In case you hadn’t heard the news, there have been a couple of industry announcements in regards to new comic shipments finally resuming.

First, the main comics distributor for the U.S., Diamond Comics, has announced its intention to start shipping out new comics again in mid-to-late May. I don’t think everything’s exactly nailed down just yet, but that seems to be the timeframe for new material to start showing up again.

Second, DC Comics has decided to go with alternative distribution for their own comics a little earlier than that, with plans to have new comics in stores next week. They will also be send out new comics this way for the two weeks following that, but as to their plans after that, whether they’ll continue taking and shipping orders this way or return to Diamond’s distribution, I’m not sure. I’m still sorting everything out!

But rest assured I will start receiving comics as soon as they’re available. I’ve already set up an account and placed orders through one of DC’s new distribution centers, so I will have comics for next week. I will make sure to announce what books I have, when I have them, in all the usual places.

The other thing is that I am still not sure when non-essential retail businesses like my own will be allowed to reopen for the public again. It’s possible we’ll be back to some kind of limited retail access in the near future. However, if I am still required to be closed, as I will most certainly will be when DC’s shipments resume in late April/early May, please feel free to call or email me to arrange for mail order and the like.

I plan on continuing to be at the shop during my regular business hours while I am required to be closed, so you should always be able to reach me at 805-484-4708, or via email or Facebook message or whathaveyou, if there’s anything else you need.

Also keep in mind I’m still trying to get some recent back issue arrivals listed in this Google sheet, and I’m still selling these packs of 30 random comics for $20.

Thanks for reading and for all your support through this time. Everyone stay safe and healthy out there.

Just got word from my distributor, Diamond Comics, that starting with product with an on-sale date of April 1st, shipments of new product to all U.S. comic shops will be held until further notice. This means that this week’s shipment of comics will be the last batch of new goodies for a while.

However, I have plenty of old comics and graphic novels available, and am happy to special order items (since Diamond will still be processing reorders) so please feel free to put in your requests. Plus, this might me a good time to catch up on emptying out your pull boxes, hint hint.

This is just a temporary situation, and the comic shipments should resume once things begin to normalize.

I know stopping new comic shipments seems drastic, but this is actually good news for the store’s survival, as I now don’t have to worry about trying to keep up on paying weekly invoices with product going unsold. A lot of you have been helping out, having me ship out your comics and whatnot, but I need foot traffic, I need folks to be able to walk around and find new items they might be interested in…things that are kind of hard to have happen when the store is closed to the public!

Thank you for your continued patronage, and all of your generosity and assistance at this time. We’ll get through this!

–Mike

I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but here we are. Due to the statewide stay-at-home order, all non-essential businesses are required to close. And as much as I’d like to think I *am* an essential business, that unfortunately applies to me as well.

However, I am still here, and with any luck, depending on my access to funding and cooperation from my distributor, I will continue to receive the new comic shipments. The trick, however, is getting those new comics to you.

It looks like I will have to go exclusively phone/mail order for the time being. I don’t think curbside pickup is *technically* allowed, but if that’s your best option, I’ll do it ’til someone tells me not to.

I am planning to stay at the store mostly regular business hours, so you can call me there at 805-484-4708…please leave a message if I don’t pick up, and I promise I’ll get back to you.

My personal cell phone number is 805-415-7808, and don’t hesitate to call me there if you need to.

You can always message me on Facebook, or via email at mike@sterlingsilvercomics.com, or on Instagram at @sterlingsilvercomics, or on Twitter at @SterSilvComics.

I’ll be going through my pull list customers and calling them individually…if you already saw the message here, I apologize for the redundancy.

I will try to keep you updated here or at my website sterlingsilvercomics.com best I can. With any luck, I’ll still have a store for everyone to come back to after all this finally blows over. It’s going to be tight, but I’m reasonably sure I can make it.

Thank you for understanding.

–Mike

Due to health concerns, it’s been decided that the Free Comic Book Day event, usually occurring on the first Saturday in May, will be postponed until a later date, possibly near the end of summer. Please keep checking back here or at theFree Comic Book Day site for more updates as they’re available!

N

Sterling Silver Comics is open and we have new product for sale. I’m willing to ship to you if you don’t want to go out, or I can take comics out to the curb for you if you want to drive over! Contact me and I’ll work things out with you! Everyone stay safe out there!