Istanbul, Italy, Japan, Johannesburg, Katsuyama, Kobe, Krakow, Kuala Lumpur, Kunming, La Havana, Las Vegas, Latvia, Leipzig, Lexington, Limassol, Lisbon, Lithuania, Liverpool, Ljubljana, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Lyon, Macau, Madrid, Manchester, Marrakesh, Mauritius, Mecca, Melbourne, Mercer Human Resources, Mexico, Mexico City, Miami, Milan, Minneapolis, Monterrey, Montevideo, Montreal, Morocco, Moscow, Mumbai, Munich, Nagoya, Nanjing, Netherlands, New Delhi, New York City, New Zealand, Nice, nice place to visit, Norway, Nurnberg, Oahu, Omuta, Orlando, Osaka, Oslo, Ottawa, Panama City, Papeete, Paris, Perth, Pittsburg, Poland, Port Elizabeth, Port Louis, Portland, Portugal, Prague, Puerto Rica, Quingdao, Riga, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Russia, Salvador de Bahia, Salzburg, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, Santiago, Sao Paolo, Saudi Arabia, Seattle, Seoul, Seville, Seychelles, Shanghai, Shenzen, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, St. Louis, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Suzhou, Sweden, Switzerland, Sydney, Taipei, Tallinn, Thailand, Tianjin, Tokyo, Top 100 Cities, Toronto, Tsukuba, Tunis, Turkey, Twilight Zone, UAE, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, United States of America, Uruguay, USA, Valencia, Vancouver, Varadero, Venice, Victoria, Vienna, Vilnius, Visit/Live Theory, Warsaw, Washington DC, Wellington, Winston Salem, Wuxi, Xiamen, Xian, Yokkaichi, Yokohama, Zhuhai, Zurich