Hermes says "Looks like the snow has us all stuck inside — and we thought, why not make the best of it?" Which sounds swell, but I don't know who they expect to deliver product to us. I haven't seen a car or truck -- certainly not UPS or DHL -- on my street since Friday.
Anyway, I know Jeff of Earth-J is worried he's going to miss out on offerings from smaller publishers now that Diamond is in the past tense. I assume he's not alone. Hermes is one such smaller publisher. Here's the stuff I'm interested in:
- Dark Shadows comics book collections
- Dark Shadows novel series
- The Phantom comic book collections
- The Phantom Sundays
- The Phantom Dailies
- Mandrake the Magician dailies
- Mandrake the Magician comic book collections
They also publish other material, like "Johnny Hazard," in which I'm less interested. Your mileage may vary.
Anyway, they're offering up to 25% off at https://hermes-press.myshopify.com/ Use code word SNOWDAY26 at checkout.
Replies
Just last week I visited Hermes Press's web-site to see what I may have missed, and ended up ordering (or pre-ordering)...
Actually, I determined what was available and ordered it through my LCS to take advantage of my pre-order discount. Actually, I had previously pre-ordered all of these items, but Hermes Press is tricky. Their product was always solicited throughh Diamond six months before it actually shipped. For example, Mandrake dailies v3 was solicited to ship in February 2025. I had "Dark Shadows novels" and "Phantom novels" on my P&H without ever feeling the need to order each individual item. Hermes Press is like PS Artbooks (or like PS Artbooks used to be) in that months would pass without a shipment, then a ton of stuff would ship at once. All of the Dark Shadows books eventually shipped, but the Phantom ones stopped with #10. I didn't know how many there were, but figured either they had reached the end or the line was cancelled due to low sales. Then last week I discovered that #11-15 had been published, but my LCS never received them for whatever reason.
Regarding deliveries and whatnot, we haven't gotten mail since Thursday, and my newspaper was not delivered yesterday. I recently placed an order with MyComicShop.com, and timed it to arrive the day before the ice and sleet hit. (If I place my order online early enough, I usually receive it the very next day; if I order from Amazon early enough, I sometimes receive my order on the same day.) I don't expect anyone to risk driving on the ice (and there's certainly noting I can't live without for a couple of days), but I expected to receive my comics on Friday, but my USPS tracking was set up to arrive "by 9PM Saturday." Now it reads "by 9PM Tuesday," so I'm not expecting any mail at all today.
Anyway, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for, Cap, so thanks for posting.
The other publisher whose lack of advance solicits concerns me is Fantagraphics.
I WAS content to order from InStockTrades for Hermes, Fantagraphics and PS Artbooks. InStock wouldn't list something until it was actually available, or in their warehouse (if they have one), the upshot being that if I ordered it, I got it within a week. (Usually exactly a week, but sometimes a day or two before.) And at the largest discount available. I slept soundly.
But then came the Diamond mess, and worse, the tariffs. Most of the stuff we like is printed in China, and God knows what Trump's doing there on any given day. With Diamond gone, there's no central informtion hub. I imagine publishers and distributors both are having headaches we can't imagine.
And it's tricky for us consumers as well! I THINK InStockTrades still carries Hermes, but I won't know until Mandrake Vol. 4 or Phantom Sundays Vol. 9 ship. If they do, and InStock doesn't list them, I'll have my answer. InStock listed (and I bought) the latest Prince Valiant, so I THINK I'm safe on that score. I'll know for sure when the next Prince Valiant ships. Both Hermes and Fantagraphics are available from Amazon, so even if we miss pre-ordering something, we can pick it up "live" with a little bit of a discount.
The difficult one is PS Artbooks, which has vanished from all retailers (that I can find) except Bud's Art Books. Even Amazon, Golden Apple (LA) and Forbidden Planet (NYC) don't carry them. It's starting to be like Gwandanaland! I have one book on back-order at Bud's (Black Cat Vol. 1 HC), and have corresponded with them about it. They said it should be in their "next shipment" from PS Artbooks, which is reassuring. I'm about to order a fistful more, and I'll report on how that turns out. It will be a while until I know, because I can't tell how many of them are already in-country, and how many are, for all intents and purposes, pre-order. Time will tell.
And, of course, there is no discount at Bud's.
In the meantime, I do list small publishers in the weekly comics post. I know that's too late to get LCS discounts for many Legionnaires, and am trying to figure out how to get information earlier from Hermes, Fantagraphics, Oni Press, PS Artbooks, Drawn & Quarterly, Two Morrows and others, so I can post it in COMING COMICS. What worries me is that I don't think some of those publishers know what they'll have three months down the road. We're all at the mercy of the tariffs, which inhibit overseas delivery.
...but I won't know until Mandrake Vol. 4 or Phantom Sundays Vol. 9 ship.
Phantom Sundays!
First of all, I can verify that v9 has shipped because I have it on my shelf. Second, I see now that v10 is available on their web-site (another one I'll have to order.
Incidentally, it was due to researching my most recent post to the "Nerd Canon" thread last week that I became aware the volumes I was missing are now available (or soon will be), so thanks for resurrecting that thread!
InStockTrades doesn't have Phantom Sundays Vol. 9. That is not a good sign.
That's not a new one. According to the indicia, it was printed in 2020.
It's STILL AVAILABLE from Hermes Press.