The Gosh! Authority 14.04.21 - RE-RE-RE-OPENING!

Hello!

Yes indeed, this Monday, April 12th, we'll be opening our doors to the public once again! As before we'll be open 7 days a week, 10.30am - 6pm, with the now-standard COVID risk reduction measures in place:

• Unless you are clinically exempt, you must wear a mask when entering the store. Please note that even if you've been vaccinated, you may still be able to transmit the virus, so must still wear a mask.
• When coming to the store, please wait at the door until a member of staff indicates that you can enter.
• No more than 13 people will be allowed into the store at any time. You may be expected to queue before entry, and we would ask that you do so while observing social distancing guidelines. Please be considerate of others by only shopping individually whenever possible.
• On entering the store we would ask that you sanitise your hands using the dispenser that is by the centre table. It is foot-operated, so no contact is required. If you have your own preferred hand santiser then you may use this instead. If you have sensitive skin, then please wear gloves and sanitise those instead.
• When in the store, please observe social distancing guidelines whenever possible.
• We can take cash, but wherever possible would ask that you pay by card.
• When queuing for the till, there are marked queue points on the floor that we would ask you to observe. If the queue points are all taken, please browse until one is free.
• And lastly, please be patient and kind with both our staff and each other. We're doing our best to provide you with comics in a manner which is safe and responsible, and we're all in the same boat with this situation. We're also probably going to be a bit rusty with various systems around the shop, so do bear with us!

Basically the same as prior to this lockdown, and the same as other retailers, so I'm sure you get the drift.

Anyway, we're looking forward to seeing you all in the store! If you still can't make it in then no problem, we're still offering the full range of mail order services we offered over lockdown, so jump on the webstore or drop us an email to arrange mail-outs.

Moving on, we've had more news on the move from Diamond to Penguin Random House by Marvel in the US and how it will affect us in the UK. The news is that it (thankfully) shouldn't affect us at all. Diamond UK have confirmed that supply will continue with no foreseeable changes to prices or shipping. 

I've not had our invoice for the week yet, so as with last week I'm working with a provisional shipping list. So while everything I mention this week should be coming in, that may be subject to change, and there may be some odd bits and pieces that arrive unexpectedly!

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• I FEEL LOVE GN - The long-awaited follow-up to I Feel Machine! Editors & contributors Krent Able and Julian Hanshaw return for another thematically tied anthology, this time casting their scathing eye upon that most tumultuous of emotional states: love. Along for this ride on this emotional rollercoaster are Anya Davidson, Benjamin Marra, Cat Sims and Kelsey Wroten, each bringing their talents to a short story which will hopefully answer for you that most pressing of questions, how can something that makes us feel so good also make us feel so bad? Also, while stocks last, we have a limited amount of copies that come with a pack of SIX bookplates (generously supplied by SelfMadeHero), one from each creator! Order on the webstore now so you don't miss out!

• LOCKE & KEY SANDMAN HELL & GONE #1 -  At last, the first part of the much-teased Locke & Key / Sandman Universe crossover is here! It's a two-part story made up of two one-shots, this the IDW-published first chapter and a yet-to-be-scheduled DC-published conclusion called Sandman Universe Locke & Key Hell & Gone #1 (see what they did there?) Regular L&K creators Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez are on board as Mary Locke seeks the help of Roderick Burgess (the man who captured Dream) to rescue her brother from hell.

• SPIDER-MAN SPIDERS SHADOW #1 (OF 4) - After a what if-style skim across the history of Spidey in Life Story, Chip Zdarksy take a proper deep dive in this four issue mini. It's the black costume era of Spider-Man, and the suit is beginning to show some sinister influence on Peter Parker. In the regular Marvel continuity he pays a visit to the FF and Reed identifies the suit as a symbiote and removes it. But what if Peter decided to keep the costume? Spoilers:

• BATMAN DETECTIVE #1 - Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert take Batman on a  European adventure in pursuit of the villain Equilibrium, leaving Gotham for the foggy, tourist attraction littered landscape of London. Strike a light, it's only th' bleedin' Batman, guv! (I'm probably being unfair, as that kind of depiction of the UK in American comics died out a while back. But I'll take a £5 bet on Tower Bridge being in here: just look at that cover!) Oh, also to note: this was originally offered as Batman The Dark Night but has changed title. If you've ordered it under its previous title, rest assured I've got you covered.

• THE DANCING PLAGUE GN - The story of a peculiar moment in history told through the unique lens of Gareth Brookes' artistic vision. Brookes is one of the most innovative and literate comic creators working in the UK today. We're very excited to see his take on these events from 1518, when hundreds of inhabitants of Strasbourg inexplicably danced compulsively for days on end. 

• HOME #1 (OF 5) - A superhero story grounded in the experience of asylum-seekers at the US border. A young man, taken away from his mother, begins to experience traumatic changes that seem to indicate the presence of extraordinary powers. Julio Anta & Anna Wieszczyk present a superhero story with something important to say.

• JULES VERNE LIGHTHOUSE #1 (OF 5) - A scifi reimagining of the Jules Verne story The Lighthouse at the End of the World by frequent collaborators David Hine and Brian Haberlin. In the distant future a supercomputer named the Lighthouse sits in the far reaches of the galaxy, managing all starship wormhole navigation. It's been crewed by the same group for some time, but when the station is attacked by pirates, shocking secrets are revealed.

• JENNY ZERO #1 (OF 4) - Jenny Zero is a washed up drunk. The daughter of Earth's greatest Kaiju killer, Major Commander Zero, she was once herself a vaunted fighter but now lives a comfortable life of celebrity excess. But when the giant monsters appear once more, Jenny will need to try and sober up to meet the new challenge.  From Dave Dwonch, Brock McKinney and the wonderfully monikered Magenta King.

• DARKHAWK HEART OF HAWK #1 - Calm down, 90's fans, your one true Marvel love is back! This one-shot has three Darkhawk stories by Dan Abnett, Kyle Higgins, Andrea Di Vito and Darkhawk daddies Danny Fingeroth and Mike Manley.

• CHALLENGE OF SUPER SONS #1 - Peter J Tomasi and Max Raynor are back with a new Super-Sons series, picking up where the Adventures of the Super-Sons left off. It's time-hopping hijinks a-plenty when a woman from another time sends Robin and Superboy on an adventure they've already returned from. 

• BATMAN & SCOOBY DOO MYSTERIES #1 - All-ages adventure with the Dark Knight and the crew of the Mystery Machine. I guess the best-selling issues of the Scooby Doo Team Up book were all the Batman ones? Anyway, we're always up for new kids comics. Scholly Fisch and Randy Elliot do the honours.

• BUNUEL GN - Fermin Solis tells the story of a pivotal moment in the life of surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel in the period leading up to the Spanish Civil War. In attempting to document the hardships of those in the Las Hurdes region of Spain, Buñuel began to fuse a new political passion with his surrealist aesthetic, something which would influence all of his work going forward.

And that's about it for this week! See you la próxima semana!

Andrew.