The closure of non-essential businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic has left Sherwood Park’s comic book shop adapting to the new normal.

Wizard’s Comics and Collectables Sherwood Park started limiting its hours and cancelled events on March 15 and completely shut its doors on March 25 but the store is still responding to the needs of those who need comics or games.

“We’re offering mail order service and contactless delivery where we bring it right to your door,” explained Michael Berriman, operator and manager of Wizard’s Comics and Collectables.

The contactless delivery is offered for $5 per order.

New issues are not being shipped at all in North America after the CEO of Diamond Comic Distributors announced the closing of its distribution system on Monday, March 23. The owner noted it is unfortunate that there are no new comics being released right now, as they are a periodical industry, however, he suggests catching up on stuff you’ve missed.

“We aren’t receiving any new shipments of comics because nobody is at the moment but we still have a store full of fun stuff you can dig into,” he said. “If you’re looking for a way to waste time, there is no better place in the world than a comic book store.”

Anyone who is interested in getting some comics can email sherwood@wizards-comics.com. You can also stay up to date by following the Wizard’s Comics and Collectables Sherwood Park Facebook’s page or on Twitter at @WizardsComicsa1. Requests can also be made through the store’s social media accounts.

“We’ve had a few people use the delivery service so far and we have had a reasonable amount of deliveries from some of our regulars who are getting a little stir crazy, but we’re a periodical industry so if comics were still coming in, I bet we’d have a lot of traffic,” he said.

Considered to be the busiest day of the year for the industry, Free Comic Book Day, which would be the first Saturday in May, has also been cancelled across the globe this year due to COVID-19. Berriman said it is disappointing but they are adjusting.

Another big part of the comic book store is their tabletop gaming section, which also features events likes Dungeons and Dragons tournaments, Warhammer events and Magic the Gathering tournaments. Berriman said they are working on some online D&D events for residents bored at home.

“On Dungeons and Dragons online, I’ve been creating maps and dungeon mastering and it says I’ve spent 75 hours over the past 12 days,” Berriman said. “We dove into D&D first because it was what we are more familiar with and we’re going to be releasing some content as we have a two-part adventure planned that we’ll be playing, recording and releasing for people to enjoy. I’m going to then be opening that specific adventure up to the public and I’m going to be dungeon mastering.”

Anyone interested in getting involved is welcome and Berriman encourages those who’ve never played before to give it a shot.

tdosser@postmedia.com

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