Mars Comics
MARS was a fixture of the vinyl and comic collector communities for many decades, operating since the 1970’s (possibly 60’s!) from its iconic upstairs location at 537 St Catherine (just off Phillips Square) in downtown Montreal. One former patron fondly recalls the dark and musty atmosphere of MARS, the smell of old paper, the creaky wooden floorboards, the homemade display structures and the narrow aisles that visitors would have to navigate while on the hunt for rare finds. In the winter months, the store was notoriously cold and visitors coming from all over the island would be dismayed to find the frigid temperatures had followed them inside.
As a long-time friend of the Montreal Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, MARS offered discounts to members in exchange for advertising space in the club’s regular publication, Warp. In 2000, MARS moved to a nearby basement storefront at 460 St Catherine but the relocation appears to have been short-lived as the ads disappeared in 2004. Around this time, Mars apparently attempted another move, briefly operating out of a storefront on the Plateau on Boul. St Laurent near Rue Rachel. They are even rumoured to have continued operating out of the owner’s home in Lachine when further relocation became impossible.
Like many comic and record shops at the turn of the millennium, MARS became a victim of the evolving brick and mortar retail landscape. The sign, however, never left its original home on St Catherine and was recovered by the Montreal Signs Project in 2019.
Image of MARS sign high up on a wall taken from the short doc Montreal Mars Records, excerpted on YouTube. We are indebted to the Instagram user @mtlretro for finding this amazing reference!