Governor postpones New Comic Day; snow still considered prime suspect
New Comic Day will be Thursday (or Friday) this week
Delaware has declared a state of emergency again for February 10th and decreed that ONLY emergency personnel and such are allowed on the roads. While we all know that comic books ride high atop Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, The Man is not so enlightened. So it appears that New Comic Day will be Thursday (or Friday) this week.
As I write this at 5:45 a.m. it’s amazing how close we came to having new books today despite everything going wrong. Our books start out in Montreal or Sparta, Illinois. They have to get to to Olive Branch, Mississippi. A little over a week ago that went horribly wrong when there was a a major accident involving the truck carrying the Marvel titles. Fortunately we got most of our copies, some parts of the country still haven’t.
Then after getting sorted out and boxed up in Diamond warehouse in Olive Branch (which got hit hit with 4″+ of snow and ice over the weekend- a blizzard by Mississippi standards) they get trucked to Memphis and handed over to UPS on Monday.
From there our shipment of boxes wend their way toward us from Tennessee to Virginia to Maryland and finally to the Newark UPS hub (count yourselves fortunate we live so close to a hub otherwise you might not get your new comics each week until dinnertime). You might think the boxes stay together, but they don’t as they can be routed through different cities on their way here, hopefully meeting back up in Newark.
Currently UPS service has been halted in 12 zip codes in Virginia because of weather. Our plucky little boxes made it out in time and skirted the edge of the UPS snarls in DC to make it to Baltimore, where, by the way, Diamond Comics Distributors was without power for two days, shutting down all phones, websites, information and ordering. Yikes! Despite it all, our boxes continued their journey.
At some time this morning, the new comics left Baltimore. Here’s where it falls apart. Every week at 7 am on New Comic Day, Joe hops in the Blue Hen Mobile, tracking numbers in hand, drives to the UPS hub muttering a prayer for their safe arrival. He loads them up then heads for the store. A round trip of about 4 miles. Last Wednesday he was shoveling snow at 6 am to ensure that the wheels of comic commerce continued to turn.
Well, this Wednesday those four miles would have to be on foot, uphill, in the snow, dragging over 200 pounds of comics in my little red wagon. A great story to try and guilt my daughter in believing Dad lived in the Dark Ages, but not exactly feasible. Believe me I was ready to dig out the the driveway, lumber slowly to UPS in first gear the whole way at a mind numbing 8 miles an hour and hope for the best but then I checked the News Journal’s website.
The Governor declared another State of Emergency and forbade any non-essential/non-emergency vehicles on the road. So there we have it. Go back to bed. We’ll let you know as soon as we find out when we can get the books and get the store re-opened. Take some time to check out our new forums. Enjoy the snow.
Just glad still have power here at ice Station Landenberg
Wow, I never knew that it took so much for our comics to get to the store. You’re such a trooper Joe!! Your dedication is why we all love you as our friendly neighborhood comic book store owner guy!
And that’s how a bill becomes a law!
Yes, Joe is truly awesome. No lie–he does all the heavy lifting. By the time I role in all the boxes are unloaded and he’s counted a good deal of the comics. And you better believe that he would have picked those comics up today if it were at all possible.
and then I roll in even later to help put the books away and do my make-up… But we all would have been there today if the government hadn’t foiled our plans.
Wow, sorry if I offended anyone. I know you ALL do a great job!
No, no, no…I know I wasn’t offended and Kita wasn’t being a smart-@$$ (for once)–she really DOES put her make-up on after she comes in on Wednesdays! And that is because Joe really DOES bust his hump on Wednesday mornings.
I appreciate that you think we all do a great job (we do!) but you didn’t have to say it. : )
Thanks for being an awesome CBHer with all of your great comments and participation on the Forum too. I mean it!
YOU GUYS JUST AREN’T TRYING HARD ENOUGH WHEN I WAS A KID IN IOWA WE RODE HORSE-DRAWN SNOW SHOVELS TO THE COMICS STORE SO WE COULD DIG IT OUT FROM UNDER A 30-FOOT DRIFT AND IF NECESSARY, PROVIDE A WARM PLACE (THE HORSE) TO SLEEP HAN-SOLO/TAUN-TAUN STYLE UNTIL A RESCUE DOG ARRIVED WITH A PONY KEG OF BRANDY AROUND HIS NECK TO GET US GOOD AND DRUNK ENOUGH TO FORGET ABOUT THE COLD.
Just kidding. Except for the drunk part. Be safe and take it easy!
At this point it’s UPS that is holding our comics hostage in a closed warehouse. We desperately want to sell you comics. I slept outside UPS last night waiting. Drunk inside a taun-taun carcass of course (at least I thought it was a taun-taun).
This is awesome guys! I am very happy I have came across such a great comic book store in Captain Blue Hen. The one I came from when I moved up here was horrible compared to CBH. Everyone at Blue hen is friendly and talks to you and I know you all bust your humps on New Comic Book Day… well all of you but Dave. I know he just sits there.
Thanks again guys and gals.